A New Feeling

My heart is so full. ❤️

The trip to Syracuse went better than I ever imagined.

When my plane landed, I was exhausted. My journey was supposed to take 6 hours, but thanks to the perfect storm of circumstances took nearly 12. Thanks, Chicago...🙄

I was so nervous. Like, panic attack nervous as I walked down to baggage from the security exit point. I didn’t see him at first. It turns out he was at the other baggage claim so he started my way and my heart was in my throat and I was barely breathing.

Then, he walked around the corner and my nervousness vanished. I stepped into his arms for a hug and my heart clicked into place. It sounds so cliched but I can’t describe it any better. I felt like I was where I was meant to be. On the drive home from the airport, my hand found his and from then on everything seemed as easy and effortless as breathing. The first kiss sealed it and my heart was his.

I’m in love with a boy. The week we spent together was absolutely perfect (but too short!). Now, he’s coming here in May for a week and I cannot wait!! He’s absolutely amazing and I’m still pinching myself to make sure this isn’t just a wonderful dream.

So. Happy. 😍

2019... I like it

So, it has been unbelievably cold here as of late so my barn time has consisted of brief trips out to feed the ponies and visually confirm that they are alive. While I hibernate and hide from the -60 wind chills (I wish I was kidding), Reggie and Vienna ignore the hay thrown in their cozy shelter and meander back out into the wind to their round bale. What!! Are they actually unfeeling cyborgs?! They’re insane at the very least. The knuckleheads.

My AZ friends have been pestering me, asking when I am arriving for the Scottsdale Arabian horse show. The best horse show of the year. Two weeks in the sun in a gorgeous setting with some of the best people and of course the most beautiful horses on the planet. But! This year, despite my originally planned vacation getting cancelled I will not be heading to the desert. Why, you ask? 

I am heading in the complete opposite direction. I met a boy. Unexpectedly. We had an adorable meet-cute in October on Twitter coming to the defense of my favorite beer (Spotted Cow) when someone insulted it by calling it a “girly beer”.  We started messaging and have pretty much been talking daily since then, getting to know each other. I feel like a complete giddy idiot when we talk. I break out in a smile whenever I pick up my phone and have a message waiting from him. He is incredibly handsome, has a great heart and makes me laugh. He has no idea how wonderful he is. I’m flying out to see him to confirm whether we have the same chemistry in person and spend a week together. I’ve never done anything like this before in my life. But this feels different than anything I’ve experienced before. I really like this guy. A lot. 

I’m simultaneously excited beyond belief to finally get to spend time with him and also a bit terrified/nervous!! I fly out in a week and a half.  Holysmokes, this is happening! ❤️

Numb

It's been awhile since I've posted. Much has happened.

I started my new position in August. I turned another year older in August. September was beautiful and spent mostly at the barn.

It's taken me awhile to get to the point where I can post this.

October 9th was one of the most difficult in my life thus far. I had to make the impossible decision regarding my beautiful Rose. I got the call shortly after 7 that she was down and they couldn't get her up. I went immediately cold. I got out of bed and had difficulty dressing myself. I kept turning in circles. Some part of me must have known on another level that this was it.

She couldn't get up. She was totally there, mind and spirit, but her body was failing her. She couldn't get her hind end underneath her to get up and I wasn't sure that if we went through drastic measures to get her up, that she'd be able to stay standing. I didn't want to put her through that. I spent my lunch break sitting in the straw with her head in my lap as I told her just how very very loved she was. I was hoping for a miracle at that point. Her calm gaze told me I was doing the right thing. But hoooooooly hell was it hard. I couldn't even make that call, my fingers wouldn't dial. My manager let me leave early and I met the vet out there. As hard as it was for me, Rose left this world with my words of love in her ears and my kisses and tears on her face. There was no way I wasn't going to be there with her until the end. She's buried underneath the poplars and evergreens in the windbreak at the farm and I'll be planting a Rose bush there in the spring.

