Cupid and I went and fancy pranced today, or attempted to. The Pony Club arranged a clinic with one of the local professionals and because I joined as an adult member we were allowed to attend! Despite being the greenest in the ring and the ones with very little formal training, I’m proud of my little mare and how she tried for me! 

Our day started at 6:30 where I woke up and regretted life. It was the weekend, I should be relaxing and not going to embarrass myself at a clinic. After laying in bed for a few minutes I finally got the motivation to get up and get ready for the day. 

The ponies were awake and excited to see me. Then Cupid realized that along with the feed buckets I was holding my grooming supplies. Little Miss Sassypants seemed very proud of her decision to lay down last night and become one with her pee spots. Grey horses are always the best to get presentation ready! After 30 minutes of working on the stains I decided to call it quits and hope the tack covered the remaining “color”. Spoiler, it didn’t completely but we survived. 

Getting Cupid onto the trailer was an experience. At the initial attempt she decided to duck her head, turn tail and run. Nothing like watching your horse run from the trailer into the neighbors back yard. After catching the little monster we put her chain on and with some convincing, mostly from my trainer, we got her loaded and headed over to the facilities. 

We successfully completed our first Pony Club safety check, as an adult it’s interesting to say the least. Someone comes over and checks all your tack and safety equipment, then clears you to mount your horse. From there I hopped on and went to go walk around while waiting on the clinician. She arrived and there was a quick Q&A with all the riders where we covered the background experience of our horses, our experience level, and what our goals were. I’m fairly sure that answering that my goal for Cupid is just to solidify our foundation was not the right answer but it is the honest truth. 

We took a pathway to the dressage arena, then started the lesson. During the clinic we covered lots of trot work, including transitions and half halts. It was fascinating hearing how this clinician viewed half halts, less of a halt/preparation for the next movement and more of a rebalancing act, and I think Cupid actually responded extremely well to her method. It involved much more use of the corners than I’m used to and took a bit of work to get used to but I’m really looking forward to using it more during our rides!

While our trot work was fairly decent, just needed a lot of motivation, our canter work left a lot to be desired. For the first lap I unfortunately didn’t maintain our communication and we quickly lost implusion and broke gait. Our second lap was much better on Cupids part but I was still a hot mess. I worked on maintaining my outside leg and unfortunately collapsed my shoulders forward which threw Cupid off. With some work I did get better, but this is clearly one of the big things I need to work on. 

Overall, I loved the clinic and can’t wait to work with this trainer again. She was extremely positive about Cupid and our lack of experience, and she broke everything down into understandable details regarding the how and why of what I needed to do as a rider. My biggest takeaway is that I need to remember that Cupid is a large pony with short legs, when lessoning with larger horses I can’t compare her to horses with larger legs and she’ll never feel like a larger horse. She’s my little grey monster pony who tries her heart out for me with every move she makes. 

Finally, sorry for the lack of pictures. They just didn’t happen today.

Thanks to Instagram It is one of the worst kept secrets that I’m working on training both girls to become low level eventers. Cupid, with her dressage and hunter background is fairly well suited to this endeavor once she’s convinced that everything is not out to eat her. Foxy, with her lack of jump training is less suited but makes up for it with her bravery and curiosity. The biggest issue in this training process though is me and the amount of hours in a day. 

Fox still doesn’t know how she feels about this whole Eventing thing.

Keeping the girls at home, with Chance, has been a fantastic experience so far. I get to be 100% in control of everything and have developed deeper relationships with my horses than I ever imagined possible. But all this has come at a cost, my riding time. 

With everything falling to me to care for I quickly run out of time to actually fit in solid rides. Weekends can go from planned trail rides with trot sets to hill work in the yard because fences need repair, holes need to be filled (thank you Foxy), or some other maintenance need has arisen. Evenings after work can go from dressage work to lunging because someone has trashed a stall during the day and it needs to be completely stripped, or I get stuck at the office later than planned. 

Despite all of the extra work I don’t think I could ever go back to having someone else care for my horses. We miss rides more often than not, we spend far too much time working on ground manners, tricks, or other silly things (Cupid still hasn’t figured out this whole ground driving while pulling the paddock drag business). But we’re more of a team than ever. Being able to lead without a halter, point where I want them to move to and communicate without words is priceless. If we complete in a tadpole/entry level trial this year I’ll be happy, but if we end up continuing to build our partnerships without competing then that’s something I’ll be equally happy with. 

A year ago I never would have imagined this type of training would be possible

Above all, I feel like I’m finally moving forward with understanding how my herd thinks and the motivations for their behavior. That knowledge is priceless and utterly rewarding.

