How To Train Your Baby Dragon

 It's only been, like, nine months since I started backing Wynnie, but it's too momentous an occasion not to write a post about. Brace yourselves for a novel.

I remember feeling like I waited a thousand years for Thunder to be old enough to back. I must be getting older, because it feels like I was cuddling tiny foal Wynnie only yesterday and now she's a whole horse. Last November, when the days grew longer and I had time in my schedule, I decided to bring her in and start playing with the groundwork.

feels like yesterday

Now we all know that backing age is one of the most contentious debates out there, with people ranging from jumping on 18-month-old racehorses to waiting until their warmbloods are seventeen-hand seven-year-olds before doing anything with them. To each their own. I like a useful middle ground somewhere between three and four and a half, depending on the horse. I will also confess that, when my current big horses were baby horses, my then-coach backed the poor suckers as two-year-olds. I shudder to think of it now, but Arwen was one of them and is still competing sound as a bell in the upper levels at nearly nineteen, so, you know, it's not all bad.

look at weeny baby Wynnie sleeping in my lap

Wynnie is an early bloomer. Though I don't anticipate doing anything with Raya other than trying to find an angle to get a picture where she doesn't look like a llama until she's four or five, Wynnie was sturdy-looking by the beginning of last summer, and her agile mind was also perpetually getting her into trouble. She was climbing through fences, hassling the other horses, and escaping her stable at every opportunity, as well as terrorising the poor grooms with her antics.

By then, obviously, all her citizenship was in place. Wynnie showed as a foal at foot, so loading, travelling, behaving in a new place (for a given value of "behaving" as we saw at HOY 2025), doing all the in-hand things, bathing, plaiting, having her legs clipped, tying up---all that stuff was old hat to her. We'd also messed around with join-up and I'd taught her to pony off Lancey in the arena the previous winter.

There wasn't a whole lot left to do other than start the groundwork for backing, and with Wynnie telling me that she felt ready, we got to it.

asking to come in and do something interesting

Even though she is mature for her age, nobody's growth plates close faster than anyone else's, so right off the bat we weren't doing anything particularly strenuous. We didn't (and still don't) lunge for more than ten minutes and only on large circles with only little bits of cantering (three circles on each side). She cottoned on to lungeing very easily and was forward and incredibly obedient from the start. Her canter was also just easy and balanced from the beginning. She sometimes struggled to pick up her right lead at first.

Before long, it was time to introduce the bridle, which I knew was going to be a bit of a pain. Busy brains have busy mouths and I haven't had a youngster with such a busy brain for a long time. She'd had her wolf teeth out ages ago, but getting used to the bit was a real mission for her. I fed a lot of treats both for accepting the bit and for not chewing it, but ultimately, she just needed to wear the bridle a lot of times before she quit chomping on the bit. I started her in a French link snaffle because that was what I had that fit her and she ultimately got used to it.

On a bittersweet note, the spare bridle I had lying around for her was Magic's. I think it looks good on her 💜

We moved on to the roller, which sparked a bit of humping and crow-hopping, something she can still do when she's a little fresh. I wasn't expecting her to be a particularly easy horse to back and this was another indicator to me that she might be a little on the spicy side. No worries. I didn't breed her to be an easy little angel, I'm here for another dragon, and I wasn't in any hurry.

We took our time with the roller, and once she was consistently chill with lungeing in it, we added the saddle. This was a non-event, and, as I'd expected, she fits perfectly in the old Kent & Masters jumping saddle I bought several eras ago for Arwen when we were teenagers who thought we were going to be eventing superstars. She's the same little round mutton-withered thing that Arwen was as a youngster and the K&M sticks to her back like glue, even though it's taken a thorough beating over the past 11 years or so. I'll eventually want to move her into a dressage saddle but figured that having shorter stirrups might not be a bad thing for the dragon theatrics that will inevitably follow.

The only little spook she had with her saddle was once when I put the stirrups down without warning her and started her groundwork like that. The sun sparkled off a stirrup and she scooted forward a step with big eyes, then immediately stopped, pricked her ears, and demanded a treat for Coping So Well. Since clicker training has been our jam since the beginning, I couldn't exactly deny her just reward.

who is this grown up woman? (feat. cows)

Interspersed with introducing the tack, we started with the baby groundwork J taught me that just fixes and improves so much in the early life of a dressage horse. My particular favourites include rein-back on the ground in a good posture, slowly increasing the number of steps until we were doing ten steps uphill three times a session with practically no pressure on the reins. Another special favourite is turn on the forehand, developing the "Over" cue that will ultimately become all of her lateral work, and then slowly turning that into shoulder-in on the ground along the rail. It's amazing how much a few minutes of this develops their balance, symmetry, strength, and understanding in a super low-impact, youngster-friendly manner without a rider on yet.

I wasn't surprised that she learned the groundwork and all the lungeing commands effortlessly. Her brain is so much like her mom's in that way - she learns "tricks" quickly and enjoys executing them. By the time I was lungeing her with the saddle, I barely needed any body cues for transitions. She also surprised and impressed me with how balanced, supple, and easy her canter is on both reins. Her trot is nothing to write home about (yet) but her canter is what I'm really after, and it's simply effortless.

