Operation Tail Revamp

Since Supertrainer just finished with B and his show training and Yankee is still "broken" (8 more days!!) I have yet to step in the irons which makes for boring blogposts. However, things have happened.

Many things.

Most notably and very exciting for a tail whore like myself, I took Amanda's tail dye tutorial and worked on revamping Yankee's very sad tail. If you know me at all, you know I am obsessed with tails...especially my own horsebeast tails. Bacardi's is gorgeous, but nothing has come close to Yankee's luscious locks when it comes to my string of horses. His tail has always been THE tail and I treat it like its made of glass. I legit SOBBED when we had to cut off part of his tailbone in 2014 and part of his tail hair went with it. I died inside a little. I love it, cherish it and care for it like it were worth a million bucks. Unfortunately due to boarding circumstances in MO, his tail got quite bleached and it made me so sad inside. I also think a lot of the hairs got pulled out due to living outside constantly which also made me more sad. Precious, precious tail hairs.

Therefore, "Operation Tail Revamp" began with me making trip to CVS to buy human hair dye. yup.

THE HORROR

Seriously, I can't look at it. It makes me ill. ORANGE. It was fucking Orange. His tail has never been ORANGE, OMG.

First step was to slather his surrounding bum hairs with the conditioner that came in the package to attempt to keep his butt from getting black dye on it. For those dying to know, I chose "soft black". I chose Garnier, because I have used that in the past with my hair and its just the brand I know. I'm sure there are better brands for dying horse tails, but thats what I chose. I hear ethnic hair dye works well, but I didn't know where to even begin with that.

Why did not one tell me my floor mats were disgusting before I took this pic

Next, I gloved up and mixed the solution and started applying it from the top down. Made sense to me. Luckily it was a cold day, so no flies...but if you do this in summer I recommend slathering horse with fly spray.

I am a messy SOB so I took extra care to not get dye on my clothes, body or the rest of his body. Shocker- I managed to get a huge streak down his butt in the red so he has a lovely black skid mark on his ass. Go me.

Then, I braided it up, with gloves on still, doubled under and stuffed in a plastic bag then vet wrapped the top for security. Then we waited.

Amanda warned against plastic bags  in your horses' tail if they are spooky, but Yanks could give a shit about nothing so I just assumed it would be fine and he was. Literally fell asleep. 

Do you guys love my old shitty barn?

I sat on the floor (safety first) and watched Yankee doze while I played on insta because addicted, and after 30 min, took his tail down and rinsed it. Per Amanda instructions I did NOT shampoo, just rinsed thoroughly and then when it dried Cowboy Magicked the whole tail. 

BAM! Gorgeous tail.

SWOON. Thats better. & I swept up the mats a bit.

Seriously, this is an amazing "trick" and I don't give a shit if anyone screams cruelty, his tail is the bomb.com again and it makes me happy as a pig in mud. JUST LOOK AT IT.

I choose not to "event" the tail at the top by pulling the hairs to give the tailbone a sleek look. I personally can't stand it and it reminds me of rat tails. But thats just me and my horses. For some it looks really nice, just too fake IMO. I do bang the ends though.

So that was that. Thanks Amanda for your wealth of knowledge and things. 

Also, Yankee moved to The Palace (EME) a week early because Braggles left for his new job.I wasn't mad about it, because I literally loathe cleaning stalls and it freed up so much time for me this week.

Mostly though, I was so so sososososososooooo happy to have my boys together at the same barn again. Yankee settled right in at EME and I think he will do great there! His lease already started even though he can't be ridden until May 20th and jumped until June 15th, but all is well and good in my little corned of the world.

PRECIOUS

What Do Wednesday: Pro Rides

I'm Looping together the Penny Oaks (PO) wrap up within a Wednesday because a) I don't have media b) I am generally curious on opinions. So cough them up!

Penny Oaks almost didn't happen, so I was incredibly grateful I wouldn't  be eating my entry fee (which as most of us know, is NOT cheap for eventing). PO cancelled the XC  phase about 3 days out from the start, due to torrential rains, and a lot of my barn thought of saying screw it and not going..

But they went and my lil nugget went right along with. I was a little upset I missed a lot of firsts. Braided for the first time, first USEA show, first dressage test, etc.

