Moving Day, Strikes Again!

I have owned my horse just over two years, and I have to say I would have preferred to move her A LOT less than she has been. Two years, 3 barns. Obviously I am much more cautious now of moving on a whim, and what trainers and barn owners I trust. We are going to go through two moves in the next few months, and I will get to that in a moment, but first...

I have a lot of news. I definitely need a wrist slap for only coming to post once a month! But things might get a little more interesting in our lives very shortly. More on that in a moment, first, let's recap recent things that might interest my long-time readers (and everyone, really.)

-Bob quit managing Halcyon. He apparently continued to serve as the farrier there, but eventually his unskilled work caused several horses to strain tendons, and the vet called him out on it (and was apparently very blatant with him, that his trim was the direct cause). He wasn't fired as I understand it, but just quit and said he was tired of horses. His step-daughter's warmblood, who was always a bit controversial being that I learned from Casey he was only sound for walk/trot, was moved to some small private property. I have no idea where it is, but it looks like they are continuing to do mid-level dressage.

-I no longer slave in the fast-food industry! I am now a very proud employee of a vet clinic. I will refrain from stating what clinic, being that I post some "controversial" things here from time to time, and this is a VERY opinionated blog, I don't want to link our clinic to any of the barn-drama that is mulled over here (and one of the owners is associated with the barn also)! I am currently working as a kennel assistant and loving it! I think my favorite part of the job is bathing and doing dips - making clean/treated dogs are just so gratifying!

-I finally completed my first semester of school! All I have left is exams on the 26th. However, I am changing my major and I'm not totally sure exactly what that will be right now.

-The fact that school is toughening up, and I have to make up for being slow in my first semester, means I have less time for leisure outside work/school - and unfortunately Amber counts as leisure. After much thought I have decided to allow her to be a school horse again. It may be just until I'm out of school, or if it seems to work out well, it may be a permanent thing. But Amber does much better when she stays fit, and having some walk-trot to fill in when I can't get out to ride would be wonderful - my horse would stay limber and fit and I would also save money (being that she would have discounted board). I just hope it works out! She has been an angel lately, and I think we are pretty much over the problems that I unfortunately created last year when I started nit-picking her. I'm still not sure about dead-beginners starting out on her. Her mouth is SO sensitive and her brakes will literally throw you over her head if you aren't sitting back - that could be a good lesson for beginners, or it could give them some fear issues!

-I finally finished paying off my saddle!

-Amber's toes are almost completely grown out now! Our farrier has done a wonderful job with her, and I am pleased to say she is sounder than ever! I'm not sure if I will risk jumping again, because I think my priorities are changing and what is more important than trying to push harder and farther and higher competitively, is keeping her sound for w/t/c as long as possible, and maybe even get around to some local shows. I definitley miss jumping, but I am more aware now than I previously was that Amber is not 100% sound at any given time, although she is better than she has been. When she starts to show that she isn't comfortable doing the flat work, I'm calling it quits and retiring her. Maybe occasional trails, but I don't have a trailer so I will be limited to the barn trails mostly. Which isn't very exciting. But I'm hoping we can keep her pretty stable for a few years, because she is doing well when she stays in consistent work. I would like to do schooling shows, still.

Okay, so I just practically gave you guys a newspaper, and I still haven't told you about all this moving!

I haven't been able to really share anything because most of the "news" aside from those few things, concerns the new barn. But now we are days away from moving, and everyone who the "secret" was being kept from knows now.

Casey has a friend and trainer from PA who has literally purchased a million dollar farm. It's a bit more of a drive for me, but it's very worth it. Her friend is a great trainer, and Casey is also moving there.

GEC is not closing, but a new trainer is coming in. She specializes in Saddlebreds and Arabians from what I have researched. Not my cup of tea - she may be nice, but I don't think she will have the business that Casey did.

As for the business, Everyone - and I mean EVERYONE except 2 or 3 people, is all going to the new barn. Apparently the new trainer is bringing in some horses of her own, which is good, because there will only be 6 horses left of the 20-30 that are usually there at any given time! I think all the students, and if not all then all but 1-2, are leaving as well. Which makes sense. The students are interested in hunters, and the new trainer can't meet that need. I think George would have been wise to try to find a trainer that could compete with Casey as another hunter trainer - not that I'm complaining, I'm happy for her that she has been able to keep virtually all her business.

There is a bit of an issue though. George is "kicking us out" so to speak, by next month. At least, Casey was told to be out by April 1, but since we are all planning on going, we aren't going to stick around.

There is a little twist in the plan. That million dollar farm? We aren't ready to move into it just yet. So we will be at a temporary facility nearby for a couple of months. That is where we are going in a few days. Casey has a show on Easter weekend, so we are doing it during the week. Unfortunatley, we don't have a real plan on what day and what we are doing exactly. Casey is taking two ponies back to PA right now that belong to the new trainer, to save us some space at the temp facility. When she gets back I guess she will give us the deal. I already emptied out my tack trunk except for what I will need to ride the next couple of days.

I don't want to elaborate for fear of starting anything, but there have been some sketchy things happening at the barn and we are pretty sure a certain person is behind it - cough cough - so I didn't want to leave my things laying around. I'm a little paranoid about what I did leave out, even.

I feel like George is going to go out and monitor everything on moving day. I feel like he is going to question everything we take out of there. I have a stall latch, a saddle rack and some tack hangers that need to come down when my better half gets a chance - and that is something I definitely want done before moving day. I feel like George will give me a hard time about the stall latch, even if it does belong to me. And it can all be explained and made okay...but I just don't feel like putting in the effort, you know?

I'm just ready for it to all get straightened out. Tensions are running high, everyone is getting irritated with one another and I'm just trying to do as much as I can to help the situation and keep the peace. I think everyone will get along so much better after we get settled in.

I will post some recent pictures of Red Mule tonight or tomorrow!