We ran into another speed bump when we introduced contact to the bit. I started with the neck stretcher quite loose; it's forgiving and soft, and it teaches the youngster not to be scared of the contact but to go boldly into it. A little counter-intuitive, but for dressage, I like them to be bold and fearless of the contact. The bit is primarily to help with suppleness and connection. Brakes are in my seat and voice, although I do teach a sort of emergency stop off the bit for the hairy moments.

She wasn't bad or dramatic about wearing the neck stretcher but she did start chomping quite a lot again. I keep the grackle loose and let her chomp all she likes. Once she worked out how to soften over her back and stretch her neck down to release the contact, she quit chomping, although she'll probably have a busy mouth for the rest of her life just because it's attached to a busy brain.

After a few weeks we had acceptance in the neck stretcher and she was starting to work with a little bit more of a stretchy shape, so I switched to the long lines to teach her a little bit of steering and the emergency brakes. She took to these just fine. Being supple and having a short body makes the steering pretty easy, and we also installed the "oh crap whoa dangit" from canter to halt, just in case of drama. We long-lined in the lunge ring and also a bit in the arena, learning about figures and not falling around without a fence to hold us upright. I also installed a rein-back on the long lines, using the same voice command and encouraging her to keep her back up.

With that, we only had a little spot of groundwork left, which was to teach her to walk and trot forward with a voice and whip aid. This really helps them translate to the leg aids, which are always the hardest thing to teach a baby. She figured these out quickly, of course. The Dragons are nothing if not good at figuring out responses to aids.

All that left was the actual getting on. This brings us to somewhere in December, near her third birthday, and this is where our progress eased off a little. I've backed dozens of youngsters in my day, but it's been a minute, and I'm not as brave as I used to be. We spent a lot of time standing at the mounting block, hanging over the saddle, bouncing in one stirrup, all that jazz. Wynnie complicated this somewhat with the fact that standing still for more than a minute still eludes her, but she was never actually naughty.

Finally, I abandoned the saddle and slipped on for the first time bareback, and everything was perfectly fine. I fed her a few treats from both sides to let her look around and touch me. She didn't care.

second sit, first pics

The next time, I popped on with the saddle, having broken through that mental barrier, and we were off. Well, sort of. Like most babies, Wynnie was totally happy to accept me on her back but very confused about what I actually wanted up there. We started with a few steps of rein-back and then had to wiggle side to side to get the front feet to move forward. If I'd been a bit bolder about it we would have got it done in a couple of sessions, but I took my time, and we would wiggle forward a few steps at a time (click treating for progress), until at last one day I had K jump on and I led her around a bit. After that, Wynnie set off boldly when I asked.

K and I worked together with Wynnie for the next couple of months. I'd lunge her once a week and take her out, ponying off Lancey, at least once a week. She LOVED ponying and was absolutely angelic for this from the first second---I never had any trouble with her. In fact, sometimes I'd sent her ahead of Lancey if he was spooking at something. She loved climbing hills and bushwhacking through long grass.

I'd also ride her myself once or twice a week and K would do one session until she'd introduced her first canter. Wynnie was surprisingly well-behaved for learning to canter, which is a time when a lot of babies like to throw a playful buck or two. She never had any trouble picking up both canter leads and she was easy and balanced around the dressage arena from the start.

It was a triumphant moment for me when I had my first canter on Wynnie shortly after K installed it. I had way too many youngster-shenanigans to sit through in my misspent youth backing babies for people, but something about Wynnie always gave me confidence. Part of it is just that she feels so much like her mom; her movement is so familiar and comfortable. But I've also spent the past three years playing with my baby pony and getting to know her well enough that I understand she's a spicy little maiden with not a mean hair on her head. We simply cruised into our first canter together like it was no big deal.

Since then, we've been continuing with little rides, just 15 or 20 minutes at a time. It's all light and playful, focusing on having her travel forward and bend in both directions and move off my legs left and right and canter on the correct leg. She has thrown a little buck when fresh that doesn't worry me at all, and has had one or two minor spooks, but on the whole, she is one very good and hardworking and clever baby horse.

She leaves me so excited for the future. God is good.

Horse of the Year 2025 Part 2: In-hand

We returned to Kyalami Park the day after the Arab classes with Wynnie and Charlie in tow. After the wild flurry that always precedes HOY, with so many horses to bath and plait and load and pack for, it was a huge relief to finally be on the road and ready to do the thing.

Charlie is a client's super cute partbred gelding and has actually never been to a show, but he's one of those people who just aren't bothered by anything, so I was confident about overnighting him. Wynnie was our earliest horse of the day on Saturday and I knew she'd overnight well because she has done so several times before. She loaded and traveled like an absolute superstar, although I'd put her ninja outfit on to keep her plaits clean and this proved to be a mistake. The poor girl sweats like her mother. She was sodden but unbothered when we got there, and neither of the two youngsters put a foot wrong when we arrived.

