FAQ: (Long post under the cut)
Who are you? Em/Cast, late 20′s, they/them pronouns, permanently exhausted sicknote with a fatal attraction to talented horses. I’ve been through the wars medically, both due to being a dumbass with my horses and chronic health conditions, so I’m just trying to do the best I can here lmao. I can also be found at @thetrashbagswasteland for all of my fandom/random blogging stuff, primarily gaming (Mass Effect franchise atm) related.
Tell me about your horses:
Hermes 2007 bay zangersheide gelding (Quadrillo x Chanson de Kabaret) This is my main guy, the love of my life and also my problem child. He’s a stunningly talented horse with shit for brains. He’s competed up to 130cm classes with my trainer as well as flouncing around smaller stuff with me, but is banned from dressage shows due to his inability to complete a test without throwing a strop, as he’s proven twice over. I’ve owned him since May 2011.
Freyja 2016 chestnut zangersheide mare (Untouchable 27 x Leader M) Moose, as she’s sometimes called, is the redheaded demon horse I fell in love with in 2019. She’s got an enormous personality to match her 17.3hh body and the springy feet to go with it - she’s currently going up the showjumping levels and hopefully will go international before the end of the 2025 season.
S’poir 2006 bay selle-français gelding (Quidam de Revel x Livarot). This cheeky bastard is my newest buddy and technically Hermes’ (half) uncle. He shares a braincell with Hermes most days, but I can’t begrudge him that because he’s such a cheerful guy. In a previous life, he was a fairly high level eventer and amateur showjumper, but now he’s come here to live a slightly lower-key life doing his favourite things at a more reasonable level as well as doing amateur dressage.
Vigo - 1997 black Welsh section D cob gelding (Cathedine Telynor x Ffoslas Caradog Ap Daffyd) This old man is my darling pony, donkey of the swamps, sir of the wiggles. He has a million nicknames, as you can see. Vigo lives at home year round and rules the roost. I’ve taken him competing in jumping, dressage and TREC as he’s a massively polyvalent little beast. He’s been with me since 2013. Given his age he’s now entirely retired aside from the occasional bareback wander around due to his slowly worsening arthritis and lack of need to keep fit anymore.
What are your hobbies? I read/write fanfiction and original fiction, occasionally do art, make stained glass windows/display pieces and participate in Vulture Culture (the collection of bones, fur and wet specimens). My fandom blog can be found at @thetrashbagswasteland, where I’m more active.
Who was Rethy? Rethy was my old horse, who unfortunately had to be put to sleep due to sudden posterior paralysis in 2019. He was a 2005 anglo-arab gelding who I’d mainly competed in showjumping. Most notably, he had serious aggression issues due to having been abused in his youth and took a very particular handler to manage. Partly because of his aggression, and partly because of his larger-than-life (if that can even be said for a 17h giraffe of a horse) personality, he took a lot of patience to love but rewarded my efforts greatly. I miss him a lot.
Who was Cool? Cool was a 2009 zangersheide gelding that I part owned with my trainer back in 2015. He and I weren’t a terribly good match (horses don’t come much lazier than him) but he took me up to amateur showjumping. We sold him in 2016 and from what I hear, is now loving life with a far more suitable young rider in Belgium.
Who was Sana? Sana was 2001 grey arab gelding (Pegase EF x Neman) We took Sana on as a companion for Hermes in 2013 as he and Vigo couldn’t live together at that point. His old owner took him to CEI160 endurance competitions, but he had to retire due to DJD in both knees. After a slow retirement and worsening health concerns, Sana passed away in late 2024 from a heart attack in his own field at home.
Who was Horsie? Horf was a 2017 grey anglo-arab gelding (Business x Pastel d’Olympe). I bought him as a project mid June 2020 with the intention of selling him on eventually due to him needing someone to bring him on in a relaxed manner whilst he continues to grow and mature. After a debate about his wishes and needs versus my goals, I sold Horsie in early 2022.
