April started off in style. I went down to Maryland with the ECTRA president's horse, Spot, for a 25 mile CTR. We won.


CP was with me for another month. I started teaching him the basics of trail riding on the farm.


I took on a morning gig for a local endurance rider, feeding her three 100 miler mares at a farm just up the street from me. Unfortunately, the job was short-lived because the barn owner turned out to be a bit of a nut job and the endurance rider moved her horses on short notice. Thankfully, the rider took a liking to me and I made a great connection. There should be lots of riding in my near future and I got some nice photos of her horses... which she bought a ton of. Woo!


I also started working with a coming two year old American Warmblood named Romeo. I'll be breaking him to ride in the near future. In the process, I got to meet a one-eared pot-bellied pig who Herbie has become fast friends with.





I took CP for his first real trail ride off the farm. We did 5 miles on Baldpate Mountain. He was a rock star.


My friend Crysta from Nevada came out to NJ on a business trip. We spent two days together, taking a whirlwind tour of the area and seeing lots of horses. Somewhere in there, my tire went flat AGAIN. I wound up spending a ton of money having new tires with a warranty put on my car. Problem solved.







My days featured horses, horses, and more horses. Romeo learned to lunge in side reins, then ground drive. CP started work over ground poles. Ozzy gave a riding lesson to a four year old girl.







I went to Duncraven to watch the jumpers.



I trailer loaded a horse named Lucky on Friday the 13th.

That same day, I booked a photography client. Her new blog was going live at Sidelines Magazine and she needed a profile picture.


I got to go to Bluestone and take pictures of baby horses.


Mike and I went to Maryland to help my dad with his boat.


~EatsNoCheese started taking lessons with me. We're riding together like we always wanted to when we were kids.


I babysat a 10 year old beagle for four days for a friend.


My stupid horse tried to kill himself by jumping a four foot gate from a standstill.


My new client pony, JR, arrived. He will be with me for two months on full-training board. After that, I may take him on free lease if I can find someone who wants to ride him regularly. He's an awesome pony and does it all.


I also rode a 16.3hh OTTB who needs a fresh start in his training. I opened his owner's eyes to a lot of things that his current trainer has been doing wrong. She was very impressed and is coming back for a lesson this week. I'm hoping this horse will move in with me in the near future.

Erin came down to ride CP to see if he was ready for a second rider. He was mostly good, but he did throw one sneaky buck and unseated her. She got back on and ended on a good note. He's not ready for kids yet, but I think other riders are going to become part of his training routine.


I took sale photos of Mikey, the TB I rescued in 2010 for ~rckmeamadeus. He is on trial at his potential new home as we speak.


Ozzy turned 11.

Mike built me two sets of jump standards. I've started jumping the ponies. CP is showing a lot of talent and JR is as honest as honest can be.


I GOT TO PET A BABY SQUIRREL!!!


Yup. That's about it.

So March isn't technically over, but I'm going out of state tomorrow so I might as well write this now.

The month started off with me going with Erin to her first show with Jabby.


At the same time, I got a new project pony. CP was a two year old when I last saw him (he used to live with Ozzy). Now he's five and it turns out he has a nasty buck. His owner is boarding him with me while we get the issue resolved.



The first day I rode him, he managed to toss me, but I held onto the reins and got right back on board. The pony was shocked and appalled, but the change in his attitude was immediate.



The shenanigans continued for a while:




But eventually we started to make progress:


In the mean time I was busy racking up all sorts of trail miles. I rode at Baldpate on Ozzy with Jen and Sunraider. I rode in the Pine Barrens on a 29yo QH gelding named Jimmy, an appaloosa named Spot, and an Arabian named Poe. Our adventures included me getting pulled over and Wendy coming off of Clover in the frigid waters of the Manasquan River.









In the mean time, my lesson student was getting braver and braver and has started not only cantering, but also riding outside of the ring.


March also featured both a wedding and a funeral. Jo, my friend from my racetrack days, married her prince charming in a ceremony that had it all.




Tor came down for a day and we spent some time at the barn torturing all the different horses.


We also accompanied Erin to the Assunpink for a lovely sunset walk:


The pony really started to grow on me:


Kittens started to grow on Mike:


Mike knocked down trees and split a ton of wood:


I got to photograph a beautiful gray mare in the mist:


We took the dogs for a play date at Round Valley:


I was able to trust the pony outside the ring:


After Erin stopped working at SRF, we took a three day whirlwind road trip to North Carolina for a job interview for her. Herbie came with us and the four of us had a packed week. There was  hiking, waterfalls, cows, good food, beautiful stars, and even a side trip to Virginia to visit Kelly.