We found the show stables had suffered somewhat after weeks of rain and the paths in between were pretty muddy. The stables themselves were fine, but the amount of bugs gave me the heebie jeebies, so I absolutely drenched both horses in Tabard to keep the disease-carrying little blighters off. Both horses settled perfectly and were happy to nibble their hay while I got the stables set up and ready for what promised to be a chaotic following day.

We got an early start on Saturday morning. Erin kindly found time in a truly hectic schedule to come over and help with turning out Wynnie. Although Wynnie is solid bay and thus makes my life much easier, I was determined that she should look utterly spotless. If we weren't going to win the in-hand class, it sure as sugar wasn't going to be because of her turnout. I knew she had it in her to win the class and really wanted to do her justice, so I'd made an effort to improve my turnout game, which definitely included dragging Erin into it.

Before she got there, though, I made a bold effort at washing the sweat and Tabard off her from the night before. This proved easier said than done. First, when I went into the stable to feed her, Wynnie (very rudely) barged out the door and hooned around the stables, naked and feral.

"Loose horse," people yelled as she merrily trampled over the nice, professional grooming area that the Proper Showing People had set up.

"Loose horse!!" they shrieked as she almost mowed down a kid and pony.

"Don't worry," someone said, "there's the owner."

There the owner was indeed, following dejectedly behind with a rope halter, making despairing little cooing noises and brandishing a carrot. Wynnie didn't give a crap about me or my cooing noises or my carrot. She was having too much fun sowing chaos wherever she went.

"Oh, hey, Firn!" someone yelled.

There was a chorus of greetings from the other Nooitie people with their normal, sweet, well-behaved Nooities while I followed in the wake of the dragon spawn I bred.

She eventually dived underneath a half-unfolded gazebo for some grass and I managed to wrangle her halter on, whereupon she followed me back to her stable as meekly as a lamb.

The meekness didn't last. After her breakfast, I took her up to the horsebox to use our handy-dandy portable wash bay to get some of the stickiness out of her coat. This was a big ask - there were very few other horses visible and the box is a long way from the stables - and Wynnie did make a bit of a scene about this. She called, pawed, tried to push me over, and reared once in protest when I corrected her sharply with the halter. She did settle somewhat after a few minutes, but it wasn't productive, so I called it quits with only her shoulders and flanks clean and then attempted to graze her in the sunshine and get her dry.

We had variable success with this part. She spent much of that time grazing like a good girl, and the rest of it leaping around on her hindlegs in a very annoying manner. To her credit, it wasn't separation anxiety - she was fine about that once she could see other horses close by. It was more a case of being wet, fresh, and bored out of her skull. If I'd given her a five-minute lunge or even just some groundwork in the warmup, I'm willing to bet she would have chilled the heck out.

Anyway, she was at least well-behaved in the stable once we got back and she could entertain herself by eating hay instead of homicide. I polished her coat with Brylcreem - well, that's what I thought I was doing, anyway; turns out I was making artsy little streaks of oiliness all over her - and she was actually very good for me to plait her forelock. I also managed to clip her ears with a bit of clicker training and patience, which was great. Erin fixed her tail, which I hadn't clipped properly, and put on her beautiful checkerboard quarter marks.

Then, while we were still working on the finishing touches, they called our class ten minutes early. This happens to me every single year. I forget that dressage is dressage and you absolutely cannot be forced to go in before your ride time, but showing is showing and does what it wants. Ten minutes isn't a super long time, but it was the time I had set aside to walk Wynnie around and get her brain in gear, and that was the time we ended up not having.

Erin ran a last brush through Wynnie's tail and shoved us in. Rather, Wynnie dragged me in, plunging and snorting in all her draconic finery. She is her mother's daughter in many good ways, but also a few regrettable ones. It felt like wrangling a young (well... even a not-so-young) and angry Arwen as we absolutely charged around the arena with Wynnie doing her best to remove my arms from my sockets and me doing my best to keep a lid on the beast.

There were two key troubles here. The first was just that I hadn't taken enough time to get Wynnie moving around and focused on her job before we went in. The second was that Wynnie did not, in fact, understand the bit as clearly as I thought she did. She'd been so good for her in-hand work at home that I'd barely used the reins at all, only my voice and posture, keeping a smile in the reins like a good little horsewoman. We'd done a lot of lungeing in the stretchy thing, which gives only a really soft and gentle connection and really encourages the horse to go into the bridle and stretch down without any fear of their mouth. This is awesome and everything, but it left me almost entirely without brakes. The more I pulled, the more she merrily pulled, too.

It took me a hot minute to figure this out. By the time I did, we had wrestled each other around the show ring and then had a fairly catastrophic trot during which she exhibited none of her loose and beautiful movement but a few very credible airs above the ground.

To her enormous credit, though, Wynnie never once fidgeted in the halt. Once homegirl was standing, she was standing. It was the moving that was the problem. I stood her up for the judge, who looked her up and down and said, "Walk away and trot back, please, and pray that she behaves."