The next morning, it snowed for the first time. It made everything soft and pretty, almost like God had draped a blanket over her. Perfect.

Grief is a funny thing. It comes out of the blue in unexpected waves at the most unexpected times. I miss her. Every day. Rest in Peace my Rosie girl. Love you, always.

The other two definitely grieved. They're learning to be a pair and a team instead of rival siblings. The dynamic has changed. But they are still my goofy goofy goobers. We'll get through this.

Clear As Mud

So, this summer has been the polar opposite of last summer. In a good (but frustrating) way. Last summer, the pasture was not growing to keep up with the horses grazing on it. We didn't have rain from early June through much of July (a few sprinkles here and there but nothing measurable) so everything was dry and toasty.

This summer we have had plenty of rain! It comes in deluges in storms that flood everything and make puddles in the low parts of the pens. When I do chores at the barn, the owner's horses like to hide their feed pans out in the middle of the boggy mud like they were playing boats or something. Joke's on them, I make them eat out of the pans I'm feeding from. I win!

But the rain also means the outdoor arena is in similar condition which means no consistent work. Le sigh.

One night I was out doing evening feeding and there was a storm moving off, I was trying to take a photo of the rainbow the storm had produced in the sunset and Vienna came up to me at the fence, put her head over my shoulder and kept nudging my hand. I thought she wanted pets, but the little stinker wanted to take a selfie. So here... this is Miss V's selfie by request.

Not sure why it turned it, it's normal in the folder and on my phone. Freaking google...

I got them all snazzy new flymasks to fit their coloring/personalities. Reggie's is a grey/black pattern, Rose is blue with yellow, pink and teal. Vienna's is a fun magenta and orange design.

Isn't it cute?

Except, when I came out to the barn this weekend... Reggie and Vienna were both sans masks. What the heck guys. So Rose, being the model citizen she is and kept her mask on, also was gifted shoofly leggins. She LOVES them. She walked like a chicken (holy hocks batman!) for a few min and then realized she looked silly and relaxed. I found Reggie's mask cleverly hidden between the gate and the barn so he was masked. But even after hiking the pasture, Vienna's was nowhere to be found.

Shoofly leggins! Snazzy

So, of course, as soon as I ordered Vienna's replacement mask and it shipped. Guess what Barn Owner's husband found in the tree line when he was mowing? Yuuuup. The missing mask. So, now I have a spare, and I have 3 properly appointed super heroes again.

I leave you with one last gratuitous photo of my sweet (but naughty) girl, hopefully more updates with her. Productive updates! Coming soon...

<3

 

 

How are your summers going? Any fun projects with your horses? What are you working on?

 

Still alive!

Well, apparently we bypassed spring and went straight to summer. Blizzard one week, 85 degrees the next. Hokay then! Ma Nature is off her meds and off her rocker.

I’ve been remiss about posting. I’ve been doing adulty things that you’re forced to do when you’re a homeowner. Haha. I actually am a nerd and enjoy chores. I was gifted an electric lawn mower by my brother’s neighbor*

*by gifted, I mean he bought it. Used it twice and then they moved and left it behind. My sister in law waited 6 hours to make sure they weren’t coming back for it (it was sitting in their driveway). She then asked me if I wanted it since she knew I was looking for one. It works pretty great. All I had to do was get the hang of mowing from the house out to reduce chances of running over the cord. I feel like vacuuming has prepared me for this. Rocked it. 

Working on beginning the landscaping of my yard. Got rocks for the underside of my deck. That’ll go in either tomorrow or next weekend. It was wayyyy too windy today to try to wrestle with landscaping fabric. I would have ended up a kite. 

I started a new schedule at work for the next 6 months which means I’ll be barn bound in the mornings. Keep posted for progress pics and video! Miss Vienna is almost as excited as I am to start regular works. But I feel like I blinked and she grew up. She’s no longer my dewy-faced baby horse. Oh, who am I kidding, she’ll always be my baby horse. She’s just now my pretty mare that I refer to as baby horse. 

