I pretty much never write about my goals for fear of jinxing them. This year was no different. That doesn't mean I didn't have goals though! Now that things have played out however they were going to play out, I can talk about them. Basically, I pretty much failed at all my goals for the year, and I'm totally fine with that. In general, I am not a very goal-oriented person. I'm more go-with-the-flow. This year in particular reinforced that. However, I am planning to actually write down my 2018 goals in a physical notebook so I can hold myself more accountable for them at the end of the next year!

2017 Goals

X Complete three 50's to earn my 1000 AERC miles. This was an epic fail. I only started one 50 for the year, and I got pulled at 45 miles. In fact, my whole season was sort of a bust. As it turns out, though, that wasn't the end of the world. I rode three LD's, and completed all of them. On the plus side, it was the most LD miles I've ever done in one season, haha. I truly enjoyed the "Luxury Distance". Being done by one without a hint of soreness was also enjoyable. In fact, it made me toy with the idea of getting an endurance horse of my own again.  I also did a lot of crewing and photographing rides, which was a really good way to enjoy the sport and build my friendships. I had some really good times at ride camps all over the east coast, and I wouldn't trade my time spent crewing for saddle time. Going to Maine for a week to crew for people who went from strangers on Monday to good friends on Sunday was exactly what I needed to put my life in perspective. In total, I attended ten rides, many of which were multi-days.

Where does the time go? As we get ready to wrap up 2017 and ring in 2018, I find myself  going through blog posts from the last year, and being surprised at how much stuff I'd forgotten about already. This year did not pan out the way I pictured it in so many ways, but boy did a lot of things change for the positive! I'm sticking with my annual tradition and doing my month-by-month breakdown of 2017!

I cannot believe the year is wrapping up already! I feel like we were just sitting around the bonfire ringing in 2017. I'll do a post about 2017 goals and accomplishments when the time is right, but one of the things I aimed to do was keep the blog current by periodically posting pictures that didn't make it into full blown posts of their own. I am pretty proud of the fact that I've managed to do that! Even though I'm blogging less frequently than I used to (mostly because I'm starting to think that I'm not as interesting as I find myself to be), I managed not to fall behind on life events this year. The only major subject that I still have leftover photos about is Angel at her worst (and I'm not sure those will actually see the light of day). Since I do my annual Year in Review post on Christmas Eve, I figured I'd take this opportunity to do one last photo post and purge the folder on my computer.

Another photo dump. I took some racehorse photos at the end of November and never got around to sharing them. Flower is the chestnut filly with Juli up and Flame is the bay colt with Christine.

It's that time!! (The only way I keep blogging.)

Since I think it's pretty safe to say that Marissa has officially fallen off the blogging train, I am going to post about her horse for her. You see, while you guys are missing out on her awesomeness, I'm lucky because I get to see her IRL on a regular basis. In fact, we're now basically neighbors, and I look forward to future shenanigans.

(Have I told you guys about the time we rode Oreo around the yard... bareback, double, and bridle-less after a few too many drinks? No? I should. It's an awesome story.)

I'm also lucky because sometimes, if I'm good, and Marissa is away, I get the honor of riding Tucker. I always jump at the chance because Tucker is a Good Boy and also very fancy. He has all his buttons installed and is a nice mover with this huge, gorgeous canter. It's such a nice change of pace for me to be able to get on a horse of this quality and just play.

So when Marissa messaged me after Thanksgiving to ask if I'd like to ride Tucker on Sunday, I eagerly agreed. "You can say no," she texted me. As if!

Of course, I dragged Mike along in the cold and wind so he could take pictures for me. I wanted photos of me with my handsome nephew!

In hopes of getting good lighting and a nice backdrop for aforementioned pictures, I chose to brave the cold and the blustery wind and ride outside. It wasn't until after the fact that I learned that Tucker hadn't been ridden outside in about two weeks. Whoops! I sort of figured since he was a little up and a touch spooky when I first got on, which is very unlike him.

Still, we wandered down to the jump ring and warmed up, gradually working our way up to a shorter rein.

My goal for this year was to take lessons and attend clinics at least once a month to improve my riding. That has... erm... not happened. Instead, I decided to pick up an entirely new "discipline". When I first got this job, I signed up for barn work, chores, and grooming, but when my bosses asked if I'd be interested in riding, I jumped right on board. Well, I've officially found something that scares the crap out of me, but for some reason, I'm determined to overcome my fear and learn to be better. It's going to be an interesting journey. In fact, it already is.

I was lucky and got to sit on Helen a handful of times before she left for the track. Helen was as honest as they come, and it was cool to get to sit on an active racehorse and go through the motions. I'd be kidding myself if I thought that made me an exercise rider, though! Helen was easy, and we were confined to the indoor, where you can only go so fast (not very). Still, it was a good chance to learn about shorter stirrups, grabbing the yoke, and juggling bridged reins with carrying a stick. Oh yeah, and working on leaning my body forward on purpose; something I've spent my entire riding career avoiding.

Basically, everything I've ever learned about proper riding posture is the exact opposite of what you need to know to ride racehorses. You hunch forward, drop your hands way down, pinch with your knee, and grab the "oh s**t handle". Steering, contact, and keeping four feet on the ground? All optional.

The unfortunate thing is that I chose the wrong time to start learning this. I don't just mean that I really should have gotten this job ten years ago, when I was young, fit, and fearless; when my body had no hardware; before I had any bad accidents to make me hesitant; and when I wasn't so damn old. It's just that all the racehorses we have in the barn right now are not ideal for learning on. Some of them are rehabbing from injuries. Some are a bit much for a new rider to handle. Others are super fit and I want to learn to gallop slowly before I get on anything that's actually fast.

