Treat Yo Self.....Or The Dog

So I'm not sure if you guys were aware but Cyber week is THE SHIT.

I've bought almost all my Christmas gifts online, for a huge discount, and even gotten a few things for myself- even though I HATE spending money on stuff and things. I would love to believe I love it, but it really does hurt my soul.

This week, Smartpak was having a HUGE sale. Jackie texted me that they had FITS breeches for $80 and I literally sped home to order some.

Didnt care. NEEDED.

For $80 I couldn't even say no. NO question. I've been obsessed with FITS forever, because FITS. Theyre usually like eleventy billion dollars. I'm a broke bitch and could not justify EVER spending more than $40 on breeches, ever. HA.

I also had a $10 coupon from Smartpak ( LOVE them and their customer service btw).

100% JUSTIFIED.

Once I had them in the cart though, & shipping was tacked on, I couldnt do it. (Normally shipping is free for orders over $75 BUT with my coupon, it was $70. DAMMIT COUPON!!!).

I battled inwardly for many minutes.

UGH, I couldnt do it. I actually NEED breeches, but I simply could not make myself click the button.

WHY OH WHY?? SALE. COUPON. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??

My mother has done too good a job teaching me about finances. Its a real tragedy I couldnt be irresponsible for 3 seconds and just get it over with.

So what did I do? Bought Levi a jacket.

Because he obviously needs more.

It was 79% off okay?

Dont judge me!!

SEVENTY NINE PERCENT OFF.

That means it was $8. Worth it.

Levi will look very dapper in his new Navy and Green Jacket.

THE MOST DAPPER.

What Do Wednesday

This episode of What Do comes a little late, but I was dealing with my fire breathing dragon. Apparently, in typical OTTB fashion I only get 3 good rides in a row and then he has to be an asshole.

Moving on from that, this weeks topic stems from the ever entertaining "OTTB Connect" group on FB. Truly excellent time waster if youre bored and want to converse with other OTTB enthusiasts about various topics surrounding all things Thoroughbred. Sometimes there's even some real Jerry Springer drama and it gets fun to watch!

Recently someone posted asking advice on how to get her horses' tail to grow; specifically wanting to know if anyone had success with slinky tail bags.

I jumped on the opportunity to write a novel, since most of us know I am exceptionally passionate & obsessed with tails. All it really did was lead to an absurd amount of FB notifications, but a few people asked me follow up questions and I felt like the tail queen for a few minutes.

This might be a lengthy post, because obsessed, so settle in or carry on.

I do believe the obsessive obsession it started when my first horse came to me with no tail and I was like, no, this isnt OK.

Precious

Dolly's tail eventually grew back, but it took literally 7 years. Her tail was the most gorgeous tail I've seen though and I loved it. Flaxen is absolutely the best. So happy I have another (semi) flaxen tail in my barn.

Tail obsession continued with a horse named Murphy. Literally the MOST perfect tail of any horse I've ever seen ever and it makes me sad he was only a project horse.

Flaxen and huge and long and wonderful

Spirit on the other hand had THE WORST tail. By worst I mean hardy anything at all. I stressed over his locks for years. Not only did I keep it up 100% of the time, he got treated with a double dose of my "special secret tail grow" program. It took years for his tail ever gain length and it never did get volume. But was always perfectly white!

Yankee, thankfully, was blessed with many hairs. His tail was full, shiny and grew like crazy. I drove myself mad trying to keep it perfect.

For most of his time with me, I kept it in a ball to prevent breakage and sunburns. There is NOTHING that looks more ratchet than a red tail that supposed to be black. IMO. I wont have it.

The tail ball

I used to shave all my horses tails at the top, but I decided that it took too much upkeep and if you ever screwed up doing it (like I did often) it looked REALLY bad. I doubt I will ever cut any of my horses tails like most eventers do these days. I prefer full, banged tails. Just my preference though, some horses look sexy AF with a trimmed tailbone.

To break it down, I have 5 major things I do for tails, aka "special secret tail grow":
1) Biotin supplement
2) excellent, high fat, high protein diet with plenty of forage
3) Cowboy magic & MTG
4) tail ball
5) regular trims

The tail ball only requires a human hair tie (less likely too pull out hairs) and old socks. I actually learned this technique from an Arabian trainer I worked for in Middle School and it WPRKED. All her horses tails dragged the ground. I HATE tail bags. They always come out and rarely work. I've tried literally every kind thats ever been made and never been able to find one I like.

