You know what’s better than having gorgeous friends? Having gorgeous friends who ask you to photograph their family photos!
Leah is a horsey friend of mine, and her adorable blazed faced OTTB is Belle. How many red-headed OTTB mares can act like a perfect princess despite having spent multiple days on stall rest? Well, this one can!
Have a great weekend, guys! Catch you up from London!
This time of year always feels a little bit manic, and this week feels especially so.
Friday I got the green light to travel to take some videos for work, and so after our annual holiday party on Saturday, I’ll be focusing on packing and planning and finding my passport to head off to jolly old England. Being half-British, I’ve spent plenty of time over there seeing family, but it’s been almost 4 years since I’ve set foot on my favorite island, and I’m excited to return.
Since all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, I’ll also be crossing one equestrian themed bucket list item off- the Olympia Horse Show. If you haven’t heard of it outright, you still probably know of it- it’s where the famous Shetland Pony Steeplechase is held every year, and where Valegro will retire one week from today. Sadly, the Thursday evening tickets (and many others) are all sold out, but I was able to snag a solid seat Saturday evening. Nothing says horse-obsessed like going to an equestrian performance by yourself, right?
Since I’ll be traveling solo, I’d love to know if there are any English bloggers out there who may be up for some shopping and galavanting about London this weekend. If you’re in the area, hit me up!
Purely self-serving discussion today, folks. My bad.
But.
I bought this charming PS of Sweden knockoff because I just got the news that, shockingly (not), Smitty had just destroyed the bridle I sent him off to training with. Since we can’t have nice things, I decided to hold off buying the real thing and get this bit of strappy goodness for 1/3 the price. Win win, me thinks.
But upon trying it on, it’s obvious that the throatlatch is never going to fit- it’s way too big for him. But what about the rest of it?
I’ve had some people in person say no, it’s beautiful, keep it. A quick instagram debate said it’s too big for his face.
Part of me is definitely having trouble shipping out a nice, cheap bridle that my pony could do with (since besides this bridle we are down to zero brown bridles- first world problems yo). But hey, if someone in blogger land wants to pay me $75 for this worn-once PS knockoff, maybe I’ll part with it. Or, I keep it and take a pair of scissors to that dangly throatlatch.
Its fate is in your hands, blogland!
Christmas time is traditionally an expensive time of year. Besides buying presents for the family, the in-laws, friends, etc, and attempting to avoid all the amazing sales with things you just really really want need, money goes faster than it comes.
And you know what else is expensive? Vet bills.
I’m already busy treating Smitty’s ulcer (shout out to Hillary for the excellent tips for gastrogard savings!) which, you, know, generally cost around $30 a day (until I get my international alternative- more on that later), for a 30 days… Cha ching.
So of course the dog chooses this particular time to start getting nose bleeds. And I don’t mean a sprinkling of blood occasionally. I mean human-like, dripping nose bleeds on almost a daily basis. After realizing this wasn’t just him repeatedly bumping his dry nose on the glass (trying to, and successfully convincing anyone and everyone to stay away from his castle), but that it was something else entirely, we took him to the vet.
The verdict? Likely Pemphigus Erythematosus (which sounds more like a dino than a disease to me). It’s an autoimmune disease common to GSD’s and causes lesions and ulcers on the face- and is probably responsible for Drake’s tender, dry, cracked nose that we’ve never been able to solve. We ran bloodwork just in case it was a clotting disorder (it’s not), promised them our first born child, and left with our little packet of antibiotics and steroids.
Luckily the steroids seem to be doing their job, since beside having to now pee every 4 hours, Drake’s nose is on the mend and we’re down to only 2 nosebleeds in 11 days. Thank goodness- because our freshly steamcleaned carpet is starting to look like a murder scene.
On its way to healing
But let’s not forget the other creatures of the house- they too must add to the melee. Jackson, the cat, has decided nothing looks more appetizing than pine needles, and to hell with it if they’re plastic. So running after the gagging cat has been another holiday treat.
And then Smitty decided to spice things up by attempting to impale himself.
That’s right- just what we wanted to deal with.
Awesome sauce.
Lucky for me I am blessed with a stellar barn manager and a great friend who cleaned him up for me when I couldn’t get to the barn due to work commitments. They also were inventive enough to jimmy-rig his blanket so that it didn’t rub the wound and yet still kept him warm and covered. A text the next morning confirmed that the cut was already looking better and that it really was just a flesh wound.
After finally seeing him Friday I could also see that it really wasn’t much to worry about, except for the vanity of an unsightly scratch at the moment.
So thankfully (other than the barfing cat, which I guess will end once the trees are put up) the animals seem to be on the mend. But shit you guys, could we stop the self-destructing nonsense? Please and thank you.
Has anyone been wondering what their favorite spotted pony has been up to recently?
If you were curious, mostly he’s been getting fat and fluffy. Both good things going into winter, but a little bizarre to see through my theres-always-a-show-around-the-corner eyes. He’s been enjoying the life of a trail horse, exploring the woods and paths of the Civil War era plantation on which he lives.