Funny side note... I thought I'd seen horses run fast before I got in the TB industry. All those preconceptions went out the window when I started watching the horses go at work, but it wasn't until my boss informed me that this wasn't fast either that I got some real perspective. To be honest, I was peeing my pants just watching Juli and Christine gallop on The Hill.

Still, I wanted to learn, and we hatched a plan.

Introducing, Percy:

Percy is one of the coming-two year-olds we have in training right now. He belongs to the bosses, which means that if I screw him up, it's not that big of a deal. (Haha?) Right now, we have two babies that we're working with. Percy was born and raised on the farm, and has had a lot of handling since birth, especially since his mom died  during foaling, leaving him to be raised by a nurse mare. He's basically a big lap dog.

The weather continues to be really nice in spurts, and Mike and I are trying to take advantage of it when we can. We did not get to do nearly as much hiking this fall as we wanted to, but we knew going into this weekend that we'd have the time to go out and explore. I basically opened Google Maps and started scrolling until I found a green patch we weren't familiar with.

I landed on Washington Valley Park, about forty minutes from us. Mike was familiar with the area, but hadn't been there since he was a child. I had never been at all. Mike's mom has pictures of Chimney Rock from before there was a fence between it and the trail. I did some poking around online to see if the park would be worth checking out, and we decided to go have a look-see. The park features two sides that aren't really connected, and we decided to check out the east section, which features a waterfall and hawk watch.

I  keep alluding to the fact that Val's trip home did not go well. Those of you who are on FB may have even seen my plea for aid on the day that s**t hit the fan.

You may remember that Val was not super willing to get in the trailer when I moved her from Perry's to the big barn. Afterwards, I had a long discussion with her former owners, who admitted that she does not load onto ramp trailers, but claimed that Val would hop right on to a step-up. I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but Val first arrived in a three horse slant with a ramp, and the shipper informed me that she loaded into the trailer by leaping over the ramp. She was also a sweaty, shaky mess when she arrived.

With this information in mind, I asked Holly what kind of trailer she was planning to pick Val up in when it was time for her to go home. The answer was a two horse straight load with no ramp. I asked if Holly wanted me to spend some time practicing loading Val into the trailer (the one I have access to has a ramp) instead of riding her, and we decided not to go that route.

Holly arrived late on a Monday night, with plans to ship Val home to Ohio the following day. Because I have to be at the racehorse barn in the morning and Holly had a 10+ hour drive ahead of her, we met at sunrise at the boarding barn. I had Val fed, cleaned up, and ready to go before Holly arrived.

I took a few moments to say goodbye (I love when horses graduate and go on to their lives, but it's always sad to see them go).

I seem to have fallen into a monthly blogging routine. Each month, I post the couple big things that happen. Then I dump my photos on all of you; first from my camera, and then from my phone. So here you go... 155 photos/videos from the last month. Sorry! (Does anybody else take this many photos or is it just me?)

I'd say that I'm behind on blogging, but when I think about it, there really isn't much to report outside of the daily routine. I am really just behind on posting media, and even that's not true if you're friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram. The busier I get, the less I worry about words, which is a strange phenomenon for me since I am naturally chatty.

I keep a post it note on my desktop with potential blog topics for the rare moments that I have time to sit now. The list has been piling up all year, and for the most part, they're not very important stories, and I probably won't end up telling them.

For example, there's the story of how I went out to Pennsylvania to look at a sale horse with Sally. The mare had been surrendered to the barn owner, and the BO was moving out of the country, so the horse had to find a new home. The mare, named Plain Jane, was the sweetest horse you could ever hope to meet. I rode her walk, trot, canter in the indoor during a thunderstorm and she didn't put a hoof out of line despite the fact that she hadn't been ridden in six months.  She did have some minor hind end lameness and some pretty severe back pain, which Sally and I discussed at length. In the end, however, Sally decided to take a chance on her. She brought her home, got her hocks injected, and started her on Previcox. The horse came sound and her back pain cleared right up. She was also renamed, a more-fitting Lady Jane. Once upon a time, I could have made that into a whole blog entry. These days, it's barely a blip on the radar.

I do still have to tell the story of Val's trip home. It has a happy ending, and I'll sit down and write it out soon.

Generally, though, the busier life gets, the more things are put in perspective for me. Who wants to read about the ten horses I ride a day? Wouldn't you rather just see pictures? Me too.

I did pick up a new barn with an ever-growing list of students and their nice horses. Maybe that will get honorable mention in another entry. Maybe not. It does mean I won't be blogging on Wednesdays any time soon.

In any case... here are some real-camera photos and some blurbs to go with them.

Working at the race barn has made me love mornings again. Even now that it's freezing cold when I arrive, I enjoy the feeling of turning horses out in the crisp air of a bright, shiny, new day. It makes me feel less bitter and jaded.

My birthday was on Friday. In celebration of the birth of a frigid bitch, the universe gifted me with the coldest day we've had so far this season. Temperatures dipped well below freezing and there was a gusting wind that threatened to tear the world apart. Wisely, most of my clients for the day canceled. I did end up going to Cara's and working with Angel because they have an indoor. They surprised me with cupcakes and booze, which was super sweet. I got home late and we basically went right to bed.

Instead, we celebrated yesterday by going to Island Beach. It has been way too long since the last time we visited our favorite ocean site. It's earlier in the year than we normally go, and it showed. Despite the cold weather, the beach was crowded with fishermen.

