on suitability

Way back when Doozy had her first ever jump lesson in a random pop-up clinic, the clinician surprised me by asking whether the mare was ‘for me’ or intended as a resale project. 

Not ‘surprised’ in a bad way, per se, but rather… idk, it’s a red mare with crooked legs. She ain’t exactly the most marketable horse just at face value — and that’s before you even consider her temperament or training. No no, I bought the mare for myself, for better or worse.

pics today are unrelated. doozy just loves her ponies lol

My criteria were relatively simple. I’ve known and loved a LOT of horses over the years, and was confident about picking my kind of disposition. Beyond that, I wanted an OTTB aged 6 or younger (since I expected to have Charlie for many more years, and wanted a big enough age gap to avoid owning two late teen / early 20s horses) that had nice movement and build.

The idea was to get a horse that I could continue to grow and develop with, to keep pushing the boundaries of my own education, and to continue gaining experience in the sport of eventing. 

i think opal loves her too <3

And Doozy is all these things! Granted, she’s less quiet overall in temperament than I expected based on my first meeting her. But she is still absolutely the horse I thought she was. I can watch this video again today and see the qualities that originally drew me to her: namely, her strong desire to connect with the people (and dogs lol) around her, her overall style of movement, and general forward thinking and interactive nature.

omg could it be?? our first ride **outside** in MONTHS???

So far, our journey together has been basically exactly what I’d hoped for in terms of getting back into competing. The mare loves to jump and seems particularly well suited to eventing. Obviously the dressage comes a little less easily given her natural tendencies toward tension and hollowness, but even so, it still feels like we’re advancing and making progress and that’s basically all I ask haha.

we both just adore this ring

I still think about contingencies, tho, especially after such a rough January with the mare’s presumed hoof bruise and subsequent slow recovery. Doozy had some straight up wild and unhinged rides trying to get going again after that time off. For better or worse, she is NOT going to be the “same horse” after a break. 

In fact, I wrote this past summer that the best way to think about her is along the lines of, whatever she was yesterday, she’s a little more that way today. And even more tomorrow. Meaning, if yesterday you had an “ok” ride in that it happened and nobody died, then today maybe your ride might be ‘actually not bad!,’ and tomorrow the mare might be legitimately lovely.

It cuts both ways, tho. If the mare had yesterday off, then today she might be feeling quite pleased with her liberty, and by tomorrow might be borderline feral.

spent some time picking up all the standards that blew over in recent wind. left all the pole piles for next time tho

For a lot of folks, depending on how horses fit into the overall balance of your lives, this can pose real challenges for consistently enjoying a predictable horsey experience when other priorities in life keep us away from the barn. This has proven true for me too — whether it be bc one of my (favorite, but still) colleagues keeps selling me into projects that require more frequent travel… Or ya know, bc Doozy was lame.

pretty sure doozy was happy to be out again

The lameness itself was particularly concerning. Charlie, may he be resting in wonderful horsey heaven, was always a fragile sort of dude. The King of the Dings. We were always dealing with random stints of time off or rebuilding. But he WAS the same horse no matter what. Mr. Reliability. And by the end of his riding career, I’d found all sorts of ways to manage around his fragility while still enjoying fun adventures together. 

That’s…. not quite the case with Doozy. Doozy is straight up not currently of a temperament and disposition to be fragile lol. She needs ridden. Consistently, every day, and occasionally with some degree of exertion. Like I am NOT a “wet saddle pads” kind of horse trainer, but Doozy does best when she’s had a chance to move out.

she likes spying on all the distant fields

Ideally at some point she’ll grow up a bit more and be more “confirmed” in her training that I could imagine her in a broader variety of riding jobs with different types of riders. Bc let’s be real, if she ended up not being suitable for *me,* it’s not exactly likely that somebody with greater skills or aspirations than me would swoop in to snatch her up, ya know? 

oooh we had company too

Tho ya know… obviously at this point it’s all just academic navel gazing anyway. Sure, the mare challenges me and is a handful, but as long as she’s sound for the task I’m so excited for the future with her and have exactly zero hopes of needing to actually execute on any alternative contingencies. 