I am a little miffed no one took pics of him looking spiffy, because apparently he really did look great. I got a few FB messages from friends telling me how wonderful he looked and how good he was!

I forgave EME though, because essentially, PO organizers condensed Dressage and Stadium and ribbons into one day, with minimal planning and it was hectic as all fuck. Also Supertainer had 8 riders and 3 horses she was riding herself. Keep that tidbit in mind.

3 weeks leading up to the show Supertrainer was riding B everyday and she schooled him XC twice, which ended up not being needed, but I was happy it was done regardless (GREAT rides) She said those weeks his flatwork was really lovely and she actually adored riding him! Made me happy to hear that from my trainer. *heart sings* He was a little trickier over fences and continued with his trend of refusing everything the first time. ARGH!

Leading in to the show, out goals were 1) stay in arena 2) all four feet on the ground 3) don't get E from refusals.

A tall order for my unpredictable nugget.

From what I heard from Supertrainer, B was incredible in warm-up. Super calm, forward and easy. Then they stepped in the arena. Cue tense and not listening.

However, I got a very grainy, far away video of his test and it was...not bad.

There were two pretty ugly moments, one where he apparently tried to leave the arena and another where he picked up the wrong lead and refused to be brought back to a trot to correct.

 BUT. There were some lovely moments. I thought his first canter departure was wonderful and unexpectedly calm. Calm....I like calm. There was no free walk to be had, mostly wandering eyes, but he didn't jig. Win. NO galloping. No rearing. WIN. And he stayed in the arena. GOOOAL.

Here's a link to the video I DO have.

He earned a respectable 44, which put him in 11th out of 16. NOT too shabby big man!

Supertrainer later admitted to me she had an error in the test (I've watched it 4 times, I didn't see one) and he should have gotten a 42.

So I was MORE than happy with that. Its not great, but REALLy great for B. Overall I was floored with how well he did first time out ever. He mostly kept his wits and there was only half a mini-tantrum. Supertrainer said because of his inattentive brain, she kept his trot VERY in check which I think was a brilliant move. Asking for more would have been asking for disaster.

On to stadium, Supertrainer said he was literally perfect. We were so worried about him refusing that she rode with such concentration and determination on course, that she missed a fence completely and was eliminated on technicality... WHOMP whomp . HAHA I died. I was like, welp...whatever dude, he went clean. Good on him!

So apparently the fences were not simple and were pretty scary and he took them like a champ. Rocked the 2 stride "combo" so much that she forgot where she was!

I could only laugh. Like, whatever! I probably would have ridden so much worse and forgotten my course, so I didn't care. We came and we conquered my goals for the weekend. 1) stay in a arena 2) all four feet on the ground 3) don't get eliminated from refusals

Also, it was a good experience for him! Perhaps we will continue eventing, perhaps not. Either way I was so proud of him and SO thankful for my trainer for piloting him...even with errors :P

So thats my question. When you pay someone to ride or compete your horse, what is YOUR expectation from them?

I can tell you mine is all about the horse and NOT the ribbon. I could care less about that, I just want a great experience for the horse with a tactful and quiet rider.

ST also took the time to get to know him over 3 weeks and did some great work with him for me when I couldn't. To me, thats worth my money a million times over. Didn't win dressage? Who cares. Went off course in stadium? Whatever, we are all human. Its all good in my book. Even if it had been higher stakes, I still would have been happy given the situation. I got what I expected, which was a calm first outing.

So dear readers, what do? When you're someone to ride, especially if that someone is a pro, do you expect them to be perfect or do you give them some leeway?

Weekend Wrap-Up; Tough Mudder

So while I have the end result of the weekend at Penny Oaks, I have zero media and I am hoping I can get some before I make a post. Until then, I am updating ya'll on the Tough Mudder this weekend; it actually does relate to riding a little bit.

So if you don't know what one is, or haven't done one before, I will say it is definitely as they advertise. Not for the faint of heart or those who don't like getting dirty. I signed up with 11 other people from my Crossfit box, most exponentially more fit than myself and I was incredibly nervous. I also made the mistake of looking up the obstacles beforehand, which only increased my anxiety about it all.

Part of my incredible Crossfit family (including my parents and Bangor- who also CF)

I knew there would be heights to concur, mud to slog through, tight spaces to navigate, walls to climb and miles to run...as well as the electroshock therapy at the end. All to earn to the coveted orange headband and to say you did it.