Still, we enjoyed a lovely three mile walk. We took pictures, although there wasn't much to shoot. I bothered some sea gulls, and Mike tried zooming in on the volumes of boat traffic out in the surf. We stayed off the jetty since the tide was higher than usual and we didn't feel like getting soaked.

We did take the time to wander around the bay side of the penninsula and wandered back the long way to the car. This time, we didn't over shoot the parking lot and made it back in reasonable time without hiking an extra couple miles. We wandered back through the dunes at sunset, getting a pretty good view of the island in the process. I could probably spend days just poking around out there if I had the time. It's one of my favorite winter hideaways in NJ.

It was a lovely way to spend the day. On the way out, we met a guy who was taking video with his drone, and I asked him about a million questions, which he kindly and patiently answered for me. Very cool!

Val went home on Tuesday. That whole series of events is going to require its own post. Let's just say that the trip did not go smoothly for her, but she is safely in Ohio now. Yikes.

In the meantime, I'll catch you all up on her last month with me.

We got a lot done in October, and I felt like Val finally started to click with me, and maybe even almost like  me. She is a hard nut to crack, and I can see why several people passed on working with her over the last four years. She's not bad by any means, but she is smart and reluctant to trust (or work). Plus, as I've mentioned, she hasn't had much exposure to anything, which I really think has been detrimental to her progress.  Obviously, I don't remember every single ride I had on her, so I'll just do a post-by-photos type deal.

I posted about the first ride I had at the barn, and that it went well. The following day, Val was not in as much of a cooperative mood. Thankfully, Dawn saw her borderline exploding in the round pen and quietly came out to watch me... I suspect she did it so she could call the ambulance if I died.

Val started off with some propping and hopping in the round pen. I had her in Booger's Orthoflex and she wasn't a fan. It was nothing compared to her enormous bucks the month before.

Sadly, Mike and I have not been doing much hiking or Geocaching this year. The weekends have either been busy or the weather hasn't cooperated. The colors have finally popped despite the fact that it's still weirdly warm. (I should not be able to wear a tank top in November.) Yesterday, we managed to get a couple hours together, and the weather was good, so we decided to check a local tourist attraction off our list.

Bowman's Hill Tower is right across the river in Pennsylvania, about 20 minutes from the house. It is visible from several places in the area, and I've seen it from afar on many occasions. Mike and I have been casually planning to go check it out for quite some time, and a quiet Saturday afternoon with fall foliage seemed like the perfect time.

We drove into PA and up Bowman's Hill Tower Rd. which winds along the top of the mountain with one way traffic.

We parked at the top, and it was just as crowded as you would expect. I figured we were going to be dealing with a fair amount of people, but was hoping that the fact that the elevator is currently out of commission would mean less of a crowd up top. After all, not too many people want to climb 175 narrow, steep stone stairs. We also noted that there was a wedding party setting up at the base of the tower, and I wondered out loud if the bridesmaids would have to climb to the top in their heels.

Home sweet home. It looks so peaceful and harmless.

Yesterday was the annual fundraising trail ride for Horseshoe Bend Park. Meg Sleeper hosts the event every year, and endurance riders often go out to show their support. The ride offers a few distances (6, 8, and 12 miles) so it attracts a wide variety of riders. The longer distance makes for a good conditioning ride, especially given the park's varied terrain, many hills, and open fields. When Holly offered to let me ride one of her horses, I readily agreed. Mike was working so it gave me something to do!

Mike asked who I would be riding and I replied, "I don't know, but they're all so nice, it doesn't matter."

We were supposed to meet at the park at 8:30am, and I actually managed to arrive on time despite the fact that I pulled over to take pictures of the view along the way. The mist was rising off the Delaware River and the colors were stunning. The photos don't do it any justice.

MAN I am behind!!!

If I was more motivated, I could probably do all my photos in one post, but I'm not so I won't. Here are some photos from my actual camera over the last few weeks. Cell phone/IG dump coming soon.

Stop me if I sound like a broken record.
"I had plans to ride X Ride, and ended up crewing instead..."
Story of my 2017 ride season.
Not that I'm complaining.

As I hinted in my last photo dump, I was supposed to ride one of Holly's horses (Poetrie) at Mustang. Unfortunately, Holly had five horses entered, but only (only?) has a four horse trailer. Since my horse was the only one that wasn't going FEI, my horse was the one that got bumped. I was planning to crew on Saturday anyway, so I agreed to just crew both days.

I don't know if I 'm just burned out or what, but I feel like this entry isn't going to be very exciting.

On Thursday, I worked the morning, then rode Booger and Val, before heading home to pack and hit the road. Mike came home early so we could swap cars. His plan was to work Friday and then come down to ride camp to join me.

Mustang is roughly an hour from our house, but the drive down was slow and full of traffic. I did spot a trailer in front of me and, judging by the LQ, out of country plates, and Hi-Ties, I was willing to bet it was a fellow endurance rider (I was right).

Val's first 30 days are up already, and it was a busy month. I can't remember everything we've worked on so I'll do a little bit of photo updating and general statements, and then cut to the drama (because there's always drama, isn't there?)

Mike recently bought himself a new camera, and has been itching to take it out and play with it. Last weekend, we went up to Merrill Creek Reservoir to do just that. We parked at the dam and walked right over to the Dead Woods, instead of hiking the whole trail like we normally do. We spent a few hours snapping pictures and playing with settings, and just enjoying being outside on a nice fall day. As a result, you guys get some filler photos while I start working on some actual updates...

Some of my photos (I learned some new things about my camera too!)

