LOOK AT MY HORSE LOOK HOW CUTE MY HORSE IS

After a really productive flat ride on my birthday, I hacked Courage around the fields. I was thinking about all the things that changed since my last birthday and how I'd chronicled them on my blog and then I remembered that last year, my BO took a picture of us hacking through the field. 

So because I am the BEST CLIENT EVAR (ha!), I called the house phone and my BO obligingly came out and took another picture for me. Also I got an incredible birthday present. I am wicked spoiled.

Anyways. Behold another progression picture sequence!!! 

Every piece of tack is different in these, but my boots/helmet are the same.

August 2013. Courage is about four weeks off the track and just figuring out this whole "not racing" scene. He still has his racing muscle (and shoes, I believe), his body is right, and that's probably the lowest his head ever got in the first six months. It's hard when all the muscles are on the underside of your body. 

It's football season. Get over yourself.

August 2014. He looks like a whole new horse and not just because I got his mane under control! 

I'm absolutely loving the muscle development I'm seeing. He has twice the neck he used to. His whole body has just relaxed and lengthened out a little bit, and you can just see him swinging. His stride is longer, his tail is longer.

The only thing that's the same is his ridiculously kissable nose. <3 

I promise I will stop doing these for a while now, but omg how much fun is a quick peek back now and then?!

New Faces

I ride Courage all the time. redheadlins rides him regularly, and Alyssa pops on now and then. I try (sometimes) to ride other horses and I think it's really good for Courage to learn to carry other riders of all skill levels. Part of training the little man this year has involved letting him toodle around with different riders.

In no particular order:

He is the best at making funny faces

A friend from the track who hasn't had much saddle time. She started on the lunge line, but was able to confidently steer and do some basic transitions on her own by the end of the session. Courage's first time with a beginner up and he did great.








One of those fearless jumper girls that we all wish we were. She's actually ridden Courage a couple of times now, most notably when it was something like zero degrees in January and he had to figure out how to deal with frozen footing and uneven ground.

Courage rose to her level and they started out a little rocky, but ended up popping around a little jump course. Can't fake those smiles.











And then Rinsie from Nanakorobi Yaoki came to play! I haven't gotten to hang out with her much since we now board on opposite ends of our little world (geographically), but she's moving away and leaving us west coasties here soon so we had to do something.

I was SUPER paranoid that he would do something insane and hurt her right before her big trip. I don't know why. I have made a cross country move with a broken arm and I can tell you I wouldn't recommend it. Regardless, she rode well, he behaved, and if calamity strikes, it won't be because of C-rage.

I think Courage is starting to get it. He's learning to communicate with each rider a little differently. He's got it in his head that this is his job and he isn't doing anything too silly. It's all a part of the plan. I want Courage to be a super fun all-around horse, and that includes being mentally flexible enough to accept all levels of riders.

I hope to start mixing it up and hauling out more in the near future. I'm even day dreaming about maybe a dressage lesson (in the heated indoor) this winter*. Plus team penning. I need to get him exposed to cows. Ha! We'll see how things go.

*It's really more about the heated indoor than the dressage. We'll see if he's trained enough to be able to see the fancy trainer without totally embarrassing ourselves.

CONTEST RESULTS HO BOY

He is the best at modeling browbands

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

In the interests of clarity and fairness, I will explain exactly how I come to a result in a contest.

1) I compile a spreadsheet of all entrants in order of their comments on the contest post. I try to file them by user name but some of you apparently have similar names, so I differentiate as needed. See: Lauren Chestnut and Jessica Vet. 

2) I go to random.org, which claims to choose random numbers based on atmospheric noise. I don't know if they do or not, but they allow me to put in a range of answers.

3) I hit the "Generate" button and find out that our winner is... 

LAUREN @ SHE MOVED TO TEXAS!!!! 

Woo woo party time and do a dance!! 

Lauren, please contact me and I'll get you all set up. Thanks for playing everyone! 

If you didn't win (like me), you can still check out all the pretty things on Dark Jewel Designs facebook page or look them up on Etsy. 

In Search of Confidence: Seeing Progress

He is the best at series posts.

NOTED: Contest results will be up tomorrow!!

I decided to turn this into a series, because it seems to be an on-going theme for this blog anyways.

Last time, I talked about the things I'm doing to actively develop my confidence so I can be the best rider for my horse. I guess I should maybe do a post about how the MOST CRITICAL INGREDIENT is always always ALWAYS the right horse.