As a Florida horse owner, who has not evacuated for a hurricane yet, two of the most common questions I receive during the time leading up to a Hurricane are “what will you do with your horses” and “where will you put your horses”. The answer to the first question is easy as it involves preparing them to ride out the storm, the answer to the second question is more difficult as there are several factors that go into deciding where the horses should go. 

I hope that by sharing my hurricane plans with other equestrians I can assist them during their preparation for a severe weather event. Please note that this is just what I have learned after living in Florida for several years. It is not guaranteed to be the best solution for everyone, but more of an example of how I prepare my horses.

1. Have all vet records printed and accessible

Before a storm hits I make sure to have all my vet records in a binder. The binder is separated into sections for each horse but in it I make sure to include the most up to date Coggins, all vaccination records, microchip information, and all other documents relating to my horses. During the storm I keep the binder in a ziplock bag, in a location that is easily accessible.

2. Braid dog tags into manes

Each horse has their own dog tag that lists their name and several different contact numbers. The contact numbers include both in state and out of state contacts. All out of state contacts are notified that they are listed as an emergency contact for my horses and instructed on what to say in the event they are called. These tags are braided into their manes, the braids are then banded and neon duct tape is wrapped around the end of the braid to ensure they stay in the mane. I have also used luggage tags with success, but prefer the dog tags as they’re a little more weather resistant. 

3. Braid index cards into tails

Along the same line of thought as the dog tags I also braid neon colored index cards into their tails. The cards list emergency contacts, vet info, owner info, and the horses name along with a color description. They are wrapped with packing tape, hole punched then braided into the tails. As before I wrap the end of the braid with neon duct tape to help increase visibility. The index cards do seem to stay fairly waterproof and just serve to reassure me that I have done all I can to get contact info onto the horses. 

4. Livestock Paint

Now I have yet to locate a livestock paint that I love and that holds up extremely well but I do utilize it during a storm. I have used both the All Weather Paintstik Livestock Markers and the All-Weather Twist-Stik Livestock Marker with success. I would highly recommend utilizing the brighter colors such as yellow and orange over the darker colors. These will run and wear quickly on certain coat types, and certain colors will be difficult to wipe off but overall having the large contact info will be useful for people who are afraid to get close to the horse in the event it gets loose. 

5. Permanent marker on hooves

On the front hooves I’ll write two contact numbers. One for someone in Florida and one for someone outside of Florida. For dark hooves I use a silver sharpie and for light hooves I’ll use a black sharpie. Depending on the conditions your horse is standing in these markings might wear off. When Cupid was in a grass paddock her hoof markings were still visible the next morning, when she was out in a sand lot they wore off quickly. Despite the lack of reliability I still mark hooves as a bit of a mental reassurance that I am doing everything I can. 

6. Microchip

For the final form of identification we have my favorite item, the microchip. My horses are all microchipped because I know that it’s a permanent marking form that will help them get back to me. The price for microchipping is expensive but the piece of mind it provides is priceless. Make sure that your microchip information is up to date and that you include contacts both in Florida and outside of Florida. 

7) Feed, hay and water

In the event of a severe power loss I don’t want to be without feed, hay, or water. I make sure that I have 2-3 weeks of feed and hay, along with extra beet pulp and hay cubes to provide electrolyte mashes to the horses both before and after the storm. The hay is stored in several different places that I am sure will stay dry. For the grain I premix several days worth of meals into ziplock bags and label each bag with the horses name and AM or PM. By having premixed grain I can easily dash meals out to the horses and feed them during the cleanup period without wasting too much time mixing meals. The grain that is not mixed gets stored in a high and dry location to ensure rodents would not get into it and that it will not get wet. A very important thing to remember with grain is to ensure that it is stored in a location that the horses cannot access. The last thing you want is a horse colicing or foundering because they have broken into the grain storage during the storm.

For water I fill every available container with as much water as it will hold. All buckets in the stalls and fields are filled with as much water as they will hold, all the rain barrels and cleaned garbage cans are filled with water, and any other container that can hold water will get filled. If these water containers must be outside they’re weighted down as heavy as I can make them and the lids are completely secured.

8) Medical Kit

The last bit of advice I can leave you with is to ensure that your medical kit is fully stocked, not expired, and in an easy to reach location. Any items you may need before or after the storm for an injury or colic should be included in your kit along with the contact information for your vet. If roads are closed, or the power is out then your vet might be delayed in reaching you so you must be prepared to handle things until someone can reach you.

Overall, the best thing you can do for your horse is to remain calm, be prepared, and not only take care of them but also take care of yourself. Don’t be afraid to confide in or ask for assistance from other horsemen in your area. In major events that can potentially be catastrophic we need to pull together and work to ensure that both two legged and four legged family members make it through events successfully.

Good luck Floridians and stay safe!