 Tail ball=golden

Before you braid, you Cowboy Magic that bitch upppp. This provides a leave in conditioner and prevents hair breakage. You divide the tail into three even sections and braid LOOSELY. Then you double under a few times until you have a braid ball, pulling braid through itself. Then, pull a sock over the braided ball and duct tape where the knot balls up. Then you pull the remaining sock fabric over the duct tape and the ball and BAM, there ya go. I know that was super helpful and not at all confusing.

I would usually un-do, re brush and re-cowboy magic every 2-3 weeks or as needed. Takes a TON of practice to get perfect but once you nail it, you gucci. Once a month I will trim a little bit off the bottom to keep the edge clean and sharp. This also gets rid of straggles and overall makes a better picture.

Just checking on hairs, nothing to see here

Its important to note that I use a human hairbrush and un-tangle from the bottom up! Less hairs get pulled out!

In addition to that, I fed a biotin supp form Smartpak. I TRULY saw a difference when I began feeding  this. Originally it was suggested to help Yankee's terrible feet, but I noticed his hairs would grow like weeds. Now all my horses get it 12 months out of the year. Its miraculous.

Sometimes, I would MTG the tailbone. A lot of people, myself included, think it helps stimulate hair growth. The key is to not over saturate and ONLY get near the skin/pores. I hear this stuff reeks, so its up to you if you use it. Also have to shake really really well. Hassle, but I've seen it work not only on tail hair, but injured areas as well. Its a pretty magical substance.

When I first got B his tail was....wimpy

First ride, May 30th

This simply would not do. I banged it IMMEDIATELY, cutting off a solid 5 inches of hair from the bottom. For those that may not know what this is, it means to cut a very straight edge across the bottom. Some people high bang their horses tails (like I do with B and did with Spirit) because the tails will never really get volume. Others bang low, like I did with Yankee. This does wonder for a tail and if you're lazy and dont want to obsess over tails like I do, just bang the shit out of it!

I began a strict regime of MTG because I could NOT keep a tail ball in his tail. I firmly believe that it was too thin to hold one in, so for months I kept it VERY short and MTG'ed, Cowboy Magicked the ends and started him on Biotin.

7 months has made a difference, but I doubt it will ever be truly full like yanks is.

For now, his tail is being kept up in a braid and vetwrap combination because socks refuse to stay intact in his tail. Not ideal, but keeps it clean and up out of the way so it doesnt get snagged on stuff and things.

So dear readers....what do you do for tails? Do you obsess like I do? Give none? Do you wash once  a year and leave it the rest of the time? Brush once a week? Tailbag it? Do you just not care?

Feed me your secrets!

Baby Wins The Weekend

For part one of this adventure click HERE and catch up.

This was going to be a three-part story but due to a minor incident at feeding time on Friday, Bacardi was a tad lame/distracted on Saturday, so that day was a wash.

Sunday was brilliant though. My parental units and The Boy came out to oogle the property since I obviously bragged about it A LOT, and take pictures. Because pictures are everything. The Boy wins all the awards. Prepare yourselves for a deluge of Bacardi spam. Do not make fun of him for his uneven clip *crying laughing emoji*

Sunday taught me 3 things 1) My baby OTTB is a BAMF. 2) My eq is REALLY bad lately 3) Red plaid leggings are the ONLY thing I want to wear form now on, because of obvious reasons.

Bacardi blew me away this weekend. Trailering, being in a new place, pasture boarded alone, awkwardly high temperatures, being ridden more than usual...all pretty high stressful things.

He reacted like you would expect any mildly seasoned show horse; excited but not fractious. Settled into his job like he had been there done that.  I was expecting a fire breathing dragon that would only be controlled with nose chains and basically be unrideable, but he sure showed me.

Stretch like pro

Warm-up was great. We were in the indoor with TWO other horse and a barn tour was being given. Oh and I should mention the other two horses were ridden by teenagers, aka dont know how to share arenas, and were jumping. He literally did not give a fuck. I almost fell out of my saddle. The other part of my brain was like, OK, when is the explosion happening.

But it never came.

It was about a thousand degrees in the indoor, so we migrated outside and he handled the scenery change without  fuss. I was REALLY surprised he didnt have a conniption leaving his 'friends' in the indoor.

Yep. None given.