But maybe this entire blog is about that. Let's call that the meta narrative and move on for now.

So with all the work I've been putting in on developing confidence, I scheduled a lesson with our awesome biomechanics teacher on Saturday. I decided to do flatwork because A) I wanted some solid guidance on what to work on and B) my newly-found jumping confidence needed to marinate a little more before I wanted to test it in a lesson. Let's just say lessons haven't been universally positive experiences for me and I want to let the confidence take root before pushing it like that.

downhill over the vertical like badasses

This is more my issue than the instructors' and I know that. I'm not knocking instructors, but I'm playing the hand I have, so easy on the lessons for right now.

Anywho. We did our flat lesson. We worked hard. Courage had brilliant moments and flailing moments (yeah, he still does that apparently) and I rode through it all and made progress and at the end, I almost felt a little bit cheated.

Because at no point was I afraid for my life or worried that I'd get hurt or anything. It was just a lesson. There was no super human feat of courage (ha!) or mental fortitude to just survive the hour. No, I kept my brain engaged and learned the whole time and that was it.

Huh.

yup, did that

Then comes Monday. My mental schedule indicated that it was jump day, so redheadlins set up a fantastic course. She's doing this great thing right now where a course goes from cavaletti up to a large (for my brain) oxer with everything in between. That way we don't have to get off and on all the time and we ride forward and jump and the bigger jumps build themselves into the courses. I 100% approve.

Courage and I had a solid warm up, then rolled through the cavaletti. I was happy with how I was riding and the decisions I was making.

We got close and I wasn't terrified.

And then we jumped. And it was awesome. I had my leg on and eyes up and rode forward and the little man was brilliant. He was balanced and listening. It didn't even matter how tall the fences were. I pointed him at them and rode straight. When he said "are you sure?" I could answer "YES!" It wasn't my best jumping form of all time, but it was hands down the most comfortable and confident I have ever been jumping on him.

I'm completely thrilled. Utterly happy. Can't wipe the smile off my face. It feels so good to be back here.

What a great birthday present.

CONTEST REMINDER

Now that what I call a bundle of joy

HELLO BLOG PEOPLE

The Dark Jewel Designs browband contest closes in just under 27 hours. It's your last chance to get your entries in for a sweet prize. Just leave a comment on THE POST LINKED RIGHT HERE

Poof I have something in not-blue. Possibly I didn't pick it out.

Who wouldn't want a piece of this?

Contest closes at midnight on Sunday. (Let's face it--I won't log in til Monday afternoon, so as long as you get it in by then, you're really good to go.)

Transformations: The Informal Blog Hop

Our Favorite Irish Blogger over at Life of Riley did a fantastic post showing how far she and Riley have come together in about a year and a half,which includes a wretched winter and some pretty serious time off. I know I like to do training progression pictures way more than most people like to look at them, but HAHA BITCHES I'M DOING ANOTHER ONE!!!

 Trotting first!!

And jumping!! 

 I'm loving it. I think everyone should do one. Thanks Niamh!!

How to Not Have a Lesson on Your Greenie

I'm supposed to be getting ready for my first lesson since June right now. Literally. I should be just finishing tacking up and then climbing on to warm up.

But I'm not.

Why?

It stated with this:

Or maybe he wants a long nose fly mask to match Prisoner

I'm not really sure what he's got going on here.It looks a bit like sunburn, but that's a really random place to sunburn after going two full summers at the same facility on the same feed and never sunburning at all before.

Also he has created a fun new game that my BO just LOOOOOOOVES in which he tries to take all the T post caps off in his field.

Really. It's her favorite thing ever.

Anyways. Perhaps he just scraped himself playing the T post game.

At least it's not painful?

So I can sort of explain that, but then there was this:

What is that? I have no idea. It looks like a peeling sunburn, but again, it's on a horse that has never sunburned and who peels the black skin on the side of their face? It made no sense.

Annnnnd then a friend asked if I'd used any new products on him....

Guess who is somewhat reactive to his new fly spray?

Dammit.

ouch

Still. Neither of those conditions seemed to cause undue pain or distress and I really, really want a lesson. I lead Courage out of his stall for turnout...

And he can hardly put weight on his right front foot.

I immediately grab a hoof pick and find this:

Yes, he got new shoes on Monday. No, it wasn't loose enough to come off. And yes, his shoe is just sitting on his sole. I'm touchy about sole pressure.

