Baby brats

 So.. I've made the leap to Saddlebreds. It's funny- I look back and I wonder if I haven't been preparing for it my whole life. I spent so much time with Jean and Clarissa, bent on producing Arab sporthorses, that I gained in my mind an appreciation for "the horse" not "the breed". I spent so many years with OTTBs, Sherwood in particular, learning and riding and training and figuring out hot, sensitive, athletic animals; anything next to a Sherwood-type TB seems fairly easy. And now, I have come back to my beloved Saddlebreds- that black colt with the roman nose stole my heart years ago and never gave it back. And now.. it's come full circle. 

Now, I own Vera, who is just.. awesome. I heart this mare. She's a challenge- never gives in too easily so she makes you work for every bit of affection, but she's just so.. there. So present. I am super excited to see how this summer goes. Her clinic with Eliza went super well- to the point that when Jessie did this:

J: Wow.. She's doing so well- can you even imagine how Kimber's going to come along? I mean, he's even better built for this sport.

E: Kimber?

J: Oh, Abbi has a weanling up at my barn- we bought a lot last fall and I own his brother. He's already jumped out of my arena fence and is 14.2.. at 9 months old. 

A: I'm practically drooling to see what he grows up into.

J:  *Vera and Courtney finish their "course" with a flying change* Great job Courtney!! Christ, this mare is coming along- you're doing great with her, Abbi.

E: I am so over breaking young horses- you bought a weanling, Abbi?? What were you thinking?!

A: Haha- I was delusional, but E- you have now met all of my horses. Have any of them been anything short of cool? This one is going to be special... barring any unforeseen issues. *Knocks on the jump standard* (And yes, I feel it is important to remind the Gods that I knock- even in this blog. Eff off my superstitions!!)

J: And of course he'd be saddle broke by the time we sent him to a trainer! That's my job! 

E: Huh. *Yells out another course for Vera* Your mare is coming along really well, Abbi. 

I'd say we have an interested UL event trainer for Kimber... Woot!

And.. I found out that Vera was trained to drive and even hooked to a cart a couple times, so Bonnie Jean at Blackbridge is going to give us some lessons to see if it's something we might want to pursue! So exciting! This is us ground driving around the neighborhood- what a good girl!!

And now I own little Kimber, who is just.. adorable. I can't wait to see what he wants to do when he grows up. So far, he seems to be a very sweet, highly opinionated kid who is learning his way through life and trying to be well-behaved while doing it. LOL Emphasis on "trying". Kimber and Archie were featured on Jolly Ball's IG! "Inspector Kimber" haha

The house is coming along well, now it's a matter of finishing touches and organizing- the least favorite job of anyone who's moved and is now unpacking. Ugghhhhh.. BUT it is coming along and I'm pretty excited to see how it finishes up.

Part 2

 Part 2:

Z had a seizure. Huge, terrifying, flew backwards, flipped over backwards, convulsed for a minute to the point that Jessie thought she'd broken her own back, seizing. And.. then didn't know where her front feet were for another 10 minutes. And then, never regained her happy-go-lucky attitude. WE worked her for for everything curable, which wasn't much- EPM, metabolic stuff, etc. Nothing. Mare was perfectly healthy, and on physical, had mild ataxia. But was very depressed, and just... off. We made the decision to put her down, and she was laid to rest the week after Fancy. Logan and I went up and stayed to the very end. 

Happy Fucking Thanksgiving to us. Putting Fancy down was a planned decision- one I'd been kicking over for a while and one I don't regret because it was best for her. Z.. had to be done, but I really liked that little mare. I was so excited to see what she wanted to do. My heart hurts thinking about them.

So... We're down to Vera at home with Luna, and Sherwood staying up in VT, because Lynn agreed to take her on a permanent breeding lease with the idea that I'd take the first filly. Perfect. I am excited about that match, and hope Lynn gets a few really nice foals out of her. She apparently is thriving up there in her all-bay mare herd, and just in the New Year, has been moved in with Artie to start the process of letting her adapt to the idea of "breeding"- since last time, she got so anxious, she dove under the fence to get away from him. Hilarious, but poor Sher. Such an anxious girl. 

And... we all know that in grief, I love to shop. Just.. do anything to get my mind off what's going on. 

So, I glanced at the Sold By Sunday sale, where Hagan Saddlebreds was selling off their cull weanlings, and just happened to see a pair of stud colts with... insane bloodlines. Old school, big boned, hot bloodlines. A super fancy chestnut and a big plain bay colt. I asked Jessie if I was right in thinking these two may just be the Rosetta Stone of Saddlebred sporthorses, and.. Jessie and I agreed to buy them together. We got them for a steal compared to what the rest of their siblings were going for- like.. 1/2 the next expensive, with one little filly going for $20k+! She took the chestnut "HS Twenty One Hank", and I took the bay "HS Twenty One Winston" because she had a chestnut she loved as a kid and we all know my obsession with bays, and we promptly renamed them HS Artistic Expression and HS Gotham Revolution. Meet "Kimber", the newest member of One Birch Farm. When Logan and I headed down to WV to look at properties, we just.. took the trailer and headed into KY to pick the two babies up. And drove them back to Maine, where Jessie has been getting them less feral and more mannerly. So, although November/December was not my favorite time period, we actually managed to inject some good into it. 