I did, and she did. We walked away and trotted back without turning a hair, but it was already too late. Wynnie had proven herself a misbehaving renegade and came second to another very gorgeous filly. By the time they handed out the ribbons, I had made the tremendous leap of intellect that perhaps I should stop pulling on the reins and use the same training principles with which I had, in fact, raised the horse. I started to use click and reward every time she behaved instead of merely hauling on her mouth. Miraculously, the horse started to behave the instant I was consistent and clear. Amazing. What a shocker.

I was tired, annoyed, and a little bummed out as we left the arena. Wynnie has been so well-behaved at previous shows that I didn't put much thought into how she would be at this one, so I wasn't expecting to have any difficulty with her. I had the feeling she might have done better if only she'd been more chill when we went in (read: if only I had done the stuff that I should've done, I realize, with my 20/20 hindsight). Also, I was just over it, because we all know how incredibly fun it is to get squished, trampled, and pulled around by an increasingly big and strong young horse.

She stood mostly still as we waited to go back in for the championship, and once we did, she behaved perfectly. When my expectations were clear, she met them. (Amazing how horses behave better when we, like, do the thing correctly). We didn't get any ribbons in the championship, with the first-placed senior mare winning it and the junior winner getting reserve, but at least Wynnie was good and I could look forward to the group class later.

I showed dear old Charlie, who was perfect in every imaginable way and a wonderful experience after wrangling Wynnie (we won't mention that I have fussed over Wynnie's training for three years and this is her fourth HOY, while Charlie had never shown before and we'd only had him four months). Then it was time for little Raya's first ever show.

Raya had been a superstar leading up to this show. My expectations for a baby's first show are super low: load politely, travel without incident, and then have a positive experience the rest of the time. I had her in the stud group class with Wynnie because then she wouldn't even have to trot up by herself - she could merely follow Wynnie. Life was so hectic with prepping eight horses for HOY that we only actually got around to teaching Raya to trot in hand the week before, but she just did it like the perfect angel child she is. She even stood, snoozing, for me to plait and sew in her hair on the Thursday afternoon.

The stud group was right after the geldings, so I didn't even have time to get her ready myself. K and BarnRat did so with variable enthusiasm. I had just enough time to notice that no one had thought to, well, run a brush through Raya's tail before the ring steward was calling us in. I grabbed Wynnie, K grabbed Raya, and in we went.

This time, Wynnie had had the chance to settle, and she was pretty much perfect from the first step. Darling little Raya was an absolute angel from start to finish. She's a quiet little soul, friendly and calm, happy to cooperate as long as she gets a little attention and maybe a treat or two. She followed Wynnie around without a single misstep.

They both stood up beautifully for the judge, who asked if Raya was Wynnie's baby (no, ma'am, she is not, but the resemblance is strong). We then had to walk away and trot back together. We executed a lovely walk and symmetrical turn, and then things went a bit pear-shaped when we started to trot. Wynnie accidentally stood on the edge of one of the tekkies (sneakers?) I'd elected to wear for the in-hand, and it came right off. She barely even stepped on it, to be honest---her foot grazed mine when we trotted off. The show must go on, I decided, so I ran across the show arena with one tekkie and one bright blue socks with cute little dogs wearing sunglasses on it.

I giggled. K was appalled. The judge informed me that I could go back and get my shoe, so I ran back across the arena as everyone watched, grabbed it, shoved it on, and returned to Raya's side. Wynnie, to her credit, was angelic for this part.

A lot of weird and silly things have happened to me in the show ring, but that was definitely a first.

We didn't get any placings in the stud group class (not a huge surprise, as all the different breeders show their very best horses in the group class, and that doesn't usually include growthy little yearlings and misbehaving three-year-olds), but I was just so happy with how little Raya had behaved---and with the fact that Wynnie had finally screwed her head back on straight---that I honestly didn't care.

That wrapped up the stressful in-hand part. It was time to relax, focus, and enjoy the grownup horses in the riding classes.

God is good.

15 More Questions

You know what I miss? A good ol' blog hop. Luckily for me, Anna had even worse weather than I ever do, so she posted one!

1 – What would you consider to be your favorite item you’ve purchased for your horse?

Oooh, tough one. Y'all know I'm not big on shopping, but I'll have to vote for the nearly-new brown Wintec 500 I bought for Arwen in 2023. It was such a literal Godsend - the first saddle I tried fit the horse great and I got it from a friend, so there was no fussing around with awkward trial periods or couriers. Although I have to say that my cute show ear thingy is also very high on the list.

okay so this helmet, these Nu Angles, the double bridle my friends and hubs got me, and the blue glitter browband are also on the list

2 – When you found your current horse, what drew you to them?

I found my horses and my husband the same way - they kind of just showed up. Skye and Arwen arrived so long ago that I barely remember any specific reason about liking them, I just liked them because I was a horse kid and they were horses. (Of course, I found lots of reasons to like them later on). Thunder I loved because I was a horse kid and he was a foal - even better.

I picked Faith out of her group of two-year-olds at the time because she had an ethereal, airy-fairy beauty. Not the greatest reason to pick out a horse, but she really still looks not-quite-real, and is far bigger and more athletic than those same peers today.