I wanted to keep the lesson simple, so we schooled 20m circles & 3 loop serpentines. Focusing on geometry, since I am still pretty terrible at it even after high school, and maintaining energy. I am making a point to ride him forward forward forward to avoid him breaking a the 3rd vertebrae, in an attempt to create lift in the shoulders, and drive from behind. Obviously, not 100%, but he's getting the idea.

Very up, many energies. 

I cant stop looking at the action he produces in that big chesnut body. Its so UP. MANY LOFTS. So energy.

Hocks. Knees. Back. SO ROUND. 

Warning: major brag moment. Please keep scrolling if you are sickened by such actions.

I think my caption on insta of this pic was "is this horse really five?" An OTTB at that, five years old, has moments like this one of self carriage, complete connected energy from back to front and is 98% working correctly. I wouldn't have believed you if you had told me when I first brought him home that 6 months later we would have this kind of progress. This guy shows up to WORK. Every damn time.

Love him.

OK, I'm over that now.

His canter work still needs some work but the transitions are coming along nicely and we mostly stay balanced through them all. I'm wondering if all OTTBs have basically flawless canters, because Yankee's was and continues to be his best. Same with B.

Looking like an adult

In these, he's doing well not falling forward and maintaining upward energy. Still needs some strength, but major improvements. I noticed the left lead is worse. Odd, considering thats usually the opposite for OTTBs.

Classic B. Broekn at the 3rd and a little on the forehand. When riding at first it feels amazing because his natural gait is so wonderful, but really, hes curling behind to avoid working properly. Naughty naughty.  As you can see in the photo, I raise my hands a little in coordination with inside hand half halts, deep seat, and inside leg for energy...

Schooling seat is bad. Eq horrible. Look away.

3 strides later, he's a little more active behind and uphill. RF still hits the ground before LH, but this will come with strength!  Doesnt make for pretty pictures since your seat/inside leg works overtime, but whatever, for learning purposes it works.

Overall the red nugget was an angel and more than reached my expectations- he blew them away with the force of mild hurricane.

Prolly the most active hind leg stretchy trot ever

He was also rather good getting in the trailer on the way home. *Only* took a half an hour, but we went molasses slow with it and did not push him at all. Its like he has to think about it for a while and then just accepts it and gets in without a fuss. Literally. He got in and out halfway maybe 27 times before he just looked at me, huffed, and walked in and started munching hay like it was no big deal.

Plus side on him refusing to get OFF once he's on is you can load by yourself and not worry about him backing off before you can get the rear door closed. Yay?

But yeah getting off is another battle royale on its own.

In time.

Bacardi Has A Fieldtrip

What is this, TWO posts in one day?

I don't think this has ever happened, for me, in the history of blog, so can we please just take a moment..

OK! Today was adventurous. In many positive, and some kind of negative ways.

Bacardi went on a fieldtrip, as we have gathered form the title. He was a mostly good baby OTTB and it was a mostly positive experience.

Majesty

I say mostly because we had....some learning experiences.

Yesterday we worked on getting in the trailer. After 2 hours, we came to an understanding and he got 2 feet on. That was HUGE. I was determined to get somewhere with him in a non aggressive way. It took 2 hours of insane patience, but we got there. And I think deepened our bond a bit too.

This weekend my boarder and I planned to move the babes to an indoor arena about 10 minutes from our farm. She's letting us pasture board for the weekend and utilize her MASSIVE indoor for an insanely cheap price. So happy I could die.

The biggest road block was getting there.

This AM though I was confident he would load and he did! After about 15 min he loaded all the way on and was just OK. He was a little scared, but trusted me enough to remain calm. Something bad must've happened to him in a trailer...feel bad for B. Lilly loaded right up, surprisingly, and we were on the way.

Just want to give myself a huge high five for stupidly loading two flighty beasts on a trailer by myself and not injuring any of us. That was dumb...but successful. Go me. I would say I'll never do that again, but I seem to be shorthanded on barn bitches, so it will definitely happen again.

Getting OFF the trailer was another story.

Not only is he afraid to get on, he is also terrified to get off. The other 2 times we've trailered I've attached the lunge line and then stood waaaaaay out of the way behind him, opened the divider up as wide as it would go and he would just turn himself around and come out front first. Always went well.

Yeah he wasn't having that today. Took him about ten minutes to muster up the courage to get leave, and when he did he slipped on poop on the way out and fell on his bum.