She might not be suited for much else, but she’s *exactly right* for the job as my eventing & adventuring & go everywhere & do everything horse lol. 

she’s adarlyn <3

Topics like this are interesting to me, tho. Suitability in general is such a huge topic, there are so many variables that can go into it — with massively different emphasis or prioritization depending on your own personal preferences. Like, for some folks, having a horse that can reasonably cope with a more sporadic schedule is a must. 

good mare

For a lot of folks I know, actually probably most, any ‘performance potential’ in the horse is absolutely secondary (or tertiary) to disposition and temperament. The vast majority of horse enthusiasts I’ve known over the years are riding within the realm of 3’ jumping or 1st / 2nd level dressage — activities most sound + reasonably built horses can accomplish easily. 

lol #wild

So it’s all the other qualities of the horse that grow in importance. Do I like spending time with the horse? Is the horse pleasant to be around, do I feel safe handling it? Riding it? Does our time together bring joy more often than frustration? Am I able to do the sorts of things I *want* to be doing with the horse, or is there an obstacle related to the horse itself that’s stopping me?

spring is coming!

For me, personally, my answers to these questions might be fluid and change over time. What I want in a horse today might not be the same as in 5 years, or 10. And ya know… As was true with Charlie, sometimes we adapt and evolve with our horses’ changing abilities over time too. 

There are so many ways to derive joy and fulfillment from a horsey lifestyle, ya know? Tho at least for me, at this moment in my life, I’m still really eager to get that saddle time every day — to be working toward competition goals that involve running and jumping lol. And so far, Doozy seems to be all aboard with that objective. 

Here’s hoping for more of the same in the year to come!

cursed chaos

If for some weird reason, archeologists from the future examined my credit card statements to analyze what Doozy and I got up to this past month, they might reasonably believe our January was… Epic.

winter: not as epic as advertised

Like all well-intentioned plans, ours was slated to be awesome. We’d capitalize on the momentum from the December clinic with Sharon White by starting the month with an entry in Loch Moy’s January XC Derby.  

“Reading the News Feed”

Then, straight back to basics with another clinic — this time with Martin Douzant, with whom I lessoned a few times with Charlie to excellent effect and have been very eager to try again. 

Derailment #1 of 2025

Then the next week, another cavaletti clinic with our favorite dressage trainer C (one of the last real activities Charlie did before retiring), and the week after - another dressage clinic but this time with a different local professional who has long been on my list. And ya know, a few other options for shuffling things around should need be. Gotta have options!

It was a worthy experiment i guess, but the bit wrap had to go

Except. Well. Options or no options, literally NONE of that happened. Wompppp lol.

Somebody has been a bit wild. Must be the other red one tho…

It all started innocently enough — Doozy got a nasty bruise from ice accumulations jammed up in her shoe that already had me doubting if we’d be ok for the derby anyway. But Lo! The polar vortex arose and they rescheduled once, before ultimately cancelling entirely.

Trying to persist and persevere thru the cold weather

Meanwhile, Doozy was slow to recover from the bruise while somewhat less slowly descending into winter-induced Cabin Fever with a Capital F (the “U” is implied).

But wait, something’s not quite right here!

Eye I warned Trainer C that Doozy was likely to be a certifiable lunatic for the cavalleti clinic since we’d missed so much saddle time. But ya know. Joke’s on me anyway, as usual.

Ugh, derailment #2 of 2025

Doozy must have been watching me hook up the trailer from her field, bc once I brought her in, it was easy to see (puns, I have them) she was in no shape for a schooling session: her eye was swollen weepy and sore, poor nugget!

