Thursday Video: One Way To Tackle a Bank

Move over, chestnut horse leaping a ditch… we’ve found our new favorite event horse to watch.

One of the many things we love about Laine Ashker as an eventer in the social media age is her willingness to share the less-than-pretty moments with good grace and good humor — because she understands, like we do, that we’ve all been there. Horse life is messy, unpredictable and definitely has its fair share of SMH/LOL/OMG moments, whether you’re an amateur or a professional.

That’s why we’ve fallen head over heels for Laine Ashker’s new ride Debakey, a four year old Holsteiner gelding owned by Lena Perger. His latest adventure — his unique take on a bank — has the internet in stitches:

Well that's one way to do it Debakey ??‍♂️? @l.perger #theoptionsareendless #thesagacontinues #areyounotentertained #thishorse #icant

A post shared by Lainey Ashker (@laineyea) on May 31, 2017 at 12:10pm PDT

(Don’t worry, Ashker confirmed that Debakey was totally fine.) He was also pretty fun to watch when he saw his first skinny and chevron…

For those who want to see the progress that was made today while teaching 4 year old Debakey how to jump a skinny chevron for the first time! I began with a forward thinking course to get his confidence, then scaled back to a trot for the first time to slow him down and allow him to UNDERSTAND the question as opposed to rushing him through it (always in the position to halt in front of the chevron). I incorporated the use of "joy riding" thanks to my amazing student @heather_bayne and seasoned eventer Jolly Good Sport so he could follow closely behind Sporty until he TOOK me to the skinny and once he did we tried it by ourselves! And look at the end result! That's #success in my book! Good baby‼️

A post shared by Lainey Ashker (@laineyea) on Apr 27, 2017 at 11:27am PDT

If you’re scratching your head right now, fear not — here’s Debakey on something he has a bit more experience with, demonstrating the springs in his feet.

I think this one can stay??. Lena Perger's 4 year old 15.1 hand black Holsteiner (homebred) gelding Debakey who's my newest mount in my young but mighty string of #LAESQUAD horses. I'm beyond excited to have the ride on this little black Pegasus! #minimauibaum #oneforthefuture #luckyme #nosebleedsection @tsmitheventing ?

A post shared by Lainey Ashker (@laineyea) on Apr 20, 2017 at 7:34am PDT

Debakey, you’re a Horse Nation hero (and so are you, Laine, for sticking to him like Velcro). Go riding!