😭 Stop growing up so fast!! 

Reggie turned 15 on the 11th which makes me feel positively ancient. He was just a gangly foal yesterday!! Rose will be 22 on Monday... Alright, I’ve got to pull myself together and come to terms with my aging furbys. I promise I’ll be back soon with the updates. 

Spring is Cancelled?

Well, I had hoped I would have started the Vienna chronicles by now. But we seem to be in the 11th inning of winter. I wish I was kidding. The game goes on. Spring gets a hit and ends up with runners in scoring position, then Winter throws a wicked curve and strands the runners.

We had a snowstorm last week. Yesterday and today it's been gloriously melty. Our forecast this weekend?

 I wish I was kidding...

It SHOULD look like this

*wistful sigh*

Instead, we start the thaw/mud season. And then Winter takes us back into custody. Rinse, lather repeat. I'm sick of it. This little miss is too, she just wants to work. Instead, the arena is covered in that white stuff, ice and mud and has not even begun to dry out. 

Mad (Chestnut) Mare Face

We call bullshit.

Spring, if you're there... send us a sign. You can do this! Knock it out of the park and GET HERE ALREADY!

Curled it!

So, a few weeks ago, I had a chance to try curling. Yes, the amazing, unique sport that errbody loves in the Winter Olympics! I have wanted to try for years but had not found the time or a place to do it. Well our local club (yes! curling club!) threw a few 'learn how to curl' group lessons after the Olympics. Brilliant. I jumped on that bandwagon eeeeee-mediately.

Ye Curlers of Yore

Curling originated in Scotland, also famous for giving us another Gentleman's Sport known as golf. While today's game is a bit more sophisticated, it's still very much a gentleman's sport. There is a 'ref' but there aren't actually any rules to enforce. They're just kind of there to moderate in an official capacity.

I signed up. I showed up. A few of my high school classmates were there as well (of all places to run into each other). There was an open bar and it was a great, casual and fun environment! 

First things first. We got our shoes. It was like the beginning to a night of bowling. Except the shoes are very comfy, almost like nursing shoes? They were all generic black with a velco panel that covers the laces. My coach had an amazing pimped out pair that looked like chucks. Note to self: check out the upgraded shoe options. WANT! These were my sexy borrowed kicks:

Of course. OF COURSE. The rule portion of the lecture started out with 'Who here is left-handed?' to which I was the only person who raised their hand. He told me I'd have to do the opposite of all of his instructions. How is this news. This has been my entire life since I am a person of handedness (though, it did allow me to take the ACTs spread out at a desk with a rolley chair instead of crammed into a lecture hall desk). He also said I had to change up the bottoms of the shoes. Say what?! If you'll look at the shoes above. See the shoe on the right? On the bottom of the sole there are 2 rubber sole pads that enable you to walk comfortably. See the one with the red bottom on the left? That is called a gripper. That slides over that shoe when you want to be able to walk and not die. Take that off and it reveals 2 teflon sole pads. Teflon. As in 'non-stick'. They look like this:

So the gripper pads went on my left foot and the teflon went on my right. The teflon shoes is your shoe of betrayal. Step on the ice with that foot first without the gripper cover and you will eat ice.

The Sheet

The stones are actually concave on the bottom only touching

the ice around a thin ring.

The game itself is kind of complicated. It is played on a 'sheet' of ice that is textured or pebbled to allow the stones to move across it. The stones themselves are 42 lbs. There are 8 stones for each team. The colored portion of the sheet that looks like a target is called the house. This is where you score points. The object of the game is kind of like shuffle board on ice, you want your stones to be closest to the button, or the center of the house. The score is how many stones you have that are CLOSER than your opponents. If you have 3 each that are tied. Then 2 of yours are closer, then you score 2 for that end (btw, each 'inning' is called an end). My coach told us there is never ever a tie, because one stone will always be closer. But the very next day at world's in Canada there was a tie that could not be broken with the measuring stick (it anchors to the middle of the button and swings out around in a circle) or with the laser measure. So... obviously he was wrong, but I don't think that's a common occurrence.