Trying hard to play catch up over here. I am so behind on posting about Val (her first 30 days is up tomorrow and I have so many photos to share). The easiest thing to update on is work. It's a steady routine day after day, and there is nothing earth shattering going on, which I love.

There is one bit of exciting news!

I galloped my first racehorse the other day! Riding was not part of the initial job description, but when one of my bosses jokingly asked if I was ready for a turn, I enthusiastically replied, "I'd like to try!"

The girls at work have informed me that I have yet to see a horse go fast. This is a little mind boggling to me since some of the work outs I've seen definitely exceed my definition of fast. I've galloped plenty of horses, including OTTB, and none of them have ever reached anything close to the speeds I'm seeing at work. Apparently, we have yet to let any of the horses all the way out. I'm looking forward to seeing my first actual breezing. I have seen plenty of harness races in person, but have never actually been to a TB race, and I know seeing it on TV does it no justice.

I told my bosses that I would have to be taught from scratch since I've never so much as sat in an exercise saddle before. I'm also a bit of a chicken and I wasn't sure I'd actually be brave enough to gallop.

Thankfully, we have a really quiet filly in training right now. Her barn name is Helen and she's a gigantic two year old.

This is Helen with Christine on board:

I keep joking that Helen can get right in my hatchback any day. She would be an excellent dressage or eventing prospect. At two, she already hacks up to The Hill by herself, which includes a stream crossing. She is quiet, mild-mannered, and snuggly. Not surprisingly, she is a barn favorite. About two days into knowing Helen, I declared that I would be comfortable getting on her.

So one morning, that's just what I did. Shelby supervised, and I swung a leg over and found my super-short (but not nearly as short as they should be) stirrups. There is nothing to the saddle. It is basically a glorified banana peel. I kind of like it because you can really feel the horse through it. Helen didn't do anything wrong, but I can imagine that you could get a good bit of warning if a horse was about to get out of line.

My first ride was confined to the indoor track. Deep footing means the horses have to work a little harder, and the constant turns and walls on all sides mean they can't go much of anywhere except forward and around.

I walked two laps around the track to get a feel for the saddle and the horse. Helen was quiet and calm. I was surprisingly comfortable and stretched my heels down. This is the one time in my life when my inclination towards a chair leg will actually help me! Steering with the triangle on took some getting used to, and I was worried that my reins wouldn't be long enough to bridge.

I started off jogging a mile, which is ten laps in each direction. I thought posting with the short stirrups would be hard, but I had no problem with it (woohoo, I do have some core strength!)  I gave Helen a loose rein, and practiced keeping her forward, giggling about this "wild two year old racehorse".

After the initial mile warm up, it was time to gallop. Shelby told me to get up in the irons and just urge Helen forward until she picked up a canter. I bridge my reins, stood up, and gave her some leg. She flowed effortlessly into a big, leggy canter. Halfway through the first lap, I was totally hooked, and we gained speed until we were in a (slow) gallop.

Helen was to go a mile that day.

Around and around we went, and I was surprised at the fact that I wasn't the least bit nervous. In fact, I wondered if it would be easier to go faster. If we were to go faster, I would really want to be in a  more open space. Aha! Suddenly, I was brave enough to try a horse on the turf course (maybe not The Hill yet).

I did not make it the full mile. This is a completely different set of muscles than I've ever used during all my riding over the years. Christine did tell me that the best way to build a solid position over fences is to ride racehorses, and that makes so much sense to me now! Standing in the stirrups wasn't so bad. I have lots of practice doing that. Staying crouched used a different part of my core, however, and your lower back really takes a beating with every stride. I was more sore the next day than I am after a 50! (But in different places.)

I finished my half mile in one direction and had Shelby finish the rest. I think I probably could have toughed it out, but it wouldn't have been fair to the horse. Towards the end of my short run, I was starting to balance on my hands a bit, and every time Helen felt me on her mouth, she offered to slow down (which was really sweet and reassuring). My boss later told me that it's actually easier to stay up on a horse who pulls on you because they take you forward into the correct position. I can see that! I did figure out to bury my hands in Helen's mane and wrap a finger around the yoke for stability.

It was one heck of a work out!

I definitely want to learn more. I don't know that I'll ever be brave enough to breeze, but I could see myself taking some of the quieter horses out on the hill in a few months. Plus, I've been told we gallop in the SNOW during the winter, and that idea sounds amazing to me. I'm totally ready for more, and I've been watching the girls ride with a touch of awe the whole time.  I didn't go even remotely fast, but I'm hooked already!

And now, I'm going to dump a bunch of work photos on you guys. I have not gotten tired of snapping pictures around the farm yet, so these posts will probably be a regular occurrence for a while. Sorry ;)

Life continues to be crazy and busy. I have settled into the rhythm of the new job and I love it. Having sane coworkers, and bosses who stick up for their employees, has been a wonderful, refreshing change. If it paid the bills, I would do it full time and just forget the rest of the crazy horse world. I work four mornings a week. Three days a week I ride Val and Booger. I also take Herbie to PT once a week, and ride/teach all my usual clients. I try not to horse too much on the weekends, but it still seems to happen. My blogging time has been limited. I do have real updates coming soon, specifically regarding Val and the racehorses. But for now, a photo update will have to do. These are cell phone photos. Real pictures will have their own post in the near future.

In the fall of 2008, I left my job at the breeding farm and had no real plan for what to do next. Cara, who I'd known online for quite a while, reached out and let me know that the barn she worked at was hiring. I ended up working therel for about three months before I landed the position at the horse rescue. In that time, Cara and I became excellent friends as we tried to get the farm owners to improve their level of horse care. The farm wasn't terrible, but it was over crowded and all the horses were on the lean side. The facility was run down from trying to support way too many horses and the bosses were either unwilling or unable to do anything about it. Cara left the farm shortly after I did, and I did my best to put it out of my mind. On the rare occasion, I'd drive by the property and see that there were still horses there.