Or, lived.
Unfortunately last week, Foster’s mom contacted me to let me know that her work schedule had gone in an unpredicted way, and she was no longer able to give him the attention he deserves. Life and horses don’t always mix, and sometimes you have to give up something very special to you in order to take care of higher priorities. I was gutted to hear this news, and knew it wasn’t an easy decision for her to come to.
Fortunately I have a friend who knew someone looking for a horse, with the hopes of trail riding, some natural horsemanship, and maybe walk-trot dressage tests or the occasional western show. So I got her information, and passed it along to Foster’s mom.
What she later told me is that when the woman hopped aboard Foster, her heart both broke and soared. I knew exactly what she meant, because that’s just how I felt when I saw her ride Foster the first time. It seems yet another match made in heaven, and on Sunday I loaded Foster up a second time to take him to his new home. He walked straight on like it was the most normal thing in the world, walked off the trailer an hour later and casually looked around his new home.
I made sure all seemed settled and then drove off once again with an empty trailer. Foster’s new mom sent me the cutest text saying how she rode him later that afternoon and just how much she loves him.
There’s so much to be thankful for, even when life doesn’t go the way we thought it would. I’m thankful to Foster’s previous mom for loving him as she did. I’m thankful to his new mom for falling in love with him. I’m thankful to Foster for being so special, and so easily loved. His family seems to have grown by another person, and I’m grateful for all of them.
What a weird year 2016 has been so far. And while the rest of the world seems more and more unpredictable, hey, we can always count on horsepeople to be dependably crazy. Here are 10 things I’m thankful for this year.
2. Chiropractors. Because gravity.
hahaha yeah this didn’t happen.
3. Chronicle of the Horse for bringing me more traffic than this little blog had ever seen before
4. Friends- for not telling me to my face how crazy I am after buying a horse I’d never met.
5. Equally thankful that my friends have trucks that I can occasionally borrow, since, you know, #truckless
6. Wine- because, duh.
Ain’t got money for blankets, y’all
7. Horse blankets. Praise be that Smitty is the same size as Fosterpants, because his saddles definitely weren’t.
Walking into the Tryon Center like…
8. Tryon. Because ain’t nobody got time to drive to Texas for the AEC’s. That is, unless you live in Texas.
9. Smart phones. Because speaking of the AEC’s, there is no way I would know I selfied with Olympians without one.
10. And lastly, I’m thankful for all you fine folks. Without readers there would be no blog, less memories, and all evidence of my personal embarassing moments would still be kept private. Cheers to you guys, you’re awesome.
You may have noticed it’s been a little quiet on the Smitty front. No worries, all is well. Well, mostly.
I was kept pretty up to date while Smitty was in bootcamp, and sadly while in general things were good (he’s super brave with new fences, very smart, great mover, etc etc), there was something niggling at the trainer that had also been niggling at me.
Smitty started becoming less and less enthusiastic to move forward, even on a lunge line. He was grinding his teeth more and more during rides. He wasn’t gaining weight despite increasing his grain.
Thanks to my experience(s) with Foster, I’d been wondering for a little while if Smitty was experiencing ulcers, but when you don’t have an established baseline or history of behavior as with a new horse, it was hard to really know. But after getting these reports from his trainer, we both agreed that it was a very likely potential diagnosis.
This morning Smitty was scoped, and low and behold, we found some ulceration, paired with no-the-happiest of stomach conditions. Just like Foster, Smitty’s ulcer, though mild, is in the lower part of his stomach, which of course is the hardest part to reach with medication.
So today we start a round of Omeprazole and reassess after 1 month. Hopefully after a couple weeks I’ll start to see a change in my guy’s behavior, and get back to smooth sailing and happier work.
Do you incorporate horses into your vacation? If I’m with the husband, I do my best not to, but often it crops up somehow anyways.
While going to watch 3* and 4* events are a blast, I haven’t always consider them vacations. Although with the wine, friends, and booze, maybe I should have. Do normal people consider it a vacation when they travel to see their favorite team play?
Spectating Fair Hill
The one trip I have been on that is definitely a vacation, and definitely horsey, was with my mother back in 2005. We went to the Ballinasloe Horse Fair in Ireland, which my grandad had always talked about but neither of us had witnessed. I kid you not, I have never seen that many horses in one place before or after that fair.
We then made our way up the west coast of Ireland, incorporating beach rides and cross country schoolings into our trip.
Beach riding in the northern part of Ireland
The trip is definitely a highlight of my life, and a time with my mother that I’ll always appreciate. What I would do to go back with a bunch of horsey friends and do it all again!
What equestrian related trips have you taken in the past? What are some particularly memorable moments of these trips? What’s on your bucket list? Do horses find their way into your vacations often?
What’s better than getting to shoot a beautiful young lady and her trusty steed? Doing it twice! I was so thrilled when Austin and family reached out to me to come back to their farm to capture moments with their new horse, Vincent. I said hello to Flash, who is now enjoying teaching another young rider the ropes, and quickly got to admiring all the fall foliage.
Red on the Right 