Luckily resolved without prescription intervention

Technically I could have waited to see what the eye would look like the next morning before calling it on the clinic… Except…. Ehhhh I really don’t love cancelling at the last minute when it can be avoided. Plus. Real talk. The mare needed ridden in order to be prepared for the clinic. And she couldn’t be ridden with her eye like that. So she wouldn’t be prepared. So we wouldn’t go. End of story. 

Barn cats are getting more use out of my trailer than me :(

Naturally her eye WAS totally fine the next day (tho I’d consulted with my vet anyway and treated with some OTC flushing solutions), but them’s the breaks sometimes. 

You’d never know there’d been a problem!

Oh, and I skipped the part about the Martin Clinic. Ugh, that got eaten by the polar vortex too — and rescheduled for a date when I’m not available. Curses, yo. 

she’s trying to look civilized lol

And yet, we persist! Bc we love it and are fulfilled by the process etc etc etc, right?? So I finally was able to get some semblance of a routine under saddle going again, with a deep focus on just getting our work done while overlooking / ignoring all the ‘noise.’

Pretty biscuit

Engaging the tension and ignoring the drama, right?

Looking suspiciously serene in the snow

And I will say, even tho Doozy and I have decidedly gone a bit backwards in our work this month (for example, this ride feels almost unattainable at the moment) — the quality of the brief moments we do accomplish gives me a lot of satisfaction. 

It’s no secret this horse thrives on routine and consistent work. It’ll naturally be harder for us when that routine gets blown up. I’m sure we’ll get right back up to it once conditions improve.

Nooooo!!!!

So obviously Doozy got herself another new ding in the meantime LOL(sob).

Ugh mare, pls just be pretty :(

This one is (fortunately) just cosmetic, at least, tho she was a little ginger on it at first. 

So many things we could be doing

Oh and then I had to leave town for a work retreat, and picked up one of the many nasty bugs going around on the way home and have been basically flatlined for a few days — thus spelling doom for our final clinic scheduled for this past weekend with the other local dressage trainer. Siiiiiigh.

It’s all ahead of us, tho, i guess

So ya know. As they say, the ‘best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.’ But, the silver lining is that, as far as Doozy is concerned, not only does none of that even matter — it might as well never have even happened! (Well, ok, it legitimately didn’t happen, but you know what I mean).

From Doozy’s perspective, January was basically one big vacation with the occasional silly schooling session. She’s looking great and feeling fiiiine, so eh. Bring it on, February!!*

(*But like, maybe less chaos pls!)

a series of unfortunate events

Oh Charlie.... He's lucky he's so loveable, guys, bc he is absolutely the most colossal pest, I swear to god.

"i am innocent." -- charlie, probably
"but also, never leave me again!!"

I always semi-dread work trips and time away from home bc it's always a fairly safe bet that Charlie will do something massively destructive and attention-seeking in my absence. 

i spent the week in seattle for work! view from my hotel room did not suck

Luckily, the folks at his new farm are legitimately wonderful barn mates and excellent horse people. Plus, obviously Charlie has everybody wrapped around his little finger hoof. So I knew they'd be able to manage whatever he threw at them. 

it was a promising start to the week for charlie too, tho he immediately threw a shoe...

But oh lawd, he threw some stuff. First was a shoe, on day 1 of a 6 day trip. Obviously. And when that didn't bring me running back, homeboy went straight up apocalyptic on day 3.

things escalated quickly tho....

Literally as my barn manager watched, Charlie bolted down his dinner with such manic violence that he immediately started choking. And y'all already know him well enough to believe the rest. 

Trying to fling himself upon the ground, retching, snot-rocketing everywhere, acting like he was going to DIE, right then and there that very instant!

the face of a horse who requires your full attention pls

So ya know. Cool, bro, cool. Barn manager called my vet (emergency call, after hours, natch), then called me and obvi I gave her the green light to trust her judgement with whatever she and the vet thought he needed. 

he's lucky the new barn family finds him endearing lol

Tho. Uh, Charlie continued with his little temper tantrum bc then, to his horror, all the rest of the horses started getting turned out after they finished their dinners (having eaten like normal upstanding citizens, ahem). 