At the time, there were three yearling colts at the farm. Their names were Murdoch, Boeing, and Face. I did have pictures of them, but it would appear that whatever photo hosting site I was using at the time has eaten them. I'm much too lazy to dig through external hard drives in search of those photos now.

Anyway!

The colts eventually got sent off to training. Because it is a small, small world, it turns out they went to the farm I'm currently working at, and Christine ended up riding Murdoch later in his racing career. As  it turns out, Christine is still riding Murdoch for my old bosses. He is ten years old now and apparently quite the little jumper! He recently went to his first show and super honestly went over everything in the ring, despite the fact that he'd never even seen fill before!

Murdoch is for sale and when Christine asked me if I would come take some pictures of her riding him, I jumped at the chance. Besides, Christine is always coming out and riding my sale horses to make them more marketable, so it's the least I could do!

On Thursday after work, I met Christine over at the old farm. I was pleased to see that the number of horses has been significantly reduced (although, there are still so many familiar faces on the property!) The pastures are in much better condition and actually have good grass. The horses are in good weight and the barns appear to be cleaner than they were when I worked there. It made me feel better just to be there.

Thankfully, my old bosses didn't seem to recognize me so there was no awkwardness, and I pretended I was meeting them for the first time.

As for Murdoch... He is doing so well! He grew up to be a handsome boy, and he seems to be as honest as the day is long. He has a nice jump and three good gaits. He is forgiving and willing and very quiet. He would make a nice hunter or lesson horse, and I would love to see him end up in a home that used him to his full potential. Christine rode him beautifully, of course, and I had the pleasure of snapping lots of nice photos.

This entry features a lot less drama than my previous one.

Last weekend, Mike had to work and Marissa invited me to come trail riding with her and Dawn again. I jumped at the opportunity. I took JR out with Tucker and Blue back in April, and we all had a great time. Getting the chance to unwind with good company sounded very appealing, and I knew I could trusty my steady old pony to give me a relaxing ride. I knew we could keep it walk-only without holding anyone up, and I knew JR would really enjoy the day trip.

Marissa texted to let me know when she was on her way, and I retrieved Fat!Pony from his pasture. Don't tell my husband, but I fake-tied him to the foot of the stairs to groom him and get his tack ready. Marissa had a good chuckle when she arrived to find me red-neckin' it on the front lawn.

Of course, JR loaded without protest and rode quietly to Marissa's barn, five minutes away.

I have to take a moment here and comment on how wonderful and kind and generous Marissa's barn owner is. I don't board there or provide any kind of income for her, but she always welcomes me to the property with open arms and makes me feel like one of the crew. Plus she takes awesome care of all the horses that are boarded with her. I keep trying to convince all my clients to move there. Highly recommend.

I parked JR in one of the grooming stalls and got him tacked up in no time while Dawn and Marissa fetched Blue and Tucker. JR was in his element as he hung out in the real barn, taking in the sights and accepting treats from passers by.

(This entry ended up running away with me a bit. It probably sounds a bit ranty, which was not my intent. I keep talking about the different ways in which I'm changing my business to make it more sustainable, and I've apparently decided to share some of those decisions on here. We'll see if it comes back to bite me in the butt.)

As I've mentioned in passing, Booger is back on my training schedule.

I wasn't really looking for another barn job. Been there, done that. I'm a free lance horse trainer for a reason. However, I was struggling with how to make a steady pay check without giving up horse training entirely. I was sending resumes to office jobs; one per day.

I had jokingly said that if I could find a part time barn job that didn't require getting up super early, let me keep all my clients, and didn't make me work Fridays or weekends, I'd be all over it. I mean, if I could have my cake and eat it too, why wouldn't I? Besides, there was no way a barn job like that would come along. Doing barn work almost always means weekend hours, long days, and early mornings. The chances of me having to worry about that kind of opportunity creeping up were slim. As I said, I wasn't looking.

Then, my friend, Juli, posted on one of the local horse groups on FB. The barn she works at was looking for barn help "three to four days per week". I know the farm. I know half the staff and get along with them famously. The bosses are a well respected equine surgeon and his racehorse training wife. Their reputation in the area is excellent. They are the type of people who really care about their horses and their employees. I've been meaning to go check that farm out anyway.

So I replied, "Which days?"

The conversation basically went as follows:
"Whatever days you want. We're flexible."
"Could I do Monday through Thursday, eight to noon?" No way they'd want that.
"Sure."
"I'm not sure I could start til October though."
"That's ok. It's not often you can hire someone you know who has the knowledge and work ethic you need. We'd hold the position for you."

Well, damn. It would be stupid not to at least check it out.

So I drove out for an informal interview. Basically, I wanted to see the farm, get a feel for the workload, meet the bosses in person, and see if it was something I was interested in. After an afternoon of watching Juli and Christine breeze horses on the hill, I was sold on the position. I met Shelby, who would be my supervisor, and I liked her immediately. The barn was kept the way I would want a barn kept. The horses all looked great.

I took the job and agreed to start on Labor Day.

