Oops

I have missed the blogging world in the 5 months since I've posted! I've been trying to keep up but I'm not always successful.

I've got tons of news but the CliffNotes version is:
I got laid off and took the summer to go be a working student
Dee came sound and we went to Rebecca Farm

Dee told me loud and clear that she doesn't want to do Training anymore
I rode Sullivan for the first time

William schooled XC like a freaking boss

Dee and an 11 year old girl feel in love and now she's living the good life

I'm still unemployed, which is frustrating and kinda fun all at the same time

And the big news: I just picked up two new project horses! I went looking for one and somehow came home with two.

My mom and have been looking to pick up an OTTB sale project and we had a pretty simple list; 4+, 15.3+, sound and ideally a gelding (since everything else at my place is a gelding).

I did manage to get one that met most of the criteria. Meet JP Barley.

She's a 7yo, 16hh mare with 54 starts. She's very similar in type to William, delicate, fine boned and pretty sweet.

Bonus horse does not for the criteria. Meet the Vicar is a 16.2, 3yo gelding who is coming off an injury. We were looking at a horse in the paddock next to him and I asked about Vicar because I really liked the look of him. She hadn't planned on selling him but when I committed to the mare she said I should take the gelding and give him some more time off. She said if he comes riding sound to send her $500.

So I came home with 2 new horses. Oops 😀

Broken Pony

Dee has apparently decided that I cannot go on vacation. I got home at 3 am after a week away and ran out to put rain sheets on the hooligans due to an incoming storm. Everyone was happy and undamaged.

Not the text you want to get

My SO texted me the above photo later the same day while I was at work. Thankfully he's awesome and cold hosed it for me and let me know that there was heat but no swelling and it didn't look like a puncture, just a missing chunk.

I figured it's a long ways from her heart, and finished up my work day. By the time I got home it was super fat so I cold hosed, scrubbed and wrapped, wit a plan to reassess in the morning.

Still puffy after being wrapped all night

Unfortunately, it was fat and super hot in the morning so I set up an appointment with the vet later in the day. Because my SO really is awesome he took her in for me so I could still get a full day of work in. 

I figured it wouldn't be an issue for me not to be there. I was counting on them scrubbing it up and sending her home with SMZ's.

Turns out it's a bit more involved than that. She's quite reactive to palpating the area so X-rays were taken and turns out she broke her splint bone. Thankfully it's not displaced and should heal cleanly. But the question is now if she's damaged her suspensory or if she's just reacting due to the cellulitis. 

So now it's a waiting game. Once the swelling is gone she needs to go back so we can ultrasound the leg. Fingers crossed that it's just cellulitis and the broken splint bone (never ever did I think I'd be hoping my horse just has a broken bone).

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go pull myself out of the dreaded spiral of Oh-my-god-my-horse-is-broken-and-will-have-to-be-put-down-and-I'm-a-terrible-owner by drinking all the wine in my house.

The Girl Who Exploded

Alternate title: A Very Expensive Weekend

So I still need to finish up my Rolex recaps but I need some blogger advice so I'm bumping those posts.

This weekend I had a XC clinic with Jessica Phoenix and it was an amazing clinic. I learned so much and had some really great rides. Unfortunately I also shit the bed pretty hard at the corner. Corners cause some serious anxiety in my world (enough that I have always taken the option).

Racing at the scary corner and not committing to both the line and canter is a recipe for disaster even when mounted on a saintly XC machine. See supporting evidence below:

The 6-year-old boy was sad to have missed seeing "the girl explode"

For those who don't watch videos

It's a bit hard to see in the video but I landed face first. The brim of my helmet went straight into the ground and my forehead took the brunt of my fall. Thankfully I am fine, minus a green tinge to my forehead today (2 days post fall).

We did manage to conquer it both directions!

So not only do I need a new canister for my vest (annoying but manageable) I also need to replace my beloved purple CO. Which completely breaks my heart because it was the 100 year anniversary version so I can't get it again. Plus it was in it's last year of service so it doesn't qualify for the replacement policy. So all of a sudden Sunday became a very expensive day.

I lovelovelove this helmet.
So much that even though it hurt my head for the first year I refused to consider something else

And then because the universe has a really sick sense of humor, my day got even more expensive. My red dog tried to eat a bloody porcupine, resulting in a Sunday evening trip to the emergency clinic.

They are in her tongue, gums, roof of her mouth and throat as well

She's fine now, feeling sorry for herself, but fine

Hopefully the vet rides because most of my budget for custom tall boots is now in her hands :(

I'm stopping by a local tack store today to try on Samshields because they are so very pretty but at this point I really need to get a new helmet before our first event on June 3. I have my every day schooling Tipperary so I can still ride but it's way too fugly to show in.