And.. everything was quiet for a couple months. The house appraised for far less than expected, so.. we nixed the refinance and continued on with renovations to finish the inside. The mudroom and master bedroom got tackled, and they are currently in the process of being finished. We have floors down in the mudroom and bedroom, and I'm working on painting all the things. 

And... here comes 2022. I had COVID 12/31/21 and stayed home for 2 weeks because I was exhausted. Then got back on my feet and started working Vera pretty consistently, with some really good progress. 

February starts off with a shitshow. I went out in the AM to feed, and Luna and V were feeling really good after the big snowstorm, so they were all sorts of UP, and Luna trotted into her run-in, where I heard her slip, fall, and get right back up. I checked in on her and noticed she wasn't putting any weight on her L hind. So.. figured she needed to just hang out for a minute and let it stop stinging. Until 15 minutes later, she still hadn't gone out to eat and I noticed she was breathing rapidly and shaking. I called the vet immediately- nothing on XR below her stifle, so.. banamine and see how she does. If no better, get to Tufts on Thursday. It's Monday, mind you. 

I head to work, super late because I had to call the vet, and go into the OR to close a case. I get out and have.. so many messages on my phone. Long story short, I zoom home and Lauren, Ronnie (Luna's owner), and I get Luna on the trailer with much less fuss than anyone thought, and Hank, Logan, and I drive her up to Tufts. On the camera, she slid to the ground but wasn't struggling about 10 min out from Tufts. And when they opened up the trailer, she was dead. On necropsy, she had shattered her pelvis and one of the shards had displaced and cut an artery- she bled out internally on the trailer ride. 

To say that I'm having a bad week is.. accurate. V pined for days, and I just.. feel awful. 

Things are better now, but.. well, I hope 2022 comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb, but.. I have a feeling it might just be another shitshow of a year. 

gAH! So long!

 Oh man, it's been so long! There's been a lot of good, but also plenty of... not good. 2021 was a bit of a rollercoaster of a year, and 2022 is starting out that way, as well. I'm hoping that it will be a "In like a lion, out like a lamb," year. Or fuck.. I'm not going to make it. 

So. Recap.

WE bought Xena- or Z, as we lovingly called her. WE brought Sherwood up to Vermont and brought Z and Lola down, delivering Lola to her new home- Tim O'Brien's wife, Kim, bought her! Small world! We kept her here for a month, then brought her up to Jessie Green's in Maine, to start her formal training and preparation for saddle breaking. Logan and I went up every other week religiously, and watched her progress from a mare who was not really halter broke to one who was lunging, then long lining, then long lining over poles, ponying beside Fox, and even started with a saddle and a teddy bear because she had a real good temper and buck on her. We became friends who Jessie, and even became friends with her friend, Courtney. Who said I'm antisocial??

The day we brought up Z, Jessie told me to bring my riding gear because she had a sales horse she thought I'd have fun riding. So I hopped on "Simply Vera," or "Queen Vera" to any and all who know her. And... found my horse. Literally. In one ride, I was done- I was taking this mare home, if the stars had any sense of justice or rightness. I knew her, but I wasn't afraid of her. She had a huge motor, power to spare, and intimidated the SHIT out of me on the ground with her shaved forelock and stare-down-her-nose-at-you posture. Total fucking Griffin. Her nickname was the "Silver Dragon".. Of course, they wanted 5 figures for her, so.. I lusted, but knew I couldn't swing that after buying Z- and I did not need 4 horses!

Instead, I found a lease on a super cute little TB mare- Luna, and when Z went to Maine, Luna came home to keep Fancy company and give me a trail horse to mess around with. When Z came home, Luna would go back to her owners. 

Over the weeks we came up, Logan and I would watch Z work, then I'd hop on Vera. We did a jump chute one of the last weeks, and I told Jessie that if she could talk the breeders into my price, I'd buy her. And.. they did. Cut her price almost in half, because Jessie vouched that I would be good for her. So.. We took Vera home in October. And continued to go up every other weekend to see Z, who was not progressing as quickly as we thought she might (she had a MASSIVE BUCK!), so we made the plan to keep her in training through winter. 

But I was so excited about my TWO powerhouse mares, I got to work on my Cricut for their own personal apparel line. 

Around the same time, Fancy was starting to have a harder time with her legs- starting to lay down more often switching back and forth on her hind leg, so I made a plan with Lauren to put her to sleep before winter really hit, because I dreaded the idea of her slipping and falling or maybe not being able to get back up if she laid down.. Logan was not having the idea, so we put it off by a month.. and decided to do it right around the end of November.

And first week of November, I got a call from Jessie saying that Z had had a HUGE grand mal seizure. That she was a different horse, that my sweet mare was.. well, was a danger to society and herself. 

And... that's Part 1. I can only handle so much of this story at a time.