The Farm, which I'll just call SBF, opened its doors in 1979 as an equine trauma clinic and thoroughbred breeding/training operation. When I first heard about them, they were also handling about 300 standardbreds per year, in a breeding capacity. These days, the farm has downsized significantly, especially with the new housing development creeping up in their back yard. The farm is 175 acres and the clinic sits empty. Breeding has pretty much stopped, and there are currently only a handful of racehorses on the property (a mixture of youngsters in training or waiting to go to the track, and horses rehabbing from injuries). There are several warmbloods on the property, also on lay up. There is a field of retired broodmares, and a "pony pasture" with horses in their 20's and 30's. Some of the property is leased to other nearby farms or individual owners.

I started my new barn job on Monday. It has been wonderful so far and I'll post about it sooner or later in more detail. However, that means I have 16 hours less per week in my already-crazy schedule. I don't plan on quitting blogging any time soon, but I will definitely be focusing on prioritizing content into a most-interesting-first order, and filling the voids with photo posts. In the mean time, the big posts will take more days to organize and publish because I'll be handling racehorses instead of sipping my coffee and type, type, typing away.

I'll lead with the most exciting development first.

World, meet H Walice H, aka Val, a purebred Polish Arabian mare, and my newest full training client.

The National Standardbred Show at the Horse Park of NJ was three weeks ago. It's a two day event that covers a variety of classes in pretty much every discipline you can think of. Despite the fact that it's called the National Show, it's pretty low key and laid back, so when Jess expressed interest in taking Gunner for the second day, I strongly encouraged her to do so. Gunner has never been to a show, but he has been off the property for all kinds of events, including trail rides and parades. It would be a great opportunity to school Gunner at the Horse Park and try a handful of classes. With plenty of other standardbreds, many of whom are fresh off the track, there would be plenty of pacing and flailing, and Jess could get a good idea of just how well she and Gunner are doing together. I think she underestimates herself sometimes.

Just a general assortment of what I've been up to this month. Contains some spoilers.

Herbie started physical therapy two days after I got home from Maine. I have been taking her to V-Crest, about an hour away from home.

When Herbie first came up lame, I knew she had a torn CCL. I also suspected she had a luxating patella. I did all the standard diagnostic tests for knee injuries myself. I was fairly confident she did not have any meniscus damage since she passed tibial compression with no signs of pain. There was some swelling, but no heat.

When I looked into getting Herbie formally diagnosed, I was immediately faced with sticker shock. I don't normally question vet pricing, having worked in the field. However, I knew that a torn CCL wouldn't show up on x-ray, and I wasn't about to pay $1500+ for an MRI to tell me what I already knew.

Herbie turns 7 this year, and she had seizures as a puppy. I do not want to put her under anesthesia if I can avoid it. So I reached out to my sport dog friends for PT recommendations. I'm so glad I did!

So far, Herbie is four sessions in to her physical therapy. The first session was a consult and evaluation with a fully licensed orthopedic specialist. We arrived early for our appointment, and didn't have to wait. The vet and her staff were all friendly, professional, and kind. They happily explained everything they were doing and discussed a broad spectrum of options for rehabilitation. Not once have they been condescending or pushy.

As I suspected, Herbie was formally diagnosed with both a CCL tear and a luxating patella (with no way to know which came first, the chicken or the egg). The good news is that her other knee seems to be holding up really well so far, which was my biggest concern. One leg we can rehab. Two would almost definitely require surgery (at about $2000 per leg).

Herbie got a massage, which immediately put her to sleep. I have never seen her this relaxed away from home and it was really funny to watch her go from bouncing all over the place to laying down with her eyes closed within seconds of the vet starting the massage.

Then, she got cold laser therapy, which she was initially suspicious of. Now she seems to realize that it makes her feel better and she falls asleep for that too.

After that, we did a handful of PT exercises, and I was given homework to do between sessions. During the initial consult, Herbie was being shy (for the first time ever, but I think she felt vulnerable in a strange place without her brother and with a bum leg). She also hates the vet's treats (lamb lung!) so I have to bring my own. Since then, however, she has come out of her shell and does her exercises with lots of enthusiasm. The cavaletti are her favorite and she has progressed rapidly!

Finally, we finished in the "wet room" with the underwater treadmill. Herbie is convinced that bath time and exercise at the same time are my personal way of tormenting her, but with the help of a tennis ball, she figured out how to walk on the treadmill. She is now up to almost 10 minutes at a time, and she does a great job using the bad leg all the while.

The first session left her completely wiped out, but now she breezes through therapy and has energy left afterwards. She has been cleared for leash walks as long as she uses the leg, and she has been doing better and better with that. Inside the house, she uses the bad leg pretty consistently and is bearing more and more weight on it as the days pass. She is bored out of her mind and it can be hard to keep her from running and bouncing, but I found her on the bed the other day, so I know she's getting stronger.

I have also started her (and Julio) on Omega 3 oils, which also seem to be helping with Herbie's ears and skin.

I'm going to talk dollars and cents for a minute, too, because I think this is really important for people to know. It was $180 for the initial consult, which included a diagnosis, start of treatment, and a plan to go forward with. Now, it's $80 per session. Each session includes massage, laser, PT exercises in the dry room, and the underwater treadmill. There is also the option to do either the wet room or the dry room for $40 per session. Granted, the $80 per week will add up pretty quickly, but it's much cheaper than traditional diagnostics and surgery, and without nearly as many risks.

There is, of course, no guarantee that Herbie won't need surgery down the line or that her other knee won't develop problems, but for now I'm thrilled with her progress (only one month in) and I am hoping she'll be back to her old self without the need for anesthesia.

In the mean time, Herbie is enjoying her weekly trips without her "idiot brother". She walks into the lobby with her tail going a million miles an hour and absolutely loves the staff. She is a tough little girl, and I'm hoping that will work in her favor.