Lancey was a repo case - I claimed him because his people couldn't pay his stabling. I originally planned to resell him, but his perfectly cuddly, goofball personality made him too irresistible, and I realized that you only ever get one Lancey in your life. It would have been silly to let him go.

Finally, I picked Wynnie and Raya's sire primarily for his movement. He had all the basic things that would have been total deal-breakers for me if they weren't in place (good feet, good mouth, good brain, good back), but his free, elastic movement set him apart from others in the breed.

3- If you could move your horse and yourself anywhere in the world, budget is no problem; where would you go and why?

I think it would be really fun to spend one season in a super horsy neighborhood overseas like Ocala and be fully immersed in that culture, but only for a season. I love where we are. It's far enough outside the city that it feels very rural, but all the major shows, vets, and other amenities are an hour away. Absolutely perfect.

4 – Is there something on your horsey wish list you’re coveting? What is it? (new pad, halter, bridle, a trailer, etc)

I'm dying to completely level out and redo my arena footing, but without a tractor, it's proving to be a challenge. We'll likely have to hire a tractor next spring to do it. In the meantime, trusty old Flash has been harnessed to the harrow and has to pull it around every time it rains, so that's fun.

5- Do you have a playlist for your horse? What is on it?

I don't have a playlist, but Arwen does have a song. It is a relic of my upbringing as a homeschooled teenager whose friends were only allowed to play Minecraft and delved the oddest corners of the internet. You have been warned.

6 – In 3 sentences or less, describe your horse- bonus points if you can use a gif. (inspired by Mamas Magic Way being described as one of Boyd Martin’s kids in a recent article tbh)

Ages ago we assigned an animated movie character to each horse. This is the perfect time to showcase them.

Arwen is obvious.

the Nightest Fury there ever was

Thunder is warm, cuddly, and always patient with my general BS. He's also chubby and in his extended canter you can practically hear him say, "I am not fast." He's obviously Baymax.

Me: Oh no I'm bad at life! Thunder: There, there.

Lancey is another obvious one. "Some people are worth melting for."

7 – If you could go see a clinic or participate, who would you audit/participate in? (Again, budget is no question here)

This one is tough for me, because as much as we all want to ride with Olympians, I do not ride an Olympic-bred horse. I love having J as my coach specifically because he has shown many off-breed horses all the way to GP, so he understands how to break down movements into tiny bite-sized pieces and introduce them to horses to whom they don't come naturally.

I think it would be really fun to watch a completely different clinic to the worlds I'm used to, like Western or saddle seat.

8 – Favorite fictional horse?

This is super niche, but I loved Ardanwen from The Letter for the King. Not only is Ardanwen the fastest Friesian in all the land (as they always seem to be), he also spends most of his time rescuing the hapless main characters from all kinds of disaster. He also carries most of the plot on his back, let's be honest.

9 – Opinions on Devacoux’s latest saddle design?

I'm neither smart enough (or, let's be real, in the right price bracket!) to know what it's really about, but I will say that it's a little silly-looking. If it works, though, who cares?

10 – If money was no problem, would you get a custom saddle?

Absolutely. With many sparkles. Nothing really fits my oddly-shaped little round horses perfectly, so as much as we happily make do with what we have, it would be cool to get the perfect fit.

11 – If your horse wasn’t a horse, what animal would they be? (basically copy paste your horse’s personality into another animal – what animal would they be)

We've long since established that Arwen is a dragon (and so is Wynnie) and Lancey is a unicorn. Thunder would be a big, fluffy dog or an orange cat. Skye is a pegasus. I will die on this hill. (You never said they had to be real animals).

12- Favorite horse and rider combo? (i.e Boyd Martin and Fedarman B)

That's an easy one: Becky Moody and Jagerbomb. They look like such a harmonious partnership even though Jagerbomb is clearly a bit of a live wire, and her social media is humble and hilarious. Plus he's a homebred like my Thunderbird. Love it.

13 – What was your favorite or best advice for horses you were ever given?

J said to me once that every horse is a Grand Prix horse until proven otherwise. Sure, not every horse actually will be able to compete at Grand Prix. But if you set aside barriers like soundness and extreme age, approaching every single horse like they have the ability to go all the way puts a measure of belief behind them that might just surprise you with its results. That doesn't mean pushing or forcing a horse to be something they physically can't or mentally don't want to be; it's just believing in them and daring to dream audaciously.

14 – What is the best and worst registered name for a horse that you’ve seen recently?

I don't really want to pick the worst name because, you know, somebody did pick that name and thought it was a cute name, but I do find the Friesian names kind of funny. 17 hands of midnight and fire bound by muscle and lit with strength - and you show it under the Dutch equivalent of, like, Joe or Henry or Pete. Hilarious.

Magic had the stupidest racehorse name I've ever seen. He was called Gadsfly, poor bro.

I love lots of the old Afrikaans names that the Nooities and Boerperde have, like Voorslag (the cracker on the end of a whip), Vastrap (firm steps, also a traditional dance), Bomskok (shellshock), Voorspoed (prosperity), and Haastig (in a hurry). Waaksaam (alert) is another favourite. One used to come across lots of horses with Boer War names but I haven't met a De La Rey in a while.