It all sounds a little insane and cult-like, but so is Crossfit and I enjoy that. Completing a Tough Mudder is on my bucket list, but I honestly dd not believe I actually could with zero training. We had to sign up for the one in May instead of July, since some of our crew is deploying (military) which meant if I wanted to train by running it would have to be outside in the wintertime.

Moral of the story; I didn't train at all and in hindsight it was OK, but beforehand I was FREAKING out that I would actually keel over and die from rhabdo.

To describe the experience is impossible. You just have to do it. I can say that it felt incredibly surreal, like I wasn't actually doing any of it. Mostly because it was so fucking crazy I couldn't believe I was doing it. 

From start to finish, it was an incredible time. The organization was incredibly accommodating for hosting such a large number of competitors with bag drops, tape, war paint, changing rooms, hoses afterwards, beer afterwards (free), water before and after as well as snacks and energy drinks every mile or two along the race (also free) and photogs!

They got us amped with the most American warm-up ever and a loud group national anthem. I was pumped and energized and ready to go. Once we were off, we came a to a tunnel in the first 400m of the race and chanted USA all the way through it...hardcore.

Then we ran. A lot. I was dying, but then settle din a bit. having a team next to you and everyone else around motives tired legs to keep going and I just kept saying 9 more miles, 9 more miles. We came to a massive hill and climbed it in the mud and then the real fun began. First few obstacles were easy and spread very far apart. It was so much running. So. much. running. My team kept creeping away from the 3 "anchors", myself, my dad and my friend K. We eventually caught up at the first massive and daunting obstacle. 

We had to climb 15 feet up then launch ourselves onto a slingshot and try and ring the bell and drop 15 feet into water. It was terrifying and I almost didn't do it. 

I sat at the top with hundreds of eyes watching me and stuttered to jump.

But I did it. I never thought I could or would. 

Hitting the ice cold water at the bottom of my jump made me feel ALIVE and I was so proud of myself for overcoming one of my fears.

We trucked on through mud and barbed wire, rope climbs and more walls. 

Bangor and myself before the race

A lot of it was pretty standard stuff. Slog through mud here, swim through here, jump over walls here, run some more. 

The next big challenge was a team log carry- up and over walls and hills. That was truly fun to do as a team and test the teamwork!

I ran every mile up until mile 6 then tapped out. I seriously knew if I tried to push myself farther I would actually collapse. I took walk breaks on the uphill and ran when I could elsewhere. At this point, there were a fuckload of rocks in my shoes too and we taped them on, so I couldn't exactly take them off easily. 

It was getting slightly miserable.

Next was the Arctic Enema. The water in the challenges before had been cold, but nothing like this. I thought I knew what I was getting into, but I truly had zero clue just how cold water could feel. 

Thats my teammate chad and then my head to the far left , HAH

We had to slide into it and OH MY GOD it startled me awake. Luckily too, because by mile 8 I was dragging. 

It was the coldest I've ever felt in my life and it made me thankful I've never fallen in a lake in winter time. We had to climb a wall in the challenge and I almost didn't make it my hands were so numb. 

One year, a man died in there because he had a heart attack...kind of crazy.

Moving on from that, the course got much more hilly. It also started to rain and my shoes were full of rocks. If we hadn't been at mile 9, I don't know if I could have forced myself on, but I did.

It was here that I wasn't really sure what was keeping going. to say I was exhausted is an understatement and I was absolutely in agony from the knees down. Every step killed and I felt it in my soul. But I had to finish! I was so close!

I skipped Mt Everest & and the monkey bars over ice, because of my shoulder, which made me sad to not have "fully done" the whole course.

Mt Everest was more daunting in person

All that was left was the "Muddy Mile" "Cage Crawl", "Pyramid Scheme" and "Electrotherapy".

Cage Crawl

The Muddy Mile was challenging simply because the mud was sticky and the challenge was taxing. We got through it as a team though, as with everything else. Cage Crawl was my second favorite  and led up to Pyramid , which was the hardest by far to complete. It involved stacking humans end on end then pulling the chain up to the top. Its hard to describe, and took ages to get everyone through.