I highly highly recommend V-Crest for anyone with a dog who has an orthopedic injury or degenerative condition. (They also offer conditioning programs for sport dogs! If I'm not bankrupt by the time Herbie is done with her appointments, I might take Julio to run on their treadmill!)

When I posted my Vermont photos on FB, I included the one of me looking super enthused, while Dee stood next to me with her ears at half-mast. One of the first comments I received was from Jen T. Jen is a local-to-me endurance rider who knows my landlord and frequently rides with Sandy. I have known her name for years,  but she hasn't been competing for the last few years, so I've never met her, even though she lives twenty minutes from me.
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The comment read, "I will need this kind of enthusiasm in Maine. Want to come crew for me for a week?"
She wasn't serious, but I'd been looking for an excuse to go to the Pine Tree Pioneer, so I replied, "PM me." Apparently, I surprised the heck out of her when she found out I was serious.

Originally, Jen and her husband, John, were going to to leave on Sunday, but I was photographing Muckleratz, so we decided to leave super early on Monday morning instead. I rearranged my schedule and agreed to travel 400 miles away from home with two strangers off the internet for a week.

Don't worry, I won't break down every minute of the seven day trip. My memory isn't that good.

Look! An endurance story that doesn't end in any kind of tragedy. Go me!

As always, my ride season is completely unpredictable. I crewed for Holly at Old Dominion 100. She told me that she had another two hundreds lined up, and would decide how she felt about Vermont 100 after that. In the end, Holly decided she would do the 50 with Poetrie and have me ride with her on Epic.

As most of you already know, it has been an intense couple of weeks (hence the lack of blogging). Mike and I crewed the 75 in Vermont. We had one weekend "off". The next weekend, we went back out to photograph the Muckleratz CTR in Pennsylvania. We came home Sunday afternoon. I quickly edited and posted the ride photos. At 3am on Monday morning, I was on the road again, heading to Maine for a week of crewing. There, I snuck in a surprise LD on a horse I'd never ridden before (and that will obviously be its own entry at some point). It was awesome to get away from everything for a whole week and I came home really refreshed (not that it lasted long). In the mean time, I haven't had any time for posting anything. Instead, I come bearing photos from the last month or so.

First of all, thank you all so much for the comments yesterday! I'm glad I shared my turmoil. The outpouring of support and suggestions has been both useful and humbling.

Back to the trailer loading chronicles...

If you thought Beth was bad (and you did!) wait til you hear this next one. Beth may have been spoiling her horse with no chance of getting anywhere with him, but at least she wasn't beating him.

That brings me to part two of this series, and thankfully, the only other time I've had this sort of drama with trailer loading. For the most parts, trailer loading is my easy money. It's something people can't fix on their own and gladly pay someone else to fix for them. Ironically, this trailer loading happened a mere two months after I was done with Beth. (Maybe there was something in the air in the last quarter of 2015. Who knows?)

This is way more personal and, um, not-chipper, than I usually post on here, but you guys are so wonderful and supportive that I decided to c/p here from the private blog. Introspective ramblings below. (Not a single photo included.)

Ok, so, back to "Beth"...

She approached me at a CTR at the beginning of the year to tell me about her new horse. I was surprised to see her because she basically dropped off the planet after the 2011 ride season. From what I've heard since, that's because she suddenly changed her views on everything horse related and has turned into one of those people who doesn't ride because it's too mean. But I didn't know that at the time.  I told her to email me about the horse when she got home because I couldn't focus on evaluating a new client while doing an endurance ride. (Horses are my job, but I do still try to separate work from play.)

A couple weeks later, the email appeared. I was going to c/p it here, but the grammar and lack of capitalization hurt me just scanning through it, so I'll spare you.

The horse, who we'll call "Nope" (his real name is just as ridiculous) was a coming five year-old OTTB.

By popular demand (ok, Shauna said she wanted to hear this, and that's enough for me!) I present to you, Trailer Loading Horror Stories, a two part series. Part One: I'm Too Abusive. Part Two: I'm Not Abusive Enough. Part One takes place two years ago, which makes it pretty safe to re-tell, and also means enough time has passed that I can laugh at it.

In the spring of 2015, a woman approached me at a CTR to ask me about trailer loading a new horse she got.

Things are always a bit hectic around here, but they've ramped up to a whole new level in the past couple weeks. Last week, I got to the point where I seriously debated applying for an office job, even though I basically fell asleep just reading the job description! I still might apply to that job, and any other one that comes across my proverbial desk. We've collectively decided that I need to ship ice cream across the country or hand out free samples at Costco for a living (seriously, Costco has great benefits!)

A weekend in Vermont sort of reminded me why I'm in horses to begin with, but I am seriously contemplating getting a "real job" and only doing horses for pleasure (and, no, I wouldn't save time for my "favorites", sorry guys). I am still waiting for the dust to settle regarding the Moonlight ride before I write it up. As always, there was chaos, and not everyone is out of the woods yet.

Oh, and did I mention that Herbie is dealing with a probable CCL tear? No? Right. Because any time I get some savings together, something catastrophic happens around here. It's enough to make you scream.

With everything that has been going on, I've been posting less to FB, and my desire to blog has taken a serious hit. I keep trucking along because I think I'd really miss being able to look back at everything if I stopped, but it takes more effort than I'm willing to put in on most days.