15 – Do you want to try another discipline or something fun with your horse?

If I had unlimited time, Arwen and I would 100% be doing working equitation. SO fun.

16 – Free space! Leave a funny story, photo, advice, a quote, or something you want to pass along to the next person!

This is a Sebright (albeit not a show quality one). They're adorable and about the size of a pigeon. I thought you should know.

God is good.

Briefly Benched

 While we were at the first interschools qualifier last weekend with Mawarda and his child, M called to say that Arwen had a mild fever of 38.5 at breakfast. It was 38.8 an hour later, not staggeringly high, but certainly climbing.

This made me a bit twitchy because it's prime biliary (similar to piroplasmosis to my US readers) season in South Africa and I like to jump on them very early and aggressively, which generally gets them sorted out within 24 hours or so. But as it was one of my own, who always suffer from a little neglect compared to a client pony, and also as it was Arwen, who is made out of cast iron, we finished up the show first. Her temperature had dropped to normal by 2pm, but when I finally reached her around 6pm, it was 39.0. Again, not a raging fever, but not right at all.

meanwhile, Mawarda and kiddo were perfection

Now normally I never, ever treat a biliary without a positive blood smear. It's so common here that people LOVE to dose them up with Forray (imidocarb) without a definitive diagnosis, often missing other diseases and giving the poor horse colic because Forray's side effects can be a real beast. But I was looking at the most classic biliary I've seen in years; she was jaundiced, her heart rate was in the 40s (high for her), and she had a miserable look in her eye. It was 6pm on a Sunday and though I take my own blood smears to the vet, it would necessitate a (more $$$) emergency consultation. So I just phoned the vet to check and then gave her Forray right away with a bit of vitamin B/liver extract as a booster and a round of flunixin to make her comfortable.

The next day Arwen's heart rate was still a touch high, which is pretty typical as they can have anemia after the Forray kills the parasites and their host cells, but she didn't have any fevers. After that she declared that she was perfectly fine, thank you, and didn't need any more needles. She has been her usual self ever since but is still getting a couple of weeks off to give that hardworking heart some extra rest.

no Arwen pics because Felix stole her thunder by damaging himself in a far more expensive manner than she did, and yes, there is not a thought behind those eyes

In the meantime, we still had a pretty busy week. Thunder's fitness is slowly returning - thanks for nothing, Friesian blood - and I had a couple of nice rides on him. His canter, as ever, remains a bit of a mission, but it'll come back with strength and fitness. We currently lunge at least two or three days a week to help him rebuild without my hindrance and he should be fit enough to get back into lessons in March, I believe.

I had a really cool ride on Wynnie last week, too. I still plan to do a proper post about her backing, but I've had five or six little "rides" on her now where I basically just sit there and pet her and give her treats. I introduced the (very gentle) whip aids for walking forward and shoulder-in on the ground a couple of weeks ago and last week was the first time they really seemed to translate for her in the saddle. She was still a little sticky and hesitant, but we walked all the way around the arena. Obviously, there was no drama - Wynnie is a brat and a babydragon and the wiggliest youngster you've ever seen, but there's no malice in her. It was the greatest feeling. We're basically Olympians now in my book.

so very grown up

can you believe this was the same horse?

Lancey also had a good week. We schooled on Tuesday for the first time in a hot minute, which is always a bit messy, but he was an absolute rock on Wednesday when I ponied Wynnie out the furthest she's ever gone. Wynnie was pretty good - generally staying by his side on a loose lead - but Lancey handled her odd spooky moment with great aplomb. Of course he did. He's my unicorn.

Erin came over on Friday to teach us more about showing. We obviously started out with a hack on the two unicorns, who were both excellent, although Erin's unicorn did have moments when he thought he might not be.

Then I presented Wynnie for some turnout tips for HOY. Wynnie was impeccable the day before when I bathed and plaited her and she stood still for nearly an hour and a half - a magnificent feat. Sadly, it seems she ran out of standing-still-ability and had none left for Friday. Erin tried to show me how to plait her tail but Wynnie was having absolutely none of it. Horses gonna horse. Anyway, we also showed her our in-hand work, and Wynnie was a star for this part, even standing up for the judge.

That rounded out our week, and this week has been even quieter. Arwen is still off, we had wonderful rain for the past three days, and I had to have a (very) minor procedure that left me with a tiny incision which is annoyingly not allowed to get wet, so there's been no riding in the rain for us. We needed the rain, so there are no protests from me.

Erin is a horse butt artist seriously

Looking forward to green pastures and sunny days. God is good.

also got to hang out with Mystique, who was my up-down pony at the riding school nearby when I was a tiny kiddo <3

Back Again

Here's a really quick recap so that I can get back into the swing of things with posts for 2025.

As fantastic as 2024 was, our plans did fall off the rails a little toward the end of the year. Although Arwen rocked our socks in October by winning Medium 3 at Champagne Tour and we had another really fun show after that, we didn't quite manage to get our ten grading points for Advanced yet. No regrets - we had an amazing year of showing together.

