So far December has been a mix of ups and downs. Things are going well at the new facility. We’re all getting settled in. The boys are all happy and everyone here is very friendly. It’s a long drive every day, but we manage! Business is down a bit; both because of our new location–too far for some of my old clients and because of the season.
Do have a new client horse at the barn right now–a big Appendix gelding, Chaser. He’s really starting to learn his job and tries very hard to figure things out. I think he’s got lots of potential as an eventer.
Good news is that I got a new (used) truck: a little bigger than my old one (thanks, Dad!). This time a Dodge 3500 dually! Now I’m ready to pull a bigger trailer in the future (when I can afford a bigger trailer)! It was time to give up the Ford truck while it was still sellable!
And good news is that Finny continues to do great after his Potomac/laminitis episode this summer. He’s back to jumping big (at least as much as we can in this cold and wet weather) and he’s working on stuff for advanced dressage tests (flying changes, etc.) since we hope to move up this coming year. I am so grateful that he came through his illness so well.
Good news is that Deke went down to visit Dr. Peters at Hagyard to get a good once-over since he didn’t seem to want to jump at the last trial we did this year. Dr. Peters was quite pleased with his condition. We did hock and stifle injections, but he seemed very healthy otherwise. He feels better already; moving free-er and stepping under himself better. So he should be good to go this year–whatever “go” we might be able to do. Not quite yet sure of winter/spring plans–which leads me to the not so good news:
Not so good news is that times are tough right now. I am not even sure I will make it to Florida this winter. Trying to sell a horse or two to help fund Florida; if not, I may have to stay home for the winter. Which also means the “big one” in Kentucky won’t be possible for Deke and I, and which means he’ll be up for sale also. It will be a huge disappointment after all the work and the qualifications reached to get to Kentucky, but sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do to survive this business.
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