Mr. King of the Dings over here ascribes to a lifestyle that includes maximal turn out with minimal riding (just unsound enough, ya know?), so when he realized his latest ding would keep him inside to wait for the vet, he ***immediately*** gulped down his choke and was like JUST KIDDING GUYS HAHAHA!!

"honestly i just really missed seeing you!!" -- charlie, to his most favoritest vet, who got there just in time for him to clear his own self out....
it's ok tho, bro, i'm sure that sweet nose pet was worth the emergency farm call fee haha!

This horse, I swear. He really is a LOT. Like, realistically, last time he choked, the vet and I stayed in constant contact and determined that she'd come see him if he didn't clear within an hour. At which point she'd want to tube and administer antibiotics and all the things. 

But ya know. With being out of town and all that, it made a lot more sense to just marshal the troops immediately and not risk any unnecessary fuckery...

looking forlorn when he didn't get any good drugs out of the deal

As it was, there wasn't much for the vet to do when she arrived other than pet his nose (possibly the horse's secret ulterior motive anyway) and advise my barn manager to transition Charlie back to soaked meals. 

the truth and nothing but the truth

So, eh, Charlie then went ahead and threw his other shoe. Bc why not, right??? 

thanks charles. not sure how the farrier's gonna be able to nail anything to that situation ugh...

In the world of Charles, everybody gets punished when he's sad and lonely!! He's like that tragic toxic ex who starts firing off clingy misspelled drunk texts after exactly 1.5 light beers...

"no regerts" --- charlie, 1,000%

That's all part of his charm, I guess, it's why we love him.... He's definitely a character haha. Neurotic and a little weird... but lovable all the same.

 

meanwhile, literally every update from Dooz Land looked like this, good girl

Tho, uh, cough cough.... I'm also immensely grateful for the *other* critter haha, who is, by all accounts (and despite her somewhat chaotic nature) extremely normal. 

She spent her entire vacation head down + eating, based on the pics I got LOL, and had the decency to wait to throw a shoe until I was home again, midway through our first ride back. Natch, bc she is, after all, still a friggin horse ugh lol. 

this is why we can't have nice things...

Never a dull moment, I guess!! Hope you all had a nice and less dramatic week!!

bad moves dooz

Happy Monday, y'all! It's been... whew, a long weekend. After what was a long week, not gonna lie. I spent most of last week in a hotel conference room in the Twin Cities for my company's bi-annual staff retreat. 

It was time very well spent -- I've worked remotely since 2016ish so it's always really great to see my colleagues in person! But it was also a densely packed few days of meetings and social gatherings. Was happy to get home again!

she missed me <3 <3 <3
(obvi so did charles, who was mucho pitiful after not getting his daily grooms!)

My animals seem to do well enough in my absence... The cats suffer most since they're used to having me home for work, but the horses did just fine. Charlie was crusty and sad from lack of diligent grooming, but otherwise managed to keep all his bits attached with just a touch of his perennial demon, mud fever / scratches on his white sock. 

farm strollies on le fresh TB!!

Doozy, meanwhile, seems to have had a wonderful week off! I was happy to give her the time physically, esp after so many intense days at horse shows and dealing with saddle fit issues. Felt like a good time for a little rest. 

wisteria along the driveway!!

She impressed me, tho, with being able to basically more or less get back under saddle again after a full week off! We started with just a very basic hack about the farm -- no pressure, no rings, and no company. Just me and my Fresh AF red mare, out for a stroll! Not for very long, and not without a few skitters and pops lol.... But just fine.

mmmmmm luscious bridle paths

Second ride was a more purposeful flat ride -- still solo but this time in the dressage ring, and in the rain, natch. Doozy was very very good. It had just started raining relatively lightly so the footing was damp on top and dry underneath, meaning it was really easy to see our footprints. Which was perfect for practicing the spirals we worked on in the Sprieser clinic! 