 Excellent. Really great in building confidence. Face fucking palm.

Luckily just a few scrapes, no blood...but he was a bit rattled so I left him for a few hours with hay and decided to come back later to ride.

He was truly excellent for our ride, even with all the buzz and a new place. He was a little tense at first but relaxed into stretchy walk and trot within 5 minutes. A little stiff in the canter, assuming from his little fall, so I just worked him at the trot-which was more than enough!

It was so delicious to ride on solid footing for once. It been 6 months since I've even seen an arena and it was heaven. I almost died of happiness. Like, I think my heart stopped for a second or two when I walked into the arena.

Here's some super grainy, really terrible, self taken video screenshots.

Ugh, he's so awesome

Schooled transitions, halts, being round and through, serpentines and 10, 15 & 20m circles. It was a dream. Bacardi didnt even lose his shit being alone. That horse is a true eventer. He pours his heart into every workout. He was never distracted, not one time while his feet were moving. Phenomenal. Claps for B.

After about 45 minutes the workers showed up and began bringing horses in & he started to lose grip on his sanity a bit. I figured that was a good time to stop, and we called it a day.

For a baby, he's shown up to the party every time. Yeah, hes a bit spastic and has his issues. But for everything he's been through in the last 2 weeks with Yankee leaving, and even getting IN the trailer, I couldn't be more proud.

Little B is going place someday, I can feel it!

How stinkin cute are these nuggets

Tucked him in with his barnmate for the night and left him to mull over the days activities. If horses even do that. Can't wait to go back. Hopefully we can get actual pictures and more fun updates for tomorrow!

The American Way

So Thanksgiving has passed and we are hardcore into the holiday season. Christmas dec's are going up, holiday music is on the radio and Black Friday madness is upon us. We've even already had our first snow!

In true American fashion, you know, wanting for things we dont need to survive/function but still lusting after anyways because Americans, I am now silently wishing for Santa to bring me a few things this Christmas.

 I love Christmas; I enjoy giving gifts to my friends and family, I love spending time with said friends and family and I love eating! The holidays just make me a happy person!

As an equestrian it is really hard to come up with an answer to "What do you want for Christmas this year?" Well obviously everything. But I cant exactly expect anyone but myself to drop hundreds of dollars on a gift for me. I wish I could ask for the things I can't afford, but really, its not about the gifts-its the thought people put into it! I try to keep that in mind during the season.

That being said.

I have 3 lists. Not because I'm greedy, but because I am a realist and practical...but still also wanty.

List 1: Things I Want & Cant Afford and Other People Cant Afford Either Without a Second Mortgage
List 2: Things I Want But Shouldnt Get Because...
List 3: Things I NEED But Don't Want

Let us please swoon over the first item on my firs unrealistic list at a cool $2900, used, ...Voltaire saddles

The Lexington

The Elkton

Can we please just take a moment of silence to appreciate the sexiness and practicality of these saddles.

I of course don't want BOTH because that would be excessive. But I cant decide which one I would love to own. I have a stupid long leg and have been riding in saddles that literally fit no part of me since forever. I've always fit for the horse first and dealt with the saddle.

Exhibit A:

Long legs do not fit Burney

Exhibit B:

Long legs do not fit Crosby either & actually put me in a terrible position

Both of the Voltaire saddles are known to fit high withered TB's and stupid legs people like myself. I cant imagine how much better I might ride in a saddle that ACTUALLY fits me & is literally made for XC and jumping. And just...so pretty. Cant handle it. Now if I only had a spare $3000+ laying around....

Second item I am currently obsessing over would be the FreeJump stirrups.

These are seriously divine and would look smashing on my future Voltaire saddle, blue please. Or red. Or silver. At about $280-$440 +shipping depending on where you aquire them.  Thats not terrible in contrast to other expensive items...but I don't think I would ever have the balls to ask for fucking stirrups that cost almost $300 for my birthday or christmas. Because they're stirrups. I put my stinky boots in them. I literally only want them because they look sick...and might have some practical usage. I can see how this would improve grip and possibly position. They are also composite which are all the rage. Also, the outside edge is a flexible material allowing for foot to slip out in a fall. Yay safety!

If you're feeling super wealthy you can buy the stirrup leathers that were made specifically for them at another like $100, but plain leathers would work. I just want them okay?