In a crazy stoke of luck, two journeymen farriers and their intern showed up like ten minutes later and got the shoe reset correctly, but a certain little bay horse must have done a very impressive spin move in his stall over night and he was pretty sore from standing on his sole since then.

And that's the story of why I'm not having a lesson today. Cross your fingers for Saturday. I have bell-booted, hoof-painted, and un-fly-sprayed the little man.

What will he come up with next?

PS Don't forget to enter our contest!! It's open through Sunday night and all you have to do to enter is leave a comment!!

In Search of Confidence: Use Your Resources

This was an epic outfit

I've talked about how I lack confidence. Now I want to talk about what I'm doing to get it back.

On the Ground
Jess (if you don't read her blog, you should start) recommended Jane Savoie's "That Winning Feeling" to me. I believe her specific recommendation was "I don't usually like this kind of book, but it's really good". I got it on Amazon for like $4 shipped and started in. I haven't even finished it yet, but I already love it.

This outfit was great too

Program Your Subconscious
According to Jane, our subconscious is a powerful thing. Instead of just letting it run wild and screw us over, it makes way more sense to harness that power and use it to our own ends. To do that, she recommends positive self talk--saying "I will" and "I can" instead of "I'll try" and "I hope". She's also really big on visualization. I really latched on to this concept because my biomechanics coach reminds me that the human brain can only process one thing at a time. That means everything else has to be muscle memory. The nifty little aside is that the brain really can't differentiate between created memories and actual memories sooooo....

It's ok. I visualized this already.

I visualize. I try to do it every night before bed and on long boring driving stretches. I don't just visualize the action I want to internalize. I focus on the minutiae. I'm cantering to the jump. It's a good, forward going sort of canter with a steady rhythm. My heels are down, my hands are level, my eyes are up, my core is engaged, my leg is on. I picture exhaling to the base of the jump and putting my leg on. We jump across, land in a straight line, and canter away.

And then I do it again. I'm really specific about the type of jump I visualize. Things I'll see, things I know will bother me. I realize that's maybe not practical for shows, but I'm not worried about that right now. I want to set myself and my horse up for success.

I think he cleared it

In the Saddle
Everyone should have a Lindsey of their very own. I'd be sunk without her. Lindsey helps me tag team on Courage--she puts rides on him for me now and then and she's always giving me helpful pointers when we ride together. It's not that I can't ride--it's that I can get in a mental rut and it is really helpful to get those quick reminders. (I wish I could say I was equally helpful to her, but pretty much I just share tack and hold the video camera.)

Work That Conscious Mind
Here's where I really benefit from reading through old blog entries. I try to review lesson write ups and then ride. I want Courage forward and off my aids. I want him responding to me. I want his mind so busy processing what I want him to do that he isn't staring off into space and inventing monsters to spook at.

It's hard work for both of us, but it really pays off. When Courage starts saying "yes ma'am" and toeing the line, I know we're ready to jump. Right now, that means he has to put his head down (joys of remuscling an upside down neck), go forward and back within gaits, and do a solid leg yield each direction.

A little more reasonable

The Big Plan
 I know that putting pressure on top of fear is completely useless if you're trying to work through the fear (different story if you're trying to save the world, but I sort of don't see a scenario in which I need to jump 2'6" on my greenie to avert planetary destruction in the near future.)

So. I've been setting jumps at my comfort height. Sometimes poles. Sometimes 12". Whatever. I let that be the height for the day and I jump it until I'm bored. Then afterwards I think about how fun it was. I smile (release the endorphins!!) at the memories and I incorporate in emotions from other times I've had fun jumping.

Tuesday we jumped through the course that Lindsey set for Prisoner. We did the baby crossrail until I was happy with how I rode it. We did the bigger crossrail until I was happy. Then we strung the two together. Then we added the barrels and the vertical.


One step at a time. Each when I was comfortable with it. On my timetable.

There is a time to push and I time to just create calm, positive experiences and really soak them in.

I did a photo editing thing

Does It Work?
I think yes. Not only do I have fantastic jumping pictures, but I think I rode better than I have in ages and I feel very happy with the ride. Courage did some typical green horse wiggly stuff and I was able to confidently ride him through and git'er done. That is the ingredient I was lacking and I feel like it's back.

I'm going to keep things slow and advance when I feel confident and continue to use the hell out of my resources, but I'm on the right track and I'm excited about it.