Anyone know of somewhere that has a decent sale or discount that carries Charles Owen AYR8's or the ProII Skull Cap in round sizes? Or Samshields? Or how to go about selling superfluous internal organs on the black market?

The Best Weekend All Year

I apologize if the formatting is wonky on this post, but I'm writing it from my phone while sitting in Kentucky!

Blogger won't let me add new photos for some reason.
So enjoy this recycled one of me and Jessica Phoenix, who I'm cheering for, and riding with again next week :)

We flew out on the red-eye and got in early afternoon. Between the 3 of us we figure we've had about 5ish hours of sleep so there have been some sleep deprived shenanigans. I may have impulsively bought 3 different peach flavoured adult beverages, 2lbs of peanut M&M's and a grey chevron shower curtain, but no real food for dinner. Oops :)

I'm super pumped for this week and I'm hoping to see all the Rolex bound bloggers on Thursday for Taco Night. I'm not sure if I'm more interested in meeting some awesome people or trying to figure out what's with all the hype about tacos (blasphemous, I know).

#LittleAsshole is Growing Up

My original plan was to send Sullivan to the same trainer who started his sire. I really liked what Roland did for Ritchie and was hopeful for a repeat on my little guy.

Unfortunately Roland is booked almost 16 months in advance. So back in summer of 2015 I booked my then yearling in for 30 days in February of 2017 and 30 days in January of 2018. The plan was to put an initial 30 days on him as a late 2 year old and then another as a late 3 year old with minimal work in the meantime.

And then my yearling grew very very slowly. His joints as still huge and open and he's physically immature. And small. He finally hit 15HH in January (for the record his sire is 16.2, his dam is 15.2 but throws big babies, the last 1/2 warmblood is 17HH). And mentally he's taking his sweet time maturing as well.

He doesn't look small next to the cutting horses

So I decided that sending him for 30 days at this point was not the best value. He's at a point where he can really only handle 15 minutes of work/pressure every few days. So if I sent him he'd likely only end up with 4-5 hours of work over the month.

My mom used to train horses for a living and I've started a few on my own (under her supervision) so we decided that since Sullivan was going to be spending the winter with my mom anyways we would start him ourselves over the winter. This gave us the opportunity to do it very slowly in order to keep with his current abilities.

Since neither one of us was interested in putting the first few rides on my mom called in a favour and got one of her clients, a professional cutting trainer, to put the first few rides on, just to be safe. Sullivan was a star for it all. He bucked when he was first saddled and then hasn't even considered it since.

No longer just a pasture pet!

He's now had 10 rides, spread over the course of 4 months. He's willing, curious and brave. I couldn't ask for a better baby horse. I haven't had a chance to see him go in person yet but the videos make me super excited about his future.

Ride 8, and look at how balanced his canter is

He' going to stay with my mom for the summer and then come home in the fall. He's so happy there and it's very good for him as he has a 40 acre field, on the side of a hill, and a herd of 15 to terrorize. My place is only 4 acres so having one less to graze makes pasture management easier.

I can't wait until I finally get to sit on him. It's a dream that's been in the making for over 5 years.

It's hard to believe this was less than 3 years ago

11 Weeks In One Photo Dump

Break out the champagne! I wrote my last final for my degree last night. This semester has kicked my ass, hard, so blogging (and horses) took a back seat. I've been riding, but sporadically. Thankfully my creatures are all honest souls so there has been very little antics. And they live in the backyard so I still get my pony-fix.

This is exactly how I felt last night

Little asshole is enjoying living with my mom and is the first to the gate, every time.

We hacked out in January

And in February

My previous barn once again hosted two Sandra Donnelly clinics. I rode both horses in the first one. I was super impressed with William he hadn't done a grid or a course prior to this clinic but he took both in stride.  He also had never seen an oxer before this clinic and he just couldn't brain. Even when we disassembled it it took him quite a while to figure out that he had to jump/walk over both rails. The clinic was a great success though. Sandra told me I'd be crazy to sell him, but if I did decide to sell him I should sell him to her. It's always great when someone you truly respect thinks highly of your horse, even when he's being a sassy, green 5 year-old.

Jumper or reiner, you decide

Seriously, the cutest face ever.

And sometimes he forget that he has 4 legs.

Dee was her usual rockstar self and packed me around the 3'3" group. I missed her and I"m so glad she's back to her usual self. I've seen no back soreness at all since we started back jumping.