Getting a hold of them is another story! Theyre sold out on the FreeJump website, along with almost everything else they sell.. But I did find them at another online store after some google searching.

Last item I want but know I can never have would be Parlanti Custom Made Tall Boots

Because fucking Parlanti.

No but really, these are beyond gorgeous and I also have never had a pair of tall boots fit my freakish body. I have stupid long legs, as we established before, coupled with man calves from hell. For reference, they are 19 1/3 inches around.... that is extremely uncommon in size 9 measurements. AKA, not offered. I have NEVER had boots that actually reach my knee like theyre supposed to and I've always had to customize them after I buy them anyways with darts or extensions put in the calves.

Exhibit A:

Bout 5 inches too short.
Another prime example of how my saddle doesnt fit me either!

To FINALLY have a pair of boots that are not only gorgeous, but would last forever if I took care of them and actually FIT my body would be a dream come true. Plus you can put an American flag at the top...how freaking cool is that!

Cool enough for about $1042

*GASP* Maybe one day along with the Voltaire....

A tack whore can dream right?

As for List 2, it includes a few things I'm a little wanty about but arent exactly NEED needs. Like a jumping bit for B since I shipped out the one Yankee and B were sharing with Yanks. And it would be excellent if someone could pay to register B with USEA, I've been putting it off. While I think about it, I need to renew my USEA membership for 2015. One day it'd be cool to fork over the $1000 and register for life. I could really use a few more pairs of breeches since all of mine have holes in them, and some riding gloves for the same reason. I also keep forgetting that my XC vest was stolen and I kind of need one to compete. That being said, I've also fallen wearing my beloved Charles Owen helmet about 4 times, and REALLY need to replace it....

Which bring me to the dreaded List 3. The responsible adult list. The one I actually NEED to take care of. But dont want to because shiny horse things that I also kind of need but dont really to function as an adult in real life.

I've pushed a lot of things by the wayside in lieu of horsey bills. They do eat a lot.

I've had a seriously cracked windshield for almost a year now and haven't bit the bullet to fully replace it. I'm sure I will owe taxes this year too like I did last year. I have a huge routine vet bill to pay. I need to get new license plates and a license since I moved states and my tags expired last month. I need to activate my dogs microchip. Medical bills. The adult responsibility list goes on and on....

The strugg is real during the holiday season!

Is there anything that you're truly lusting after for this season?

What Do Wednesday

Another round of What Do is here!

 

First off, is it seriously almost Thanksgiving? Did another week really fly by? Did I really ride 0 times since the last post?

 

Also, B thanks everyone for siding with him on his clip job. He thinks he's too hot to trot.

 

Here's a picture of my mud monster since I did nothing else this week.

 



 Cookiez?

For this round, I am wondering what you all do for bedding. I know this sounds lame, but for anyone with horses at home, like me, you know it its the largest PTA.

 

Even if you don't have horses at home, I want to know what your barn does! Because I am an idea thief. So tell me your secrets.

 

I've battled with what to do for bedding almost my entire horsey life...approx 16 years.

There are 7 things I take into account when I look at bedding:

1) cost 2) durability 3) actual usefulness (this should have a coefficient of 2) 4) ease of cleaning 5) storage 6) availability

 

As new owners way back in the day, we naively bought bagged shavings.

 

 

WORST EVER. I hate shavings from a bag. Hate hate hate. Expensive as all hell @ $6/bag with a min. of 5 per stall. It also only looks pretty for a day. Absolutely useless in terms of soaking ability and cushioning power. Also sticks to everything, Impossible to muck & literally becomes part of blankets and tail hair. The only plus I give it is its storage superpowers. Can be stored outside or inside and stackable. Literally you can get this Satanic shit everywhere. TSC, Rural King, Walmarts, Pet Stores and other grain Stores. 2/6.

 

Then we started buying from the sawmill.

 

 

Which, hands down, is THE BEST. Not only is it cheap ($30 a trailer load), but it stays clean longer, absorbs more, doesn't stick to poop nuggets, easy to muck, provides adequate stall coverage/cushiness and brushes out of coats easily. Also downside is finding a place to store it. If you do not have an indoor area, storing it outside is miserable. More than 25% I would say gets thrown in the wind, literally, and gets ruined by moisture. Also freezes in the winter making it impossible to use. I do prefer this bedding though for summertime. Some people have issues with availability and finding random shit in the sawdust...but I've been lucky. 5/6

 

Other things I've dabbled with is the bagged pellet bedding.

