Change

Winston Churchill once said "There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction." I decided to make a change by moving with Chloe to the east coast. It was a big change but I do feel I am headed in the right direction. When I came out here I had intentions on focusing on Chloe and only Chloe. She is my priority and I don't intend on that changing. The Fork has been amazing. It is a beautiful barn and Rebecca is a fantastic teacher. I also have formed relationships that I know will endure the changes that are about to happen. Now what all this is leading up too...I have been offered to go ride with Allison Springer. My main priority there will be Chloe and on top of that I get to ride horses all day. We will be traveling to all the same training sessions and events and I trust her superb dressage skills will help Chloe and I a lot. I will be right in the middle of the "eventing scene" which is exciting as well. For the next two months we will be located in Aiken, North Carolina. This is where all the training sessions will be held and my next two competitions. At the end of the second month we will be located in Middleburg, Virginia. This is prime horse country folks!!
I really want to make it clear that The Fork is an amazing facility and offers so much! It was not an easy decision to leave and I put a lot of thought into it. I just feel I cannot pass up an opportunity to ride ALL day long. I mean my main goal in coming out here is to better myself and my horse and what better way to do that then to keep practicing? I am really excited for this change and look forward to the doors this may open for Chloe and I! Now onto the packing...again.
On a side note...a very important side note...Chloe is doing well. She looks good and feels great! We have jumped twice since being here and by jump I mean I needed glue and a neck strap. To say she was excited about it is an understatement. Tomorrow, I have a jump lesson with Bonnie Mosser and I am so excited!! I have heard nothing but good things and any opportunity to branch out and get more critique is awesome! Hopefully Chloe will be a little less enthusiastic. As in I wont have to hang on for dear life...
Currently I am getting ready for my first event at Pine Top in two weeks. I am really looking forward to competing and being back in that environment. It will be strange not being with Flying Tail Farms and having my parents there...but I will save all those emotions for another post. Right now I am just going to focus on the immediate future...and that's making sure Chloe is clean for my lesson tomorrow! I will be sure to write tomorrow night, let you know how the lesson went and share a little with you about my insightful talk with Denny Emerson. Until then its bed time.
Xoxo
Kelly and Chloe

North Carolina

In the future I will try not to go more then a few days with out posting. I guess people have contacted my mom wondering if my dad ever made it back to California. After begging him to consider moving here he left...mumbling something about warmer weather and flip flops. I suppose I don't blame him...I mean it is currently below freezing.

To follow up on my last post my dad had left Tuesday to go and get Chloe in not so good weather. He luckily made it there safely and got to see Chloe first thing Wednesday morning. FINALLY! He made the drive back to The Fork and luckily Wednesday brought sunny skies. He had an uneventful trip and that night Chloe was happily resting in her stall. I nearly cried when I saw her..no wait I definately did. Have you all picked up on the fact that I'm a crier?? She came off the trailer bright and alert and immediately drank and ate. I liked this. At this point is was close to ten and more poor dad had been driving for what seemed like weeks. He was ready for bed. After taking her temp and seeing a normal number I was content in going home to finally sleep soundly. The next morning my dad flew home and that was no easy task saying goodbye. I hate goodbyes :(

I would go into all the details of my day but that would bore you all to pieces. Lets just say it is hard work that usually leads to a long day. It involves good people and horses and mine in particular seems very happy. Any change takes an adjustment period and I think that is what I am going through right now. Evaluating the pros and cons of this new life and ultimately deciding what is best for my horse and I. Its all new and scary and it is definitely forcing me to grow up. Although having all of you a phone call away definitely helps.

I have really become fond of the food here. Cracker Barrel offers mac and cheese as a vegetable on their menu. A common breakfast food is biscuits covered in caramel and cinnamon and right next to my house is a delicious Italian restaurant. Not complaining about any of that!

In a few weeks Chloe and I will run our first event at Pine Top and the week before that we have our first training session with Captain Mark Phillips in Aiken. I will keep you all posted on that and of coarse this adjustment period I am going through. In the mean time any of you running around Galway in a couple weeks good luck!!