When we got home, life picked up at its normal breakneck pace. We had a bonfire, which the fire dept. got called out to. Whoops. We helped Dev move into his new apartment. I took on a trailer loading client and found another potential boarder.  I even made time to let my bunny out in the yard to enjoy the spring grass.



This week, we took the pony over to Baldpate mountain for his first real trail experience. He ponied alongside the more experienced horses and did everything from crossing creeks to jumping logs.


So yeah... horses, horses, and more horses with enough energy left to do other things. Life is good. Details can be found on my blog. Now I have to go meet with the pasture expert.

Even with the extra day, February went by in a flash.

The month started off with Herbie giving us a scare when she took off chasing deer in a local park. Thankfully we were able to find her and she came back to us once she snapped out of it, but it scared me half to death.

Early in the month, I met up with an internet friend and her dog for a day of walking in the Assunpink.


Mike and I drove up to Long Island to see my friend Melissa.
We also drove around Hopewell to get hay in his little truck (because his big truck is out of commission).


A random person from my parents' past sent me an email with pictures of the hostel I grew up in.

I surprised myself by taking Ozzy for a ten mile trail ride. He has been coming back from his injury nicely and I am hopeful for a year full of hacking him around.

I went to look at a potential re-sale horse, a Morgan cross named Mitzy. She was a nice enough mare, but not what I was looking for.


Mike took down a bunch of trees at the farm where I keep Ozzy. I helped by taking pictures.


We went hiking at Baldpate.
We went to the Horse Park to watch Erin school Jabby. The trainer who got suckered into taking my old job was there, rode terribly, and nearly fell off. Then I caught her loose horse in the parking lot for her.


Erin and I went to Clayton Park with Herbie.


I gave lots of lessons and schooled Ozzy.


I started trying to get my horse training business off the ground in earnest. The first step was to buy a real website. I spent a lot of time working on it. It's still under construction, but it's getting there and I've already had a few calls from potential clients.
Mike built me a mounting block.
Ozzy gave a lesson to a little girl who has been badly bullied at school.
We had good times with Lynn, who I hadn't seen since August.
I took pictures of birds.








And now it's March and things promise to only get crazier from here. As always, full updates and MORE photos can be found on my blog.

The year is off to a good start! It has been a busy month and I can't believe it's February already.

I started off the year by sticking the boy on Ozzy:

I'm excited about the idea of him joining me for trail rides in the future.

We did a lot of hiking in January, starting with a trip to Schooley's Mountain Park.


We got up in the dead of night to watch a meteor shower from a nearby mountain top. It was freezing cold, but super romantic.
I learned to drive a quad, which was something really fun and completely new to me.
We met up with :devws_topdeck: for a hike in Cheesequake. Sadly, it ended up being a bust. Damn.

I spent some time at the barn with Ozzy, who is getting fat and fuzzy.




I started doing a little bit of vet tech work at two local spay/neuter clinics. I still don't have a solid job plan, but I think vet work might be interesting and rewarding. I am learning a LOT and helping animals in the process, which is really cool.

I went to the Horse Park to cheer Erin on in her first schooling with her younger horse.


Mike and I finally checked out the canal path by my house. It's only ten minutes away, but I had never been, even though I've been living in the area since 2004.


We FINALLY got some snow, but it didn't stick around long.


We took advantage of the winter weather and went horse sledding at my friend Kim's barn.


I had an excellent eight mile trail ride on Ozzy. We rode in not one, but two state parks in one afternoon and enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather.


I got back into bike riding a little bit, and went back to the canal path to get in a few miles. It's harder than I remember, but should make for a great way to exercise this year.

We wrapped up the month with an excellent beach date on which I got within 20 feet of a wild fox and watched seals play in the ocean at sunset.



As always, full updates can be found on my blog. There are always tons of photos and comments are open to the public.

Mike and I are signed up for the Polar Bear Plunge later this month, to raise money for the Special Olympics. In order to actually Plunge, we need to raise a minimum of $100 each You know you want to see us freezing our butts off in the ocean! Please click the links below to donate... if everyone donates $5, our team will reach its goal amount!

My Page

Mike's Page

Help us support a great cause!

My year in review post has been published. Happy holidays and good thoughts for the new year to all of you!