Teach Me Tuesday: Oinment

The best at green wraps

Here we go with this week's round of Teach Me Tuesday! As per the usual, I pick a topic that I cannot seem to wrap my mind around and do not understand.

This week I'm curious about ointment. It seems pretty universal--a horse gets a cut and the owner is immediately all "LET'S PUT SOME GOOPY SHIT ON IT!!!"

Why?

I don't put ointment on myself when I get a cut. Hell, I don't even usually use a bandaid. I realize I'm a bit of a minimalist in the personal care department though. I understand stitches for bad cuts and I'm all about wrapping when something needs to be covered up. I even get using some SWAT (or similar) to keep bugs away from cuts in fly season.

Put a bridle on it. That's my motto.

I just don't understand what the attraction is to trying to improve the built-in healing function of a horse. Are we somehow improving that? What is the idea here? I really have no idea.

So why when a horse gets a cut do owners want to put stuff on it?

Don't forget to enter my sweet contest for personalized bling for your horse!!

The 1,000th Post AKA CONTEST TME

Super excited for 1000 posts

It seems like possibly the nerdiest thing ever to have a blog about a strange niche topic with a whole 1000 posts, but here I am.

Rocking the nerdy.

Let's revisit the high points of five years of blogging and see how things have changed both in my horse life and through the blog. And then let's have a contest because I love contests and I can't ever seem to win them, but dammit, someone should. Read the end for details!

Ms Izzy learning to canter under saddle

I started this blog way back in June of 2009. I was newly married, in college, and I had a brand new horse of my very own. I was new to the horse blogging world, but I had kept a personal blog of sorts in highschool. I think that's now buried in the depths of the internet and I'm ok with it. Here's my first post ever on iamthesprinklerbandit: Starting with a little history

 It's really funny to me to look back at these posts now. I don't feel or think or sound like the same person any more. My blog reads like it's written by a clueless college student and it was. This was back before I discovered the joys of pictures in every post or developed my voice and writing style. Blogging is a process, that's for sure.

This is how you jump with three broken bones

Let's zoom ahead a couple of years to June of 2011. I was still working with Izzy, but I was mostly on my own. I took the mare XC schooling with a local trainer and I came away with several broken bones (arm and jaw in a couple places), despite my initial optimisim on the blog: We Conquer XC

This is a fascinating post for me to read. The whole era had me sort of juxtaposed between a lack luster junior career and finding my way as an adult ammy. I loved that mare and I believed the best about her, even though looking back I know that she was absolutely toxic for me. My voice as a blogger has definitely developed and I'm loving the incorporation of pictures, if not my position in any of those pictures. Win some, lose some.

Only the handsomest horse that ever was

2012 brought me to a more training-focused situation and more importantly, to the old man horse who would completely rock the very foundations of my world. Out with Izzy, in with Cuna and onward to my very favorite moments of the Sprinklerbandits blog! Here's the post where I finally accepted what was probably obvious to everyone in my life, from my husband to the clerk at the grocery store: Crossing the Rubicon

I was still apologizing and making excuses for Izzy at that point. I wanted it to work SO FREAKING BAD and it just wouldn't and I couldn't see it. In the post, I say it's because she wasn't a forward horse, but that's really not the case.

We both loved every single minute

Izzy had my number big time and Izzy dialed it EVERY SINGLE DAY. I was scared shitless and I only sort of knew it. This is why I ride you if you have a horse in the same place--I have been there and I know how it feels, but I also know how liberating and awesome and amazing every day can be if you have the right horse for you instead. /soapbox

Cuna completely changed me, not only as a rider, but also as a person. In terms of the blog, I found my confidence and my voice. It's amazing how the posts practically write themselves when you love your horse and it's even more amazing how people respond when you are really, truly happy. One of my favorite legacies of Cuna is the other bloggers he inspired to take that next step and end toxic relationships because we gave them hope for something better.

2013 brought a lot of heartbreak and a little joy. I think most of you have been along for the ride, but for those that are new to the blog, it wasn't pretty. Cuna had to step down from jumping to flat work and from flat work to retirement and even then I couldn't keep him comfortable. It was an absolutely horrific process that I really don't like to talk about right now. I wrote a post about the retirement: Towards Healing

I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the blog community and I was thankful for each and every one of the comments I received from people who knew the same pain and wanted to be there for me in some way. Cuna touched a lot of lives in a lot of ways and I'm not the only one who misses him.

