I am so, so, so grateful for the opportunity to be at Last Frontier Farm for over a year. I met the most wonderful people you could ever hope to meet and I hope to keep them in my life even though I am far away, they were like my extended family for so long!!! And to all those people, Thank you for being so welcoming when I was new and never changing that through out the year. It is not only the people I became close to, but the opportunities I was given. Sharon is amazing. She allowed me to ride with Jimmy Wofford, Gerd Reuter and Linda Zang- opportunities I probably would not get if I was not here, these are the opportunities that changed my riding career. She also allowed me ride clients horses and her horses, even her good horses when she was hurt- it was probably one of the biggest benefits I have ever had. So to Sharon (who did not kill me when I'm sure she wanted to, and taught me so much about horsemanship), Millie (who I took to her first shows, and will have to go watch at her first Advanced!), Shu (who I also broke into the competition seen and completely adore and might steal one night, and who I will also watch at his Rolex debut!), Bounce (the only horse I fell off of while I was there...twice!), Patch (who jumps like a freak and taught me hang on while staying relaxed...or at least started that learning process!), Skip (who goes like Tess so it was great practice while she was on R and R), Jazzy (the old pro who was my main man when my horses were out), Keys (who I took to her first prelim, she has a huge heart and is a really lovely mare..that requires a seat belt for that jump!), Fuzzy (Giving me back some XC confidence!), Resume (teaching me about going forward ;) ), Whip (helping me learn about the hind end), and Dolly (the most adorable 15.1 hand eventer that has ever been, who is my little XC machine!!!), a huge thanks for exponentially increasing my learning curve.
I have been home for almost two weeks and yes, miraculously, I have unpacked/put away/organized everything (believe me, it was kind of embarrassing the amount of stuff I seem to accumulate!). Clif is doing well, loving his new pasture mate. Irish is great, she is also loving her own stall--she is still for sale, sadly I must sell her, I cannot keep developing a collection, as much as I'd like too! I have ridden Tess since the first day I arrived (I couldn't help myself!), she just started trotting and feels amazing, she is 100% healed--but she is so fat she might suddenly combust...so that could create a problem. We also got a new little OTTB for my mom-Doby (yes like the elf...and yes he has small ears....and further yes I feel like he would have a high pitched voice...with an Irish accent). He is from Herringswell Stable and Graham Motion, a classy place so no doubt he will be a classy little horse! Doby was imported earlier this year to race in the states, that didn't go quite as well as the owners hoped unfortunately for them...fortunately for us. He is very cute, very very sweet and gentle, and is super scrawny (much like the elf!)--he is loving this whole unlimited grass experience and his exorbitant about of food!
I do hope to be better about keeping everyone updated!
Until next time!
Hillary