For my birthday we tormented the dogs

My kitchen window view never gets old

William was foot perfect for his first time in water, with a rider he'd never met
Also, she tried to steal him :)

When both the dogs and the pony need some exercise and there are only so many daylight hours

 It's been pretty low-key around here and I'm quite excited to get back into a regular schedule, with both the horses and the blog.

Still Nameless....

So William is still lacking a show name. I really want to register him for a TIPS number but can't do it until I settle on a name.

His JC name is Hes the Fashion, which I just can't stomach as a show name, so something new is needed.

I'm drawing a total blank on what to call him. I've actually never been this stumped. I've named plenty of horses, including helping out friends but for some reason I can't come up with anything for William. So I'm reaching out to the awesome blogger community for some help.

Also, hes starting to fill out nicely.
And there's a story behind the awful clip, as in he is a two person, twitch and drugs kind of clip

So far the suggestions are:

Horsewithnohashtag (in an ode to his instagram hashtag)
Some fashion designer/brand (William Tempest, William Rast, William Morris)
William the Red
Billy Corgan (Because my brother calls him Bill, no matter how many times I correct him that it's William and Billy Corgan apparently prefers to be called William now)

Any suggestions?

The Very Best News

Chase went back to the vet on Friday for follow up x-rays. The x-rays were more for peace of mind than anything. He has actually been home from his stall rest vacation for two weeks now, and has been much sounder. Since it wasn't an emergency I waited until my Friday off to haul him in rather than take time off work.

With how good he's been feeling and moving I was sure we were going to be keeping him around, no matter what the pictures showed.

Thankfully, the x-rays showed marked improvement!

One side of the joint is completely fused, and the other is almost there. The vet said there wasn't much point in putting him back in the brace and stall rest as long as he's not a total lunatic in the pasture. Essentially as the fused side lays down more bone growth and gets stronger it will keep the motion minimized and the other side will continue to fuse.

This one shows a really clear difference, and illustrates the ringbone portion

Basically, this is a better outcome than the vet expected. We are supposed to just let him be a pasture pet for another 12 weeks and then we can start riding him if we want. He's still an older, arthritic horse, so in all likelihood his riding will be contained to carting beginners on trail rides, but that's totally ok because he will still be with us. Harassing us for all the cookies, keeping the rest of the herd in line and being his generally annoying puppy-dog self.

Cookies go here...ALL the cookies

Blogger Secret Santa

Once again Tracy at Fly On Over hosted a fabulous Blogger Secret Santa. It's always one of my favourite parts of the year. I absolutely love this community and I always enjoy finding more blogs and bloggers to interact with.

This year I got Carey and had fun trying to figure out what to get her. Once I figured out a great option I reached out to the blogger community for some help getting it to me since shipping for it was outrageous if I shipped it to Canada, free within the States. Emma awesomely stepped up to help me out (as did countless others, I just got her email first).

Little did I know, Emma had drawn me so it worked out perfectly. I was completely shocked when I opened the package, expecting just Carey's book (you can find out what I got her here) and finding some adorable wrapped gifts.

How other bloggers manage to set their excitement aside to photograph before opening I will never know, I tore into them like a child on Christmas morning :)

There was a lovely black, white and burgundy bonnet that will look good on either horse :) I was just saying I needed more bonnets since I only had one nice one for two horses.

So pretty.

A couple of hand warmers (that have already been used for sub zero farrier appointments) were a perfect addition.

I was completely happy with both gifts and would have been totally content if that was it. But then I noticed I had missed one last item in the package.

I inadvertently saved the best for last, the most adorable fox socks.

Seriously, how cute are these?

Thanks Emma, not only for the awesome gifts, but also for helping facilitate Carey's gift. Also a big thank you to Tracy for hosting yet another awesome gift exchange.

Haiku Farm Blog Hop

I wrote this before the holidays, and then apparently never published it. Oops!

Yet another blog hop for content while my horses enjoy stuffing their faces and multiple layers to avoid succumbing to the arctic deep freeze. Thanks Aarene!

* Introduce yourself!

My name is very German, and therefore difficult for the general populous to pronounce. It's also unique enough that I prefer to go by my username for public posts (honestly, it wouldn't take much sleuthing to figure it out because it's been posted by a couple of bloggers but I like to keep the illusion). 

I'm a lifelong equestrian, avid eventer and a perpetual student. Who needs money anyways?

I've got more photos of me with this horse than I do with my dad

*  Introduce your horse(s)!

Currently the herd consists of 4 hayburners!