The best at putting pieces back together

I'm going to editorialize again though and say that if you have a friend going through that sort of horsey hardship, be kind and loving and supportive, but please also do them the honor of assuming they are taking care of their horse. Constant inferences that a grief stricken person just isn't trying hard enough are straight-up cruel. /soapbox #2

2013 also brought the little bay horse into my life that we all know and love. Courage ushered in another era for the SprinklerBandits blog. The only reason  can work with him is because of all the things my old man horse taught me.

It feels like redemption. I'm getting another chance to work on things I screwed up with Izzy and Courage is a really cool guy who isn't trying to kill me. Win win. Courage was introduced in: The Road Goes Ever On and On




2014 has been something of an unparalleled shit show on every possible level of life so far. That said, Courage has been my constant. t's a long process for both of us, but he's gone from being the back up to my #1, which I talk about here: Bonding or It Doesn't All Happen At Once

Blogging has really been a fun process for me. started it as a way to connect with people about my equine journey so I would annoy my husband less. While it certainly does that, I have really loved my ability to track my progress both in training and as a person. I have made some great friends and had good times.

So thank you, readers, for 5 great years and sticking it out for 1000 sometimes great, sometimes average, and frequently scattered posts. I love readers and comments and feedback and I love meeting all of you. If you don't already blog, I'd strongly encourage you to start. It is such a great experience to share your equine journey with friends to encourage you on the sad days and applaud on the happy ones.

Loving those upgraded beads!!

ANNNNNNND CONTEST
To honor the history of SprinklerBandits, I want to give away one of my all-time favorite products: a custom sparkle browband from Dark Jewel Designs. I love them and so should you!  The prize is one browband of the size/ color you choose. Amelia has graciously offered to include 3 sparkly strands for the browband PLUS NO CHARGE FOR BEAD UPGRADES. :-D.

God. Now I want to win.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post with your favorite blog post from Sprinklerbandits Blog and your email address (or preferred method to be contacted by) and I will do a random drawing one week from today. Entries close Sunday, August 24th at midnight.

Noted: it's enough to remember the content of a post or something. You do not have to provide the specific URL. And yes, you can totally use this post or the last one if you're like "screw this I just want a sparkle browband".

Where We're At, OTTB-Style

The coolest thing I've done lately. Look at him jump across!

I've been avoiding writing training posts because there is really nothing exciting about saying "well this week we started with trotting 20 meter circles in a consistent rhythm, then added in some bending. The next day we practiced doing some correct bend and counter bend. After that, we added in moving off both legs in correct and counter bend."

It's a little more interesting if I add "the moving-off-the-leg was a total shit show, but we ended up working through it". But yeah, still not super interesting. It's putting a basic foundation on a green horse and it's fully as dull to write about as it is critical to future success.

So instead, let's look at some fun videos of what we've been working on lately.

Super exciting flat work (I kid, it's boring as hell but it is an accurate reflection of where we're at):


  Courage does some wee baby jumping with me:



Courage does flying changes (first post-track!) and jumps with Lindsey up:



And then our jump video playing with a zig zag cross rails pattern:


See, I look at those videos and I have a hard time getting excited because all I see are things to work on and improve. I have to circle back around and remind myself that this is what our flat work looked like a year ago:



And this is some early "course work":

Build that neck!

So yes. It's easy for me to get hung up on how Courage isn't a finished show horse and everything we do leaves a lot to be desired, but I love these little progress checks to remind me that a year ago, my horse was fresh off the track and knew literally nothing. Our 20m circles are boring, sure, but he's balanced enough to do them now.

We maybe aren't jumping big giant jumps and blowing away our competition, but his courses are more complex. He understands the questions. He's balanced through the turns. He's learning and growing and improving and that is the whole freaking point.

Winning with Warhorses

Can a war horse do this? Yes. Yes he can.

I tell people that I like the thoroughbred war horses who've been there/done that on the track, but I didn't realize just how deep that ran. I was doing a little thoroughbred research recently and ran across some interesting info. Let's look at my horses.

Absolute Courage
You all know my little man as the blaze-faced sport horse that could. I knew him on the track and I knew he ran extensively. His equibase profile tells me that he ran 33 times, won two races, and had career earnings of $40,802.00. That's respectable, right? I mean, he's hardly a graded stakes winner, but he's a pretty classy horse and he ran 2007-2013 with one year off in the middle, so basically six years.