 Note the pebbled texture

There are 4 people on each team. The Skip is the captain and also the one that yells the instructions for the thrower and for the sweepers. There is so much to remember about this game, it's complicated and it is WAY harder than it looks on tv. To release the stone you put your dominant foot (my left) on the hacks that are the little rubber starting blocks. The stones will freeze to the ice if left more than a few seconds, so your entire release happens in one motion. In my case, I pulled back and up on the stone sliding it back towards me a bit, the right leg with the teflon shoe comes back and then swings forward, the broom is in my right hand, the stone handle in my left. Then the right leg comes forward and you push off of the hack with your rubber grip shoe and you're sliding! You have to release the stone (you just let go, there's no push) by the time you hit the line across the ice down the sheet called the hog line. You hit that, release and the rest is up to the stone. Depending on the stones that have already been played, you can angle the stone with a simple twist left or right of your wrist before you release. That puts more spin on the stone. The sweepers have two jobs, 1) to reduce friction and allow the stone to travel further an 2) change the curl of it. It is an absolutely fascinating study in physics! (I might have excelled at physics in high school if we got to use examples like this to learn by!) I still have so much to learn on what exactly the spinning does. We were just concentrating on staying upright and getting the stone to go further than 10 feet. Like I said, it is complicated and much more difficult than I anticipated.

This is how I imagine my game face looks

We spent the better part of an hour working on our techniques. We simulated games. The hockey guys on the sheet next to us were getting into it with 'haaaaard! haaaaaaaard!' chants when they'd release. It's important to have the correct form so you're not leaning on your broom or the stone or when you let go of the stone you're going to land on your face. When you slide into your release, it's important to have your foot out behind you, but don't drag it because it'll slow you down. Same with not leaning on your broom, lean on it and it'll create friction which slows you down as well. Balance is key! Also working on our sweeping techniques. You always want to be facing the direction you're sweeping in. Everyone has a side that is naturally easier and I am bound and determined to become ambidextrous in sweeping. I also think next time I'm going to try it right-handed style. I'm one of the weird lefties that isn't 100% lefty. I eat and write left handed, but I kick and throw right. So I'm gonna try. I'm also going to practice my stance at home, get a head start on the muscle memory so that I can impress when I go back.

I am so going back. I may join the club and a beginner league. I'm so excited. Curling is a blast and once it becomes habit and second nature and there's not a gazillion things to think about at every moment I think it will become even more fun. It is incredible and for anyone that doesn't think it's a sport? Go try it. You'll walk an average of 2.5 miles per game, your entire body is involved in the activity. My legs are what I expected to be sore, but it was my upper body that really got the workout! My arms the next day, shampooing my hair in the shower was a challenge. Haha!

 She was a natural! She'd never done this before. I want her on my team.

Sweep it! HAAAAAARD!!

Needless to say, I am hooked. If you have the opportunity, definitely give it a try! My road to Beijing 2022 starts here!

Final Introduction

Vienna Rose ES

(Vitorio TO x Wild Eyed Rose)

Have you ever had a dream come true? I have. This filly is it. Working at the breeding farm, I helped create, foal, raise some incredible babies. But none of them were mine. I had no say in what happened to them. I raised them as if they were my own, but knowing that they were not.

I schemed and dreamed for years. Vienna's father Vitorio TO (DA Valentino x Sol Natique) came into my life when he was a yearling. My bosses purchased him with another couple and he won his class at Nationals out of a field of I think it was 27. He hasn't stopped winning. He has been US National Champion Yearling Colt, Futurity Colt, Canadian National Champion Stallion, Brazillian National Champion Stallion. And a few years ago, the polish state stud farm Michalow leased him for 2 years to breed to their mares. What an incredible honor. He is one of the most correct and gorgeous horses that I have ever met, and he is as kind and sweet as the day is long. I adore him. At some point, my boss and I were talking and it was decided that I would breed Rose to Vitorio.