Doozy actually really settled into the work at the walk, despite feeling a bit sharp and wild. Like, it was honestly amazing, probably the most relaxed on the aids I've ever ridden this horse on my own. But, eh, the rain kept coming and Doozy's quarter kinda ran out. We managed some ok enough trot and canter, but she felt maybe a little trapped and like she needed a bit more freedom but was guaranteed to use all that power quite irresponsibly. So I got a few good praise-able moments of trot and canter and called it a day.

best frens!! who would never ever kick each other trying to win the race in for dinner...

Realistically, being able to have a solo w-t-c ride in the dressage ring with some shining moments wasn't exactly realistic two months ago. Even more realistically, we never even really rode in the dressage ring before February / March. Let alone solo + cantering. So I'll take it as a win and be satisfied with it!

ahem. ok. yea. rosette definitely kicked her on the way down for dinner, womp...

Obvi I planned to just keep on incrementally layering on the schooling rides throughout the weekend, but Doozy had other plans. This is at least the 3rd time she's been kicked by her bestie on the way in for dinner. And like.... c'mon, at what point will she learn to like.... maybe don't run up Rosette's butt?? 

The girls like to come galloping over the hill down to the gate (see this post's first pic for a visual), and the whole silly episode was witnessed by my friends who were at the gate calling them in. 

the kick produced an almost immediate geyser of blood

This was useful given the wound was a real bleeder. Ugh. Phone calls were had. After hours vet consulted. Pros and cons weighed carefully... And ultimately the counsel was that, since the horse was completely sound, let her stay in the pressure wrap the evening shift folks had managed to get on, and forgo the emergency visit. 

The after hours vet (who has treated both my horses over the years and is extremely practical and thoughtful) felt like conservative management would be sufficient and stitches not likely necessary. My own vet followed up later in the evening saying she assumed we'd already moved forward with a treatment plan but she agreed it was likely just a skin bleeder and not serious. 

and poor doozy coped with her first day of stall rest since i've had her. well. "cope" is a strong word. here she is almost murdering us both in one fell swoop while working off some energy before i could change her wrap

All the same, we opted to keep Doozy stalled the next day to get a full 24hrs in the pressure wrap. I was volunteering at Waredaca's recognized HT, so headed over afterward and immediately flew my wild red kite out to a paddock to let off some steam before she could be reasonably handled. Poor pony, this was her first stall rest episode with me, believe it or not!

"I AM THE CHAOS" -- doozy, licensed to kill us both, and probably the fence too

The folks who did the original wrap did a very nice job, tho. The wound had clearly continued to bleed through the inner layers of bandage material for some time... but it was completely dry 24hrs later, Even after all the shenanigans in the paddock. No swelling, no bleeding, and honestly not at all a significant wound. Funny how that works out some times!

'twas a close call, but we think she'll survive!

She'll get a course of SMZs to be safe, got some bute, and had the leg wrapped a second night but then returned to turn out today. Bc let's be real, keeping her confined is nobody's idea of a good time!

coping thru tack shopping!

So ya know. It's looking like the wound was more bark than bite... So hopefully I'll be able to keep riding again in short order. But in the meantime, obvi, I did what normal people do and bought more tack LOL....

what do you think? love it? hate it? too much bridle, or just right?

I didn't photograph probably the most important selling point -- the crown piece design. Doozy has like, a gigantic poll lol. Sometimes I kinda feel like her poll and ears are a bit squeezed in the bridle she normally wears. I'll get a pic of the design of this bridle, but it's a lot roomier and more anatomic. Also like the built in flash. 

feels very modern haha, now to just ride in it! c'mon dooz, we got stuff to do!

It's a lot, tho, honestly. Haven't decided entirely what I think -- we'll have to ride in it to really see. We're also trying a new bit on this bridle, since the hackamore proved to be a total fail (womp lol). All in the name of experimentation, I suppose!

Anyway, hope you all had a nice weekend, or least eventful in better ways! Lemme know what you think of the bridle in the comments tho haha, for better or worse!