Muddy Mile

Pyramid

Then, our last obstacle. Electrotherapy. I was limping by this time and was ready to be done. I had been shocked by horse fences before and really thought nothing of this obstacle. Simple, walk through, be done. Then, I watched my first teammates go through and I heard the loudest pops I've ever heard in my life. So many swear words.

The rest of us were like, WTF why, and then I was like fuck it, threw my arms up and charged through.

Kind of like this (not me)

I was immediately thrown on my ass by the power of a shock across the neck and literally cried out as I shredded my pants and flailed in the electricity to get up out of the mud. Each volt I felt in my teeth and I kind of blacked out a bit. The end seemed so far away and now that I knew how powerful the shocks were, I was unwilling to move. I think I got zapped about 8 more times on the way out and Bangor escaped with not one shock. How, I will never know, but that was truly the worst thing I've ever felt in my life and I won't do that again, ever. You couldn't pay me, seriously. Luckily, Legionarie's (those who do more than one) never have to do it again and go around that obstacle. WHEW.

We weren't as muddy as we actually got in-between some of the obstacles because Pyramid involved a lot of water, but it was still a great pic. We truly earned those headbands. 

They kind of reminded me of horse show ribbons. Cheap and simple, but they mean so much!

Along that crazy 10 mile ride, I learned a lot about myself and that I can do more than I initially thought I could with this body. NO joke, the mudder is mentally more challenging than anything. When things are really shitty, like rocks in your shoes, you can't just complain and it go away- you keep going. When the mud is pulling you down and you want to stop, you keep going. When the water is so cold you feel dragged down, you keep going. When your legs are so tired they're numb, you keep going.

There are so many times in life when I feel all of that- dragged down, pulled down, exhausted, worn out, annoyed, at you end...you keep going! This weekend I learned I CAN keeping despite not wanting to. I know was crazy, and I paid to suffer, but it was worth it to me to finish something I truly had no belief that I could..

We did it!!!

We finished sub 4 hours which was the goal and I just couldn't believe we did it all. I recommend this type of thing if you're an adventure seeker or an extremist but it is definetly not for the faint of heart! I also recommend training a little bit at least beforehand. I am dead today and I'm pretty sure my legs might fall off my body. 

Catching Up

Finally a catch up post! I will try to not bore you all too extensively and I do have some media to break up the wordy words.

We are all aware I haven't been riding. I miss it terribly actually and I have contemplated screwing vets orders and riding Yankee 15 days early but I've been good, I swear it.

Mostly besides work and school, I've been doing laundry, working out, cleaning stalls and mildly obsessing about The OG. Super fun stuff.

Me when I adult for 3 weeks straight

First off; the blog name change and revamp. Its bit drastic, but I had been thinking on it for a while. I started this blog WAY back in the day about 7 years ago when my dreams were bigger than my wallet and talent. I really thought I was going to go to Rolex someday and thus "chasing the dream". Many things got in the way, mainly money, injuries (so. many. injuries. ) and losing my confidence. I literally never want to jump those jumps, to even in my dreams, and I am 100% OK admitting that. If I can just ride my horses and stuff them with cookies I am good. Competing is cool but no the end all be all (still trying to convince myself of this).

The new name actually came about from EME friends. They call Bacardi the Red Dragon because of how he acts in certain situations. For one, his tail in incredibly expressive if you haven't noticed and one of the girls commented that along with his chevron clip, he looked like a dragon. For two, he has a tendency to...explode. Not as badly anymore, but he still throws tantrums. Thus, "training my dragon". I have always been obsessed with OTTBs and retraining them is a massive passion of mine. There is nothing better than taking a psycho OTTB and turning them into a lovely creature.

So thats that.

Secondly; I've finally sat down and looked at the shows for the year offered in the area, but can't decide on a one of em'.

Kinda miss this; Circa 2009

Speaking of shows; Penny Oaks cancelled XC and my barn contemplated not even going, which had me slightly freaking out for a few days....but LUCKILY the organizers moved the remaining phases to one day so most of EME decided they would make the trip and save a hotel cost and still get some sort of first outing at a venue less than 3 hours away. Hell, we hauled 3 hours to XC school last week, so hauling for a one day CT won't be terrible. I feel bad I can't assist at all, but I won't lie saying I'm relieved they're going. I was gonna be LIT if my entry went to waste. I don't have  play money like some people do and I really wanted to get him in a dressage ring. There is still a slight possibility he may get eliminated in SJ, but I just want a good dressage ride to be honest.