 Hubba Hubba

 So handsome

 So so SO sweethearted. Mooching all the treats.

I was stoked. Rose was 18 at this point, and had not had a foal since Reggie when she was 7 so I first consulted with our vet and he examined her to determine if she was even breeding sound at that point. He said she was in picture perfect health. So I decided to go for it. With the costs of collections and shipping etc. it was pretty much a one and done shot. I didn't want to put her through the stress of short cycling if we missed cycles. So we started monitoring her in April, as luck has it she had just started cycling so we closely monitored her. The June cycle was an odd one, and we missed the window and my hopes were dwindling. But she came into a raging heat at the end of the month. We gave it the green light and placed an order with the farm Vitorio was standing at in Arizona. 2 days later, we had stallion juice.

Good Ole Fedex Sex

We were breeding 7 of the farm's mares as well. Everyone had had great cycles and was looking good. So I crossed my fingers and we waited the 2 weeks. 14 days. It seemed like an eternity. Finally, we checked the mares, the first 5 were all preggo. We were on a roll. Then the next two came up empty. I brought Rose into the stocks, my heart in my throat. It felt like the ultrasound took, FOREVER. Finally, my beloved vet said real slowly 'Well...' and I swear my heart hit my shoes. She wasn't pregnant. I got excited for nothing. But then he continued with 'I'm trying to get a picture of baby smiling for your scrapbook'. OH. MY. GAHD. I am not ashamed to tell you that I cried. Big gloppy snotty tears. We would give it another 2 weeks and see if she maintained the pregnancy. 30 day check, and we had a kiddo visible on the screen.

First Baby Photo :)

The next 11 months felt like they took forever. It was so much fun to see Rose flourish as a preggo mare. Again, she's naturally lean so people would ask 'are you sure she's really pregnant?' Oh yes, she's tubby for Rose! When I first felt the little squirmer kick and move in her belly, it hit me that it was real. There was a living baby horse inside my mare! I got so excited. I had names picked out for both colt and filly. I was convinced it would be bay since Rose is liver chestnut and Vitorio is bay. I really didn't have a preference. I would be so ok with another goofball gelding like Reggie, or a filly. I just wanted a healthy baby! (so cliche, I know). I had a very busy foaling season that year. We had 14 babies born on the farm. It was perfect, that Rose was due at the end of the season and as it happened, everyone had foaled by her due date of May 24. Everyone, except Rose. I had friends and family visiting that week in anticipation of greeting the little one. Well, as we well know, mares have their own schedule. Rose spent night after night gazing out the stall door into the night. So one night I let her out into the paddock and she spent the night gazing in the stall door to her stall. Weirdo mare. She was so miserable those last few weeks. She had pony cankles and her edema on her chest and belly was intense. Finally, FINALLY exactly 2 weeks after her due date, on June 7th, 2014 at 12:45am, she laid down. SHE LAID DOWN! She never lays down. My parents were watching the cameras from 800 miles away online which was so incredibly cool that they could be a part of it even after Rose didn't hatch while they were visiting. I texted 'ITS TIME!' and my Dad wanted to know how I could tell. Rose rarely lies down on her own, and she was down, and rolling. I zoomed the quarter mile to the barn just in time to see feet emerging. Everything went smoothly and in less than 5 minutes I said hello to a brand new, bright red chestnut filly! She was HUGE and had legs for days! And wait a minute....chestnut?! Yup. Bright chestnut with lots of chrome. 4 socks, a star and a nike swoosh kiss snip on her lip.

Tada!

I. Can't. Reach. Dis. Stuff.

The sass is strong with this one.