I sat down with my coffee this morning and debated writing up the whole "Gypsy Vanner at the Cranbury Sale Debacle", but I'm honestly sort of over it. The short version is that the horse who dumped me last month (Ragnar, for those of you who didn't put it together and aren't on FB) went through the consignment auction last week and sold for a whopping $20k to some woman from Michigan, who thankfully has GV experience and is working with a trainer who is aware of the horse's history. I need to contact his owner and ask for my 10% commission. Har har. Watching people in the comments assume that the trainer was a moron for falling off such a bootiful, quiet, fluffy baby pony was enough to make me throw in the towel all together. I start babies, retrain OTTB, and compete Arabians for a living, but sure, maybe I just came unseated over a normal green horse moment. In the process of the whole thing, I ended up getting in touch with Ragnar's breeder and some of his old owners and barn staff. I filled in a lot of gaps in his history. Apparently that makes me a stalker, btw. I guess not everyone would want to know where their horse ended up down the line, right?

Instead, I'm going to just post my non-phone photos as a space filler.

It has been an entire month since I went to OD, and I am finally getting around to blogging about it. The magic has worn off by now, which is part of what makes it possible for me to finally write the story up. My trip to OD was everything I needed, and I had a hard time coming back to the daily grind afterwards. I came home feeling euphoric, and I wanted nothing more than to be back in the Blue Ridge Mountains with no reception, surrounded by my favorite people. I struggled for days to put the feeling into words, but nothing I put down on paper captured the emotions that keep me in this sport, whether I'm in the saddle or not. Basically, Old Dominion was the mini vacation that I was hoping Biltmore would be. I got to escape the stresses of my daily life, unwind, laugh, and get a good night's sleep (believe it or not).

When I last touched on the story of my ride season, it was very clear that I wouldn't be riding Dart at Old Dominion. Right around that time, Holly contacted me to ask if I was riding. She was looking for crew in the 100. It would be her first attempt at the Beast of the East, and Rowan's first 100 mile completion if they made it across the finish. Because they were running OD as a two day ride this year, with the LD and the 50 on Friday, and the 100 on Saturday, I told Holly that I would crew for her regardless of my own plans for the ride.

At that, Holly offered to let me take one of the two grays in the 50. I told her it was her call. If she had a horse for me to ride, I'd be happy to try, but I wouldn't be heartbroken if I didn't get to ride. After getting the Old Dominion monkey off my back last year, I'm still not really recovered from the grueling ride. To my own surprise, I found myself feeling rather indifferent to riding at OD. That was a first.

In the end, Holly decided that it would be a lot less planning, hassle, and stress to just bring Rowan to Old Dominion, and leave everyone else at home. Perfectly fine by me!

While I was at OD (I still have to blog about that. I suck.) Jim, the ride manager for Muckleratz, messaged me and said, "I noticed you're not signed up for my ride." I texted back and explained that I don't have a horse and have pretty much no control over what rides I do. He laughed and replied, "Good. Then would you want to be the ride photographer?" I had already paid for the SmugMug account and had no plans for the weekend. Plus, the ride was on a Sunday, which meant I wouldn't have to miss any work. I'm not one to turn down the opportunity to make more money, so I happily agreed.

In the past, Muckleratz has been a CTR. As a result, I've never attended. This year, they ran it as an endurance ride for the first time! After photographing the ride, I'm a little sad I didn't, in fact, get to ride it. The trails looked lovely and the ride was really well-run. Jim's daughter in-law usually does the photography for the CTR, but she wasn't available for the holiday weekend, which worked out really well for me.

What also worked out well was that Mike was able to come with me. We haven't been to an endurance ride together in any capacity since Foxcatcher back in April. It's the most rides I've gone to without him since we started dating. I've missed doing the endurance thing together!

Muckleratz is held in the Weiser State Forest in Pennsylvania, about two and a half hours from home. Since we weren't riding or crewing, there was no rush to get to the ride. We slept in, had our coffee, and packed slowly. Marissa had stayed over the night before, but she was gone before we got up. My goal was to hit the road by 2pm, and we ended up about an hour ahead of schedule, which left us plenty of time to stop for gas and sandwiches before hitting the highway.

On the way up, we hit some pretty scary weather. Massive thunderstorms were rolling through the area, and I swear I spotted a funnel cloud at one point, as we crawled at 30mph down route 78.

This started off as the intro to my OD entry for this year, but it sort of took on a life of its own, so take it as a prologue instead...

I feel like we always have a lot going on around here. For some reason, however, this year seems to be extra intense, despite the fact that nothing special is happening. My endurance season seems to be taking a back seat to everything else right now, for the first time in several years. Despite the fact that I've been riding the LD train, and really not riding much this season, I have managed to make it to a ride pretty much every other weekend in some capacity.

Originally, the plan was for me to attempt the OD Triple Crown with Dart this year. Those hopes went right out the window when we got pulled at 45 miles at No Frills. I am hoping to make it to Fort Valley one year, whether it's as part of the Triple Crown or not. Initially, even with the pull at No Frills, I was going to try to do the 50 with Dart at OD.

Then Dart tested positive for Lyme. Thankfully, we had enough time to treat him between Biltmore and Old Dominion. After our ride at Biltmore, where Dart finished with all A's across the board in the LD, I felt ready to try 50 miles with him again.

Then I went on a conditioning ride with Jeff and Evelyn. We met up one weekend at their house, with the plan to do 15 miles or so near them. Originally, we were going to go to Baldpate, but the weather down by me was atrocious. Meanwhile, just an hour and a half north, they had clear, blue skies. I should know by now that when my plans seem to start falling apart, I should just throw in the towel and try again the next time. Things that don't start well for me generally don't get better with more effort.

As I sat in traffic behind a truck that had dropped an entire playground in the road, I had a feeling I was making a mistake.