Me?? Get eliminated. Noooo

Speaking of shows again though...I not 100% certain I am even going to event this year.

I know. I can't believe it either *eye roll*

Will I ever do this again? We may never know 

Considering I havent legit showed one of my own horses in an event in over 3 years, you could say I'm mildly terrified and don't know where my lady balls rolled off to. Putzing around Show jumping shows WITH payback up to 8th place seems much more fun and less stressful right now.

So that might be a little thing.

Sick skills, will def win ribbons
 (2nd time jumping; 2015)

Despite all that, my trainer adores B and thinks he has incredible potential. Obviously I do too, or I wouldn't have bought his crazy ass. So thats a plus.

Majestic potential minus hunchback potato sack on board

On the negative side, Yankee surprised me last night with a fat leg that seemed almost like a non injury at first. I almost wrote it off as stocking up because he was in a full 24hrs due to weather and that happens, but his other leg looked fine. Upon examination I found the root issue; a puncture wound.

It was pretty disgusting. Pus, ooze, grossness. Luckily, I don't think it will need stitches and I will reevaluate after I get home tonight. I cleaned, wrapped it and turned him out for the night anyways, in which he promptly ran around like an asshole in the dark and muddy field.

He has the tendency to freak me out, and has been pushing my patience this week with airs above the ground and running around like crazy in the pasture and now this. He is so fucking bored.

I've been crossing my fingers he keeps his shoes, doesn't upset his tummy and now that he doesn't lose his wrap in the night. Dammit Yanks!!!

On the plus side, Yankee looks incredible. So fat, shiny and dappling out. He honestly looks better than he ever has IMO with me or anyone else. So freaking proud.

SWOON.

March 1 to May 1

Which brings me to my next point; Yankee lease. We will call her V for now, but she's part of the EME family and I am super excited for her! Her goals are training level and Yankee can easily take her there. He basically the master of TL right now haha. That starts May 15th and he moves to The Palace then. I am so stoked. Beyond.

He will be back at this soon!

LASTLY, if you made it this far, stay tuned for a contest post coming up Monday!! By then, we will have Penny Oaks results too and  hopefully I will not have died from the Tough Mudder.

Have a great weekend ya'll!

What Do Wednesday: Rolex

Wow I fail per usual at blogging... though I can say not much happened since I'm not riding Bacardi and Yankee is just getting fat (yay). Super trainer did say that she ADORES B, and I was like oh really now? Winning. Oh also, the blog has some changes, as you can see. More on that later along with a contest AND info on Yankee's new lease, as well as the clusterfuck that is Penny oaks this weekend...

This week was eventful for me though; I switched jobs and spent the weekend in KY doing horsey things...

Keeneland!!

 Yes those are my parents (far right), myself and a very dapper Bangor and my cousin who loves racehorses (far left). We spent the day drinking and betting on the ponies. It was frivolous and fun as shit. Nothing better than feeling fancy and getting wasted.

Sometimes I wear things other than workout gear and breeches

Then...ROLEX!!! Myself, and my two incredibly long time friends came along. C was actually the owner of Lilly for a brief time (if ya'll remember Lilly) and L leased Yankee from me a few years ago as well as grew up with me in 4H and evented a little with her pony back in the day as well.

We skipped out on Dressage and stadium despite being less than 2 hours from Lexington (SWOON/winning) and only went for XC day because its the best anyways. Even when its raining. Which is always.

I prefer to only go to Rolex one day since I hate crowds and people and walking 9 miles a day. There's only so much "away from home" I can take. I like my bed. I like my netflix. I hate packing suitcases and I love my Levi. Though, he did come with me again this year & got so many cookies from strangers, he was in heaven.

Of course, yet again the forecast was for rain, but this year  we were much more prepared with layers (5 of them), hats, rain gear (boots and big umbrellas) & a full change of clothes just in case. They were needed.

Last year 2015, L also came along then too!