She was everything I dreamed of! I was over the moon. There were tears and that's why half of my photos are blurry, I couldn't see them clearly so they looked like award winning shots when I took them. Then the fun really began. Her little personality was so endearing. She would meet me at the stall door when I came in and want snuggles. But she was such a sass monster! When I head/neck clipped her to get some baby photos, she showed early on that she had mastered the mad mare face. It was so precious. 

Getting to watch her grow, and change colors. After I sent in her registration papers, I was sure I'd have to send them in again... she went from bright chestnut, to DARK liver chestnut. Darker than her mother! Then gradually over the winter lightened back to a honey chestnut. For a long time she was chestnut and flaxen, and now her mane and tail have sadly started to darken so she is a strawberry blonde. It is impossible to get good photos of her because she is a pocket pony. Unless I have someone with me, I can't get her off me. She's such a personable girl who always wants to be with you. We had a photographer come and last minute even though she wasn't gussied up, we added her to the list and she strutted her stuff!

Her little floof tail!

This wasn't even the darkest she got

I watched her grow. I weaned her (she was furious that we took the milk truck away). She was so independent and headstrong she never cried for her friends when I took her in to work with her. Dream baby. 

I moved home and the Nerd Herd migrated with me. One night in March, 2.5 months before her 2nd birthday I got a call from the owner of the barn where she was at that said she had cut her legs and it was bad. I dropped what I was doing and raced to the barn. She was down in the mud and wouldn't get up. She had been playing and stepped over the board placed against the barn (was a kind of quansett hut with curved metal roofing that wrapped around to the ground) and gotten her right feet wedged just right that when she pulled to step away, it sliced. We called the vet and he arrived but it was so muddy he wanted to take her back to the clinic to do xrays and examine her better. 

Nothing was broken, but it was bad. The hind leg was the worst of it. It sliced diagonally through all of the structures from her outer pastern, the foot was able to flop back. When the vet brought me back into the surgical suite to ask me what her purpose would be (he wanted to euthanize her that night) because you could see the bursa from her coffin joint. It was pretty gruesome. Looking back, I think looking at it from the scientific standpoint. My brain flashed into naming the structures and picturing all the musculature, tendons/ligaments etc that had been sliced. Keeping me from completely freaking out. 

If you're sensitive, don't look at this next photo:

Hind leg injury. You could see the bursa of her coffin joint.

He recommended that we euthanize her. He wasn't sure on the prognosis. IF it would heal and if she would even be able to walk. I was devastated. But in that moment, I knew I couldn't just quit. I had dreamed her up and brought her into existence. I needed to give her the chance. I told him to clean it out, patch her up and we were going for it. He cleaned the wounds and stitched up both legs (front was more of a vertical slice rather than the diagonal horizontal slice through the hind), bandaged them and put a cast on the hind. They would leave her like that for 2 days and re-evaluate. I was able to see her as she came out of the anesthesia  and got to her feet. She was able to get up and stand. I kissed her nose and told her she's a fighter and Mom would be back to see her. I made the big burly vet cry.

 Princess getting her beauty rest

Her 'Moon Boots'. Each time they changed them, they'd use diff color vet wrap.