Dee is my leading lady. She is just the best. She came to me at a time when I needed a new horse to help me rebuild my confidence after the RedHellMare. People thought I was nuts buying an older, small, Saddlebred but it was the very best thing I could have done. She's 20 this year and while we've been dealing with some soreness issues she shows no signs of slowing down.

William is the new guy. He's a 5-yo, 16HH OTTB who ran his last race on Sept 10 and then shipped out to me (sight unseen) on Sept 12. He's such a good kid. He's got a great mind and a solid work ethic and it is exciting to see where we go in the next year.

Sullivan (better known as #littleasshole) is my hopes and dreams rolled up into a cute/ugly package. I've owned him since he was an hour old and he's out of a mare who reminds me strongly of my heart horse I had as a young teenager and by my friends very cool stallion who I had the ride on last year. He's seriously opinionated and would be a total trainwreck if he was owned by a beginner but I keep reminding myself that upper level horses have quirks, spark and strong personalities.

Chase is last but in no way least. I've owned him since he was 4 and he's 19 this year. At this point he really belongs to my SO more than me. They have quite the bromance going on.

*  What's your favorite horse sport?  Do you cross train in other activities?

I am an eventer at heart but I've dabbled in almost every discipline you can think of (I grew up riding western and didn't get into jumping seriously until I was in my 20's). I've got the cattle penning buckles to prove it :)

I will never tire of this photo

That being said, I get bored just doing one thing so I'm always up for a new adventure. I've discovered I really like endurance and would love to get out to a few more rides this year.

*  Who else in your family rides?

My SO will go on slow trail rides with me but it's not really his thing. He really just wants to give Chase cookies and brush him. Which is fine by me :)

My brother can ride (and is super talented) but hasn't ridden in years. He rode growing up because that's just what you did in our house.

But my mom is the biggest reason I ride. She is an avid horsewomen who has been riding since she snuck onto the back of one of her uncle Trotters in Germany. When I was growing up she trained horses and taught lessons as her profession. Nowadays she works with her business partner who is an equine osteopath. She has 3 horse of her own, including Merlin, the horse who took me to my first event and then babysat me through another after I blew my ankle, when I really had no business riding. She really isn't that interested in jumping but is finding her niche in Western Dressage, Cowboy Mounted Shooting and Extreme Cowboy (all done on her WB's).

My mother is far and away my favourite person in this world. I'm so incredibly lucky to have her in my life. I'm grateful every day that we have an incredible relationship, not only as parent/sibling but as friends and horsewomen. I see the relationships my friends have with their mothers and I realize that while I didn't grow up with any money (we were seriously poor) I grew up with experiences, strength and love that no money could buy.

*  What's your proudest equestrian accomplishment?

Conquering my anxiety and successfully completing multiple Training runs this year. 2 years ago, when I bought Dee, I was terrified to jump all oxers and most fences that were 2'9" and over. Dee (and a very skilled sports psychologist) help me figure out how to function and dispel those fears.

We survived our first Training!

*  What was your lowest moment as a horse owner/rider?

Having to let my heart horse go when I was 15. He unfortunately contracted Strangles when he was 19. He ended up with a paralyzed windpipe and was literally starving to death on his feet. I've never cried so hard, or for so long. It's been 15 years and I still miss that spitfire. He taught me so much, but most importantly, he taught me humility.

*  What's the most important small thing you ever learned in a lesson?

Ride from your elbows, not your wrists. Every time I manage to remember this my rogue left hand becomes manageable.

*  Do you have any riding rituals or superstitions?

I always wear my Straight Shot Metal Smashing bracelet on XC. If I forget to put on my courage one it's ok, because I wear my horseshoe one every day so I've still got one on :)

*  What are your short term goals for yourself/your horse?

Build up Dee's lower back muscles to help her stay sound. Let William set the pace of his training. Simple, yet so hard.

*  Long term goals?

I want to ride Prelim (I'd love to go above but that would require having to travel out of AB and who knows when the budget will allow for that)

*  If time and money were no object, what is your dream equestrian vacation?

Spending the winters somewhere warm with my whole herd.

*  What kind of horse activities were you doing 10 years ago?

I was living in Ireland 10 years ago so I was working as the Assistant Yard Manager and teaching almost all of the lessons. I was riding on the beach at least once a week but wasn't doing any competing. 

*  What kind of horse activities do you think you'll be doing 10 years from now?

I will very likely still be eventing. And hopefully I will have finally figured out how to get myself a driving pony to do combined trails with!

*  What is the quirk about your horse that you like most?

I love that Dee loves to jump. She's just as happy with a cross rail as she is with Training/Prelim jumps.

This is her expression, no matter the fence height