 

 

 Its very expensive for one. About $7/bag. It takes many many bags for one stall. I would say 4 wetted down and 2 dry, for a total of 6-7. The GOOD news is that this bedding last FOREVER, especially if you use 2 dry bags.

 

 

It absorbs like WHOA and one of the pluses is you can LEAVE the wet spots and stir it up. It reabsorbs into the dry bedding! You do have to wet the other 4 bags down, to get the bedding to plump up, which is a PTA. Overall though I love this stuff on limited use or used in tandem with sawdust. Brushes out easy, doesn't stick and is SO easy to clean. Storing it outside can be tricky- if their are holes in the bag the bedding will expand and get ruined before you use it! Best to store inside, but since its bagged, stackable! Also, it seems to be widely available at TSC, Rural Kings and other grain stores in the area. I would give this 4/6.

 

Lastly, I've recently discovered the holy grail of bedding when I can't use sawmill bedding.... Ground corn cobs.

 

Seriously. THE BEST EVER. Might be better than sawdust. $3/bag. Takes about 4 bags per stall, more if you want. Absorption level: MAXIMUM. You can also stir this bedding up like the pellets.

 

 

When it comes to cushion it is very "bouncy". My horses LOVE it. When it comes to cleaning, it is a BREEZE. Nuggets sift right out and you stir up the wet spots. It lasts ages and you only need to add a bag every so often and remove the super soaked spots after about a week. Store inside or out and stackable! Super duper light bags too. It sticks to blankets but brushes right off. Only downside: Bacardi sometimes munches on it. I don't know how available it is nationwide, but I get them at Rural Kings as they are not avail at TSC. 6/6 in my book! 5/6 for everyone else if you don't have Rural Kings.

 

So, dear readers...do tell, what do?!

Stuff & Things

Since the last traumatic ride, I gave B a week off to chill. He also lost his best friend, so I gave him time to cope.

He handled it rather flawlessly considering the Winter Wackies. I can't tell if he just doesnt give any fucks, or he's depressed about it, but he's been surprisingly chill. His QH friend was gone for the entire weekend too, and he literally did not care. He might be defective after all.

It warmed up to a balmy 60* and I begrudgingly purchased a new set of clipper blades (UGH Y U SO EPENSIVE), so I was finally able to attempt to finish clipping the B.

He's not exactly the best little horsie when it comes to clipping. I've been super spoiled by Yankee who would fall asleep while being clipped. It certainly was nice.

B is rather...flinch-y.

Like, more than normal ticklish. I'm guessing hes also only been clipped once, judging by the fear in his eyes. All that considered, he was relatively OK for his second round. I learned he will NOT tolerate his asscheeks being touched, and HATES his neck being clipped. Surprisingly the elbow area was easy, but he did not care for the belly being touched or his flanks. Which pretty much leaves his rump and ribcage. HAH.

Drum roll please.....

like...what is this

srsly what are this

So that happened. Its rather...unique. He literally refused to let me shave his belly or the stripes you see, so he now has a rad, very interesting body clip. I see a new trend starting...maybe?

Most likely not, but I'm pretending that it was on purpose and I'm just gonna roll with it.

The more I look at it though the more it hurts me, so I might twitch the poor lad and shave those stripes off to even him up a bit. He really looks ridiculous.

The side pictured is the prettier one. He had about had enough by the time I got to the other side, even with The Boy force feeding him cookies to distract him. He was twitchin so badly my blades were skippin. He has some lovely crooked lines and track marks on the other side and he's not exactly even either...

Oh the joys of baby horses.

His other adventures this week include rolling in mud and working on some tricks.

He's ridiculously smart when it comes to clicker training (which I've been using for trailer training) & I taught him a few basic tricks in two 15 min sessions.

We've been working on leg holds, with all four paws. Target with nose. "Follow-me", he follows me forward and back. See my instagram for the video! Its pretty neat. Also, he learned the beginning of a bow.

Note the very fashionable barn wear I've spoken of in previous posts

Eventually I think it would be insane if I could could get him to Spanish walk, bow fully, stand on a podium, kiss, count and smile. I think that's what we shall work on this winter in addition to his regular training.

He's so eager to learn and as soon as he sees the whip and clicker hes like GOD YES FEED ME TREATS I WILL DO ALL THE TRICKS.

Its been fun.