Thunder also went to Champagne Tour and had a very tense warmup, but settled in the test for a decent score. He started his 2025 three-legged lame with the kind of swelling that makes your heart turn cartwheels, but after a set of ($$$) x-rays, the vet proclaimed that he was merely bruised and would be sound within ten days. I was riding him again the next week and he is completely fine now, having lost much less fitness than I expected over the holidays and after his injury, so good for him.

Lancey went to our provincial Arab show in the end of November to finish off our show season. He was absolutely superb in every way, not putting a foot wrong for three full days of classes, and we brought home a little bit of satin to boot. Our highlight was coming third in a large and strong hunter pleasure class even though, truth be told, I have absolutely no idea what hunter pleasure even is. Someone told me to ride forward so we just zoomed around basically. He makes everything so fun.

Faith was diagnosed with bony change in her left front navicular, the result of an injury she likely had as a foal before we got her. It explains the chronic short-stepping issue she has, as well as the tightness in her back. We gave her a shot of Legend and put bar shoes on in front and I put her into boot camp with me for four or five weeks to lose weight, get supple, and regain the musculature she needs to move comfortably. It worked insanely well, and Faith was going the best she's ever gone by the end of November, when she somehow ripped a hole in her right front. After (more $$$) stitches, it healed like a charm and she lost hardly any fitness. She and K are looking incredible together.

Skye is beautiful, perfect, and still living her best life with no apparent signs of slowing down even though she'll be about 37 this year at our best guess. Her joints remain creaky, but honestly, I'm not seeing anything get worse. She had biliary when the first round of ticks came out in the spring and recovered like any young, healthy horse would. I even had to reduce her concentrates because she was getting rather portly on the summer grass. I know she won't be with us forever, but I'm grateful for every happy, healthy day we get to have with her.

this is me teaching K to ride on Skye like a thousand years ago

Raya handled her weaning with aplomb and is living out now with a cute little two-year-old colt friend who is, in fact, smaller than she is. She has a super-sweet, submissive, totally calm personality with nothing pushy or dominant about her - very similar to her mom's, but more expressive and personable.

Finally, and most excitingly, I started working with Wynnie in November. She already had all the citizenship skills nailed down (after all, she's been to three Horse of the Year shows), but as her third birthday approached, we started playing with ponying off Lancey and then little bits of groundwork. Wynnie has an insanely active and agile mind and is the only horse I've ever seen who actively gets bored in the field. I also took one look at her big personality, loud opinions, and girl-boss energy and decided to sit on it sooner rather than later, thanks. Her physical maturity was there, too, so we did very gentle and basic groundwork and then I popped on for a few little sits in December and January. I'll try to do a full post just about backing her, but in case I don't, here is proof that the baby dragon did not, in fact, launch me during her first few rides.

The stableyard is chugging along fine, with plenty of training horses to keep K and I busy and a few new darling retirees. We nearly closed our doors in November when the terrible drought persisted, but Abba provided the most beautiful rain in December, and now we are full steam ahead with breeding plans for this season and a string of ponies getting ready for HOY.

this child raked in the ribbons on Sunday riding dear old Mawarda

Looking forward to staying caught up as much as possible now, although with so much richness in our lives, it's not surprising when we get too consumed with life to journal it.

God is good.

July Photos

 July was a real rollercoaster! After babysitting the Friesians again for a month while K was away in May-June, we went on holiday, and only then did I start to settle into my new routine when we got back. Of course, the new routine now includes wedding planning - in which the Lord has been incredibly gracious, as usual.

The night before we left. The yard might not be perfect, but it's ours and we love it 💜

24 hours later, after 12 hours in the car, we reached East London. The Eastern Cape is really temperate and it was a welcome break from winter!

I'll have to put all of our holiday photos in a separate post, but suffice it to say that we had an amazing time, even if this one decided it was a great idea to waltz around on the beach in his farm boots.

We didn't quite have swimming weather every day, but we enjoyed exploring the city - especially the museum and aquarium - and walking on the beautiful empty beaches.

This was my first visit to Nahoon Point.

Back where we belong, only now we're engaged! It was a little bit of a shock to wake up at home the next morning and realize that we were still engaged. Part of my brain sort of categorized our engagement as being a holiday-only thing, I guess. It's still sinking in.

The layers seemed pretty happy to see us.

My sister was really excited to see us and assembled a card, flowers, and a gift before we even got home!

Sahara's mane has gotten soooo long! Midas's kid outgrew him and is leasing her now, and I also have a half lease on her for the riding school. She's a very good mare, big enough for grownups, very forward-going and obedient.

Wynnie and Thunder have developed an adorable friendship. Basically, Wynnie never leaves him alone, and Thunder always puts up with her.

I'm really unhappy with his weight this winter. He's not unhealthy exactly, but he's not the shiny, glossy muscle-man he used to be. It's been this way since the start of winter -- I think his itchy coat really bothered him in the summer and he might even be dealing with an ulcer as a result.

Noah helps me teach every afternoon now. He occasionally gives at least one of us a heart attack by popping out from behind things, but I love his company.

Lancey is super grubby but at least he's happy. It took me a while to get into my routine with him, I hardly rode the poor little guy at all in July. Even after a long holiday and all this time, I still feel the effects of burnout.