Rainbow Girl. <3

They were able to take the cast off and put her in a gauze/quilt/duct tape 'moon boot'. For the next month, I visited her as often as I could. Did I mention I was unemployed at this time? Yup. The day her injury happened, I had quit the job I moved home to take after an unpleasant encounter with my boss. Nice. No income and my pony is in the hospital. Thank GOD she was insured! I visited her and for the first few weeks, she wasn't eating much. Her pain was difficult to manage. I was heartbroken. I had convinced myself that she was in too much pain and was trying to prepare myself for the worst but finally, after a few weeks. She started taking interest in her grain, would perk up when she heard the treat wrappers.  She had the vet techs wrapped around her little hooves. They were so taken with her and my update phonecalls each morning were raving about what a good girl she was and how sweet she was. So many of them commented on 'are you sure she's Arabian??' Haha, she won some fans over for the breed! I was given the all-clear to start hand walking her in the arena for 5-10 minutes when I was out. Between that and the acupuncture treatments she was getting, her pain seemed to become manageable. Her limp was awful and I felt like I was torturing her when I walked her. After about a week and a half of walking her, she felt good enough to rear when I brought her in the arena. SHE PUT HER FULL WEIGHT ON HER HIND LEGS! Long story short, we set a date for her to come home. I was so nervous bc I would be in charge of her bandage changes and did not want to screw that up. Miraculously, a week before she came home, the bandages came off her front leg. 2 days before that trip, Doc took the bandages off the hind leg and said it was good to go. 

Then commenced 4 months of stall confinement. I could hand walk her daily for 30-40 minutes but that was it. We wanted everything internally to heal before she was allowed to be a horse again. She was so fed up with stall rest and I generally started out with a pony-kite at the end of my lead rope when we began walking. She had fun bucking and leaping but I wouldn't let her go anywhere. She was doing airs above the ground in her very best Lipizanner impression. Spot. On. There wasn't a great place to start turning her out because as I mentioned previously, the mud management at that barn was not the best. Paddocks were ankle-fetlock deep in mud and the turnouts were perfect sized but full of knee high weeds. But we managed. Slowly she gained her strength back. Sadly. Xrays did confirm that the pastern/coffin joint on her front leg was collapsing which is why her limp had not gone away as she healed. While the hind leg had taken the worst of the injury, 60% of her weight is borne on the front legs, and more strain with the hind leg out of commission so... low ringbone on that joint. Vet said she may need surgery (plates/pins or alcohol injections) to fuse the joint. I opted to let her grow and see what happens naturally instead of putting her through another procedure and months of stall rest/pain. Thus far, she has remained pretty sound. Has occasional gimpy days if she steps wrong (but who doesn't?). I will be starting to break her out this spring, to see how much she can handle. I gave her an extra year of just being a horse and not pushing her, so that she could heal naturally. We'll see what nature accomplished and if I have a trail pony I can have fun with. I'm just so so happy that she was able to endure that ordeal and is still with me today. My fighter. The miracle.

If I am able to get her broke out and ride her. There will be ugly crying happening the first time I get on her back. Guaranteed. 

Love my Nenner girl. <3

Doing her best Princess Elsa

Pretty Girl

Pocket Pony

 

Introduction Part Two

Regal Review RF

(Regal Basque x Wild Eyed Rose)

 

 

 Reggie's sire: Regal Basque

Known to those that love him as Reggie, Sir Reginald, Wedgie, Goober etc. is a 2003 model Half-Arabian/NSH. Reggie is the founding member of my Nerd Herd. He is a card carrying member of the Goober Club (holds the office of President) as well. I have known him since he was just this little fluffball:

I mean, seriously!

I fell in love with him soon after he was foaled. I visited he and Rose before they were mine at my friends' farm near my hometown. I was in college at the time so wasn't around much and he left after weaning for training and the show life. He showed the fall of my senior year in the yearling class at National Show Horse finals and was Reserve National Champion. 

Such a handsome fellow!

Upon graduation, I took a job as a groom at a show barn about 3.5 hours from home. This allowed me to still come home for long weekends and of course I as out at the barn every chance I got. Reggie was home from his escapades in the show ring, awkward and growthy and still a stallion. I doted on him. There was just something about him. He had grown from that adorable fuzzy foal into a handsome, rose-grey yearling. At NSH Finals in September, working at the Stallion Row table, I listened with my heart on the floor as person after person inquired about Reggie and whether or not he was for sale. I silently braced myself for his inevitable departure. Such is the risk when you fall in love with horses that don't belong to you. In late October I was on my way to a party my employer was hosting when I got a phone call that changed my life. I had been body clipping, cleaning stalls, turning horses out, exercising horses at my friends' farm whenever I was home for a good 5-6 years at this point. I was told that they appreciated my work so much and that they were so proud of my accomplishments. Long story short, I had to pull over and cry happy tears because I had just accepted the gift of the horse that I adored. I was stunned. People don't just gift you Reserve National Champion horses... Do they?! I was convinced I was dreaming. I still occasionally pinch myself just to be sure.