Last year I wore a light longsleeve, leggings and tennis shoes. I brought no hat, no boots and no rain coat. Even though the forecast was calling for 40% rain. DUMB. I wore a borrowed thin raincoat. I used a tiny umbrella. I carried my chair everywhere. I got soaked. It was miserable and I wanted to die. All that made up for it was the swag I scored last year.

This year was just as bad. It LITERALLY rained from 10:01 AM until 2:45PM, the exact time XC was running. Of course. I shit you not, we got to Rolex 2 hours early and meandered around, no rain. The minute horse one leaves the box, an almighty downpour began and did.not.stop.

 But we were ready and stayed mostly dry actually! It helped this year we had a tailgate with my barn, and I spent the majority of the day hunkered under the tent eating, drinking and gawking at horses and riders clearing fence 9.

My view for most of the day

Chillen

How the actual fuck do people jump this

So I had a total game plan that day to scout out sales outside, to meet up with bloggers and friends from TX, & watch every fence a little bit and then scour the shopping sales inside, then of course take pics.

I did approximately 25% of that.

For one, the rain made me want to never leave our tent, but we did catch a few fences. Specifically Head of The Lake because its the best and this giant table...

...I literally don't understand how horses can physically jump this and make it look so easy, but they do. So after about an hour and a half of walking and standing and watching a few fences, in the pouring rain, we sat at the tailgate and drank bloody mary's & watched about 11 horses get after fence 9 (see above giant fucking weldons wall).

The rain never let up AND there was zero cell phone service. None. absolutely nothing. No texts, no calls, zilch. Hopeless. My phone was essentially a camera most of the day, and I didn't even take that many pics because of the rain.

So I never got to see anyone, and I was cranky about it. Really cranky.

Then, the shopping was insanely crowded and I wanted to kill everyone. The best part was watching Marilyn Little fall off on the big screen, hahaha. I'm the worst.

I was majorly disappointed in the trade fair this year, simply because I am a cheap bastard and there were no great-oh-my-god-must-buy sales like there were last year. maybe the novelty wore off for me, or maybe I really just didn't need anything, but it was so MEH.  I really was wanting open fronts for under $100 and most of the newfangled boots on display were like $250. BOO. Thats all I wanted and hoped for a sale and none.

Last year BOT had such a good sale I couldn't pass it up, and now I have like 4 things of theirs. Same with the Equiflex leg bandages- I was hoping they would be around this year too, but if they were, I couldn't find them. Stubben too, let me down unlike last year. Everything on "sale" I either still couldn't afford or literally didn't need. I wish I had the expendable income to get things I don't need on sale, but alas, I can't. The one cool thing I saw was these weird round stirrups for like $350. I tried them out and OMG, drool, they feel AMAZING on my ouch knees. That might actually be a major splurge item someday when I'm less broke. Shiiiiiiiny.

What are this

Before we knew it, XC was over and we were like oh wow, we barely did anything today. Luckily, we were walking by the sign that said "Boyd Martin meet and greet 4:30 and it was 3:30. We hopped in line and ended up about 15th in line of about 400 people. SCORE.

I got his signature AND he touched me. I literally mumbled like a schoolgirl when it came our turn and shoved the paper in his face like an idiot. Whomp whomp.

Boyd. Fucking. Martin guys. He is even handsomer in real life and so nice. Not even mad I missed out on THE Rolex champ meet and greet with Michael Jung on Sunday.

Ok maybe a lil mad.

I also got some other signatures as well for good measure. Wish  could've seen Laine walking around like a lot of people did. My problem is that I don't know what they look like without helmets and not on a horse!

Autographs!

After all that, we walked around and looked at the monster jumps everyone tackled throughout the day. It was crazy to see how big they are! I'm 5'9 for reference

So while I enjoyed Rolex and always am awe inspired at the talent right there in front of my eyes...I honestly want to spend next year in my underwear on my couch eating bacon and not killing my feet , spending gas money and getting soaked to the bone to see 1/16 of the rides total. Would have seen more at home watching the live stream for sure.  The deals were not amazing, my game plan totally blew up in my face and it was soaking wet. Might make it an "every other year" kind of thing from this point onward, especially because I want to go to the Dreby next year!

So what I wanted to ask you all is if you went, WHAT DO? How did you stay dry/prepare? Did you tailgate? hunker down inside? What did you buy/see?! And if you DIDNT go, what would your plan of attack be?