Xoxo
Kelly and Chloe

Chloes and My Journey to our new home

Let me first start off by saying how im sorry it took me so long to write! I know I told some of you this post would be up days ago but as it turns out moving to the east coast is a little more then a hop and a skip. At least this trip was. My Father, Chloe, Pickles and I headed for the east coast early Tuesday morning. I had spent the previous week packing my life into boxes and that was no easy task. Who knew I had so many shoes or saddle pads??? The Sunday before I left my parents threw me a nice going away party where all the barn people stopped by and had some mexican food and margaritas, my favorite!! It was great to see everyone before I left seeing how most of them I have grown up with. The day before I left our young rider vet Dr. Laura Werner dropped her horses off at my home. She is moving to the east coast as well, yay for me!! We offered to take her horses to Lexington for her on our way to North Carolina. Back to what I was saying, we left early Tuesday morning and of coarse Chloe would not load. She wanted nothing to do with it. I tried to bribe her with every treat possible...she almost seemed offended by that. Eventually we got her in and after saying by to my mom which was incredibly hard we were off. Another adventure across the country eating junk food and listening to lousy books on tape. I guess its called books on cd now. I think tape rolls off the tongue a bit better. Okay sorry back on track. The drive was long my dad and I took turns sleeping and driving. Pickles slept about 23 hours out of the day. He almost became relish when my dad accidently let go of his leash and he went running through the Flying J truck stop, in between all the trucks to try and find me...whoops! Now onto what I am avoiding. We arrived at Kentucky late Thursday night. We dropped Laura's horses off for her and headed to where Chloe was going to stay over night. As soon as I put her in her stall she started shaking. I had never seen anything like it. At first I assumed she was cold. I mean it was snowing and 11 degrees out and we are California girls. So I layered blankets on her and after letting her drink some I had my dad walk her around the barn (indoor) to try and get her warm. I searched for a thermometer and when I took it it came up 105.3. Well thats not good. I decided the thermometer must not be right. So I grabbed another one and her temp came up 106.4. I decided I like the first one better. I was so scared I could have cried. Wait, no I definately did cry. I was scared. The only good part out of this whole situation was that we were located right around the corner from Hagyards Horse Clinic. One of the worlds best clinics. A vet arrived within minutes and determined it was shipping fever. At that point we had already guessed that was what it was. I had talked to my mom prior the vet getting there and she had guessed thats what it was. Why does this have to happen on my first journey away from her and my regular vet. Don't you worry I was deifnately calling him too. Poor Bart. I'm all the way across the country and he cant get rid of Chloe and I. Anyways, we caught the fever soon enough that she responded well to all the meds and antibiotics. We pulled blood and ultrasounded the lungs and all of that was normal. That night I checked on her thoughout the night about every three hours. In the mean time I lay awake and googled shipping fever. 50% of the web pages informed me you must keep windows up to keep the air flow. the other 50% informed me you must keep windows closed to reduce the air flow. Helpful. Chloe was up to date on all her shots and was not tied so she was able to put her head down. Two of the most important things. Im not sure what else I could have done to avoid it. Throughout the night her temp dropped and by morning she was at 101.9 which is amazing considering she was at 106.4 earlier. Slowly she got back to her normal self. Eating, drinking and headbutting anyone who got near her. I liked that. We stayed the next day to let her rest and my dad and I went shopping for snow clothes since I was silly enough to think my jeans would hold up just fine. Thank goodness for tractor supply!! Later that night the vet had suggested that Chloe needed to stay in Lexington for at least three days to rest before she got back on the trailer to go to her new home. Well this seemed like a long time to me, but I also have never dealt with shipping fever before. So I called Laura who had said at least three days...at least. So I called Bart who said five days of rest minimum. Well this posed a problem because obviously Chloes health comes first but I had a job to start and my dad had a plain to catch. So we decided to leave Chloe there in the hands of the vet and Wendy who ran the barn. Both very trustworthy horse people. Not that it makes it any easier to leave your horse behind. We drove on to North Carolina. I started my job, we moved my dads flight back and the plan was for him to go back Sunday and get her. Well Sunday North Carolina was hit by a huge storm. Snow everywhere! So we decided Monday then, he would go get her Monday. Well, Monday still snow everywhere. Tuesday morning rolls around and he decided he was going to go. The conditions were getting better but still not the best driving conditions. Have I mentioned I have a great dad? So Tuesday, which is today, he left. Just called him and he is about two hours away from Chloe. Chloe has been off of banamine for over three days now and her temp has stayed normal and she is still pushing people around. I like it. It has been so hard for me to be here and not there with her. Putting that kind of trust into people to watch your horse, your horse who is the main reason I moved out here, the horse who has changed my life. Yes, that is some serious trust. They have been very good about answering my phone calls every hour though. So fingers crossed the weather stays good and Chloe will be here tomorrow!! I think she is excited too. Where she is located in Lexington is an in door barn and apparently when they walk her around inside she will stop in front of the door to go out and paw obnoxiously and then will refuse to go back in her stall. She is feeling good I think. I have a stall all set up for her and bags and bags of carrots here waiting. Also, If you are ever stranded in Kentucky go to Shylah Farms, they are truly a life savor.

I started my job on Sunday and besides all the snow I have really been enjoying it! I mean it is a lot of work but the girls are great, the house where I am living is fantastic and I am around horses all day. I cant complain!....yet. We definitely took trash can lids and went sledding on the cross country gallop track here. Or should I say we attempted too? Now the count down to Chloes arrival begins!! FINALLY! Thank you everyone who has been texting nice messages :) It does help! I know its hard for me being a days drive away from her but I cant imagine how my mom feels being a three days drive away. Chloe loves to keep us all on our toes and really seems to enjoy having us lose sleep over her. Please everyone keep your fingers crossed that her trailer ride here tomorrow goes smoothly. I will definitely keep you all updated on her and the new job!


The Fork on a nice sunny day!

Close up

Picture I took yesterday with all the snow!


Xoxo Kelly and Chloe