A month later it was official. Reggie was mine. For the duration, he would stay where he was and I would be home on the weekends. Only this time, I didn't have to worry about him being sold and leaving me. Because *I* called the shots now! Even more incredible, Reggie is half-sibling to my all-time favorite show mare, Second Edition's Debut aka Honey. That mare... was incredible. She didn't trot, she floated. I am heartbroken that I cannot find photos or videos of her showing. The interwebs seem to be devoid of that lovely mare and that is a crying shame. It was on my bucket list to sit in her saddle. Just once was all I needed. But sadly, she passed in 2010. This is the only photo I can find of that gorgeous girl. 

Reggie and I have grown up together. He went from halter trained, gawky teenager to a lovely, mischievous saddle horse. Reggie has the biggest personality. He is a dorkfish to the core. Never takes anything seriously (except goofing around). When I had him in training, getting finished as a Country English Pleasure horse, he would aggravate his trainer to the point she would smack his shoulder and yell at him, and then turn back to him and she'd say 'Ohhhh, Reggie' while she laughed because he would make the most adorable, beguiling face. No matter what he does, you cannot stay mad at him. It is impossible. Dare you to try it. Make sure you bring treats, because he's going to con you out of them when you stop being mad at him. Guaranteed. He may grow old, but he will never grow up.

I was a good boy?!

Reggie is 15 this year. 15, going on 4. I don't have the money to put him into serious training (not to mention, my desired trainer is 8 hours away) so he and I are figuring this out on our own. We showed under saddle. I may share the videos from his first few shows at a later date. This post has enough Reggie-spam for one day. We also tried our hands at halter at the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show and earned a Top Ten. He was perfect, I was a ball of nerves. He's now semi-retired, at least from the show ring. If we find something fun, we may attend. We will be working on getting back into sync with each other this summer. Both of us need to get into a shape that isn't round. The crew at the barn goes on trail rides over weekends in the summer. I usually hold down the home fort while they're gone but we may try to go with on a ride or two this summer. We've got some work to do. Reggie is working on learning how not to be a show horse. On our inaugural trail ride just down the road last summer, he was pretty sure he was trying to impress his new friends and had his head perfectly set (on a loose rein, LMAO and people asked why I only had a teeny tiny curb on him in the show ring. He sets his head perfectly in a snaffle bit with no contact, that's why). He even added some fun vocalizations along the way. Such a drama king! At least he looked pretty doing it? To quote Aaron Rodgers, Reggie is going to learn to "R-E-L-A-X" this summer. 

Custom Packers tack from WhinneyWear!

Horrible cell phone pic, but schooling for halter in Scottsdale!

Gooberface

The Adorable-Snowman

Strutting his stuff

 Moar treats, woman!

Creeeeeeeeeeper

He is my first horse. He is my heart horse. He is a blast to ride but he is not an easy ride. He has all kinds of buttons and levers to push and pull to make him do what he's supposed to. He HATES walking. Has to be forced and worked down to it. Why walk when you can trot or CANTERRRRRRR and show off your inner desert stallion? He has taught me so much, not only about riding and horsemanship, but about myself. I have patience I never knew I possessed. He is a constant comedian, or to quote my favorite author, "a constant jackass." Unintentionally of course. He is just wired that way. He's constantly just thinkingmovingdoing. I. Adore. That. Horse. When I am with him, everything in the world disappears. When I sit in his saddle, I am complete. He is the gift I did not know I needed.

My Happy Place

My Heart <3