Always taking care of himself

Acuna
He's my beloved Hakuna Matata thanks to the helpfulness of show secretaries after he started his show horse career, but Cuna was no slouch on the track either. Again, equibase indicates that he ran 41 times and despite winning only once, he earned $25,747.00. He ran a mere 5 (!!) years, from 1997-2001. He wasn't a hugely successful racehorse, but he paid his bills.

Look what a wee young thing I was

Klasi Renee
I don't talk about her much on the blog, but this is the mare I leased and adored all through highschool. She evented, dressaged, jumped, showed, and taught me about being quiet and calm at all times lest we lose our brains completely. We had horrible disasters and we won giant trophies. I looked up her race record just for kicks. She ran 58 (!!!) times and won 9 races from 1994-1999. Despite those numbers, she ran at tracks that are maaaaybe a step up from bush league and only won $22,944.00.

Just Courage, winning a race

And those are just my horses. I certainly understand the mentality of wanting a young, barely started thoroughbred if you're trying to make it to the upper levels or something, but I'm not. I love horses and I love riding and I want to do 3'3" or maybe 3'6" jumpers. Maybe. Mostly I want a horse that's fun to be around, no matter what we're doing any given day. I want to jump and dressage and trail ride and chase cows and pony racehorses (not with Courage apparently) and do all the things.

The best at new careers

I guess it's because I'm something of an old soul myself, but these been there, done that types just speak to me. Whether it's because they've seen it all or because they hold up under high stress or because only a certain personality makes it that long on the track, I really can't tell you. I can tell you that every one I've met is a unique and cool in a very special sort of way. They maybe don't want to race anymore, but they are athletic and intelligent and like having a job.

They might not be for everyone, but they're definitely for me.

Teach Me Tuesday: Braiding

Also perhaps I am not the best at braiding.

I thought this was fun last time around, so let's do it again. Teach Me Tuesdays is where I bring up a topic I literally do not understand and just ask why. Or how. Or whatever. So let's get on with it.

What is the deal with braiding?

I don't get it, not one little bit.

I'm all for tidy hair. Manes must always only ever be perfect and tails are a work of art. . A pulled mane not only looks tidy, but also is safer because the rider's hands and reins don't risk becoming tangled in long, nasty hair.

Neckstraps are for when you pulled all the hair out holding on.

But then why do we stuff it into tiny little braids? I guess it sort of makes sense for horses with really bad hair that needs to be hidden, but who/what/why decided that all horses needed braids for things like jumping? Maybe I'm the only person who sometimes doesn't see a distance and just sort of kicks and grabs mane and hopes it all works out, but to me, having the mane handy in that situation seems like a REALLY FREAKING GOOD IDEA.

So explain it to me, because I really and truly don't get it. To my non-initiated self, it seems like an awful lot of work to achieve a look that doesn't actually make any practical sense and in fact might make it harder to ride.

Dark Day for the Blogospere

I want to write something fun and upbeat, but I just can't. I love the blog world for the friends we make and people we meet, and that means that when my friends experience loss, I cry with them.

The only Sugar

I was stunned last week to learn that Amy at A Work in Progress lost her sainted mare, Sugar. I loved tracking along with the two of them and I was a big time Sugar fan, especially after watching the video of their totally awesome cross country school together. Sugar was big and beautiful and kind and perfect for Amy and everything I loved in a horse and I hurt just thinking about how miserable Amy must be right now.

The indomitable Lex

And then my friend Jess over at Riding Rainbow has been facing a whole different tragedy--discovering that her beloved Lex is no longer able to handle a riding career. It's heartbreaking to watch them go through that. It's hard to even find words to deal with that kind of loss. Lex is here and yet not. My heart goes out to them, but there's nothing I or anyone can do.

Unforgettable Finn

And just to top off the weekend trifeca, Katie over at Young Dreams Eventing had to let go of her beloved Finn last Friday. It was too much. Finn was such a special horse--big and sweet and full of personality. He was Courage for Katie. When I heard the news, it felt like a punch in the gut. Finn was so young and full of life and I wasn't ready for that, not one little bit. I can't even imagine how Katie feels. Or rather, I can and it hurts way too much.


It's the double edged sword of loving these amazing creatures. They give us everything they have, but when they go, they take a huge chunk of us with them. I wish I had words for Amy, Jess, and Katie, but all I have is sympathy. I have been there and just thinking about it makes everything hurt all over again. My thoughts and prayers all with all of them right now.