I'm giving poor Thunder grey hairs! I can't believe he'll be 12 in October.

We did lots of pole work this month. It was fun! I especially liked doing poles on a circle or transitioning from far-apart poles to close-together poles to add some variety.

Ladybug is starting to look pretty legit. This kiddo helps me out around the yard a lot, and though the Pessoa caused her some consternation at first, she's proven very useful.

Faithy noodle is doing well but still just standing in a field for now. I'm hoping to find her a rider who wants to compete on her. EM ended up getting her own horse, a gorgeous and really well-behaved Friesian that I actually schooled back at the Friesian stud, through a stroke of amazing love and providence. They're perfect together and I'm excited for many happy hours of riding together!

Faith's hair growth has been insane. She rubbed this part down to the skin back in January.

Eventually it'll catch up to the rest again.

This is Carnegie, a new retiree. He's a good old boy.

We took the little monsters out for a pre-Finals training show in July.

Caught this barn cat snuggling a calf at like 5:30am when we were prepping for aforementioned show.

Shadow hugs for the best Thunder boy. He really started to come back into his old level of strength and fitness this month, so we're back to playing with the changes and walk-canter-walk transitions in travers and half-pass to prepare for the pirouettes.

Toy continues to enjoy his weekly rides, and I have discovered a new photography genre: between-the-ears pics feat. engagement ring. The silicone one, because I do not trust myself with the real thing when I'm riding, lol.

This kiddo is always fun to ride with, even though Dusty spent the entire ride trying her best to run away with him. Dusty's weight has given me many grey hairs this winter. She's feeling well in herself but I just can't get that weight up again. She's only about 19, which isn't old for a pony, so it concerns me greatly. She did start to pack it back on again after we dealt with a mild worm burden, so I'm hoping that that was the root of the problem. With her history, though, it's so hard to tell.

Lancey retained a surprising amount of strength and fitness, so we've been schooling counter canter, shoulder-in, and changes through walk.

It still doesn't feel quite real. Like a very happy dream 💜

This guy is a happy dream too 💜 He's going to feature in our engagement shoot and I'm REALLY excited!

Coat = OK, condition = bleh. I've switched from the Capstone Stud Time to Equifeeds Racehorse Feed (hilarious, I know), since it's less exorbitantly expensive than the Stud Time and while the Stud Time put a lot of spring in his step I do think he lost weight on it. Forever tinkering with a formula to make him spicy and chunky. His coat has done well this winter but he still gets scabby gross spots on his face, so I've bought him a very expensive fly mask, which Wynnie removes at least twice a day.

Jamaica did this to his foot two weeks before Gauteng Finals. I freaked a little and went the whole NSAIDs, wrapping, icing, antibiotics route but he was sound the next day.

The "sorry for sending you a gory pic of your horse's leg" pic that I sent his owner when he was all doctored up. I was out of Vetwrap (thanks to Red who overreached the same week) but this stable bandage did the job overnight until I could get more. Sometimes you just gotta improvise.

When I actually stick with Thunder's dressagey schedule Mondays through Thursdays, we spend Friday jumping whatever exercise I have up for the kids. He enjoys it and it's good for me to remember that I actually can jump.

We only pop over about 80cm or so but it's plenty of fun!

I got these incredibly delicious horse treats from S who runs the Arab stud now. The horses went crazy for them! They were Wynnie's first horse cookies and she was confused at first and then wildly excited.

Flashy enjoyed some outrides with his kiddos.

More "wow I'm engaged!!!" pics on a squeaky clean Lancey for once. His mane has gotten sooooo long and luxurious and pearly white - a good thing considering I'm going down the aisle on him in just over 3 months!

Am I going to take tons of these photos with my silicone ring and various horses? Yes. Am I sorry? Not even a little bit. We've waited a long, long time for this. God's grace has been so good in the waiting, but I'm glad it's done now!

I got this GORGEOUS new riding shirt from Zeuster Equestrian. The very nice lady bought Vlinder (from the Friesians) and I ordered a bunch of yard shirts from her and she kindly sent me this one as a present. I love it so much. It's nice and warm for the winter but very comfy and flattering.

Why was my lens so dirty on this day? Anyway, Red is finally starting to look like something. He still has a ways to go weight-wise but he's doing much better than when he first arrived.

It's weird to see Rene without much muscle, but her mane is sure getting long. She also needs a little bit more weight but has picked up well through the winter considering we weaned Rose recently and she's pregnant again. She's only due in January, so there's plenty of summer grass to pack on some more kilos before her third trimester.

Sunrise on the first day of SANESA Finals with Spirit, Flash and Dawn. None of my primary school kiddos qualified for Nationals, but it was their first Finals ever, so we were chill about it.

The old battle queen has started losing a little weight now, so she'll go onto some Speedi-Beet this week to tide her through the last of the winter. She's doing better this winter than last year, though, so I'm very grateful.

Now into the last, gross, windy month of the winter until the tide finally begins to turn towards spring, and then summer, and everything that that means - including our wedding day. I can't wait. God is so good!