Monsters

We all have monsters - those worries, doubts and fears that overcome us from time to time. We all live with them, ignored for the most part, yet hiding just out of sight as we go about our days in a blissful state of abnegation. But this year, when I was given the opportunity to …

Progress Makes Perfect

Over the weekend I took Java to our last schooling show in preparation for May-Daze in 2 weeks. Making our recognized Eventing debut has been a goal of mine since that first mini trial a year and a half ago. But, as is expected in life, several setbacks and curve balls have kept that from …

Why I Adopt (and Shop!)

Last year, I adopted my first horse. That's right - nearly 15 years of horse ownership, having owned 20+ horses, and I had never adopted until last year. Last year, I fell in love with a gigantic baby horse at New Vocations and just had to have him. Cold Gone Hot, aka Tiny, was a …

Forward First

It's no secret that I sit on a lot of green horses. Over the years, working with babies has proven to be my niche. Whether completely un-started or just beginning a new career, I've found a knack in bringing up the young ones, giving them confidence and direction to be successful where ever life takes …

All of the Talent, None of the Luck

Sitting at my desk one slow June day I aimlessly surfed the web, opening up Craigslist and typing "Horse" into the search bar. I had one empty spot in my pasture and was very casually looking for a project. As my eyes danced over the screen, they quickly stopped on an ad that read "Percheron Cross …

The Expecting Eventer: Preparing for Motherhood

As an Expecting Eventer facing motherhood for the first time, I had no idea what I was doing. The majority of my life had been spent in a barn and realizing I was about to be responsible for a life that couldn't be stalled at night and cried instead of whinnied was nerve wracking. So, …

What Does My OTTB Already Know?

With RRP trainer applications open, the search is on for that one perfect Makeover mount! Your partner for the next 10 months and the one to take you to the Kentucky Horse Park and beyond! As the RRP Thoroughbred Makeover grows in popularity, so does the amount of potential trainers vying for a piece of …

Being “Made Over” for the Makeover

This blog was started to chronicle a common goal over the last few years of my life - to make it to the Retired Racehorse Project's Thoroughbred Makeover. To successfully take a horse off the track and retrain it for a specific discipline in 10 months' time. To be a part of the change in …

A Letter, Not a Number

Today, I didn't complete an event. For the first time ever, I halted at X and did not gallop through the finish flags. Today, I did not even step onto the cross country course. Of all the things that can go wrong during an event, none of them happened. We did not make an unplanned …

Finally an Event Horse, Finally an Eventer

16 months ago, Java was standing in a stall at Turfway Park. Race fit and knowing nothing but the track for the last 4 years of her life, she was ready to retire from racing. Body sore and a little lame, I fell in love with her anyway and despite my vet's hesitation, Java came …