2021 Year in Review

 Well, 2021 is over and I think you'll all agree with me when I say, "What the fuck was that?"

All joking aside, the past year was one of massive changes. I am in a completely different place in my life than I was 365 days ago, and it's time to look back and see how we got here.

January

The year opened just as dramatically as 2020 ended, with the insurrection at the Capitol. By this point, I wasn't even surprised and coped mostly by sharing tons of memes with like-minded people. 

Mike and I opened the year by walking Julio at Skillman Park and getting take out for the first time since the pandemic started. At Fran's, I was trying to befriend the two cows.  NeighborFriend™ moved in downstairs and we regularly walked down the street together to visit the alpacas. A massive snowstorm hit towards the end of the month.

I was driving all over god's green earth to teach lessons to a variety of clients. I renewed my indoor membership, which ended up being a joke. The indoor needed a new roof and a project that should have taken a week ended up dragging out for nine months. I never rode at the indoor myself and ended up quitting horse training before it opened back up. 

I rode Lucy bareback in the snow and caught up on blogging about snowy trail rides from the end of the previous year..

I knocked one of my goals out almost immediately when I took Lucy for her first field trip to Emily's, where she behaved perfectly. Jess joined us on Gunner and I got to knock riding down the canal path off my bucket list. The ground froze which allowed Eryca and me to head out for a hack around the vineyard.  I joined a 100 rides group on FB which provided a ton of inspiration for riding. Booger was watching all our play dates with Lucy and Lilly and was clearly jealous. She was so eager to interact with me that I decided to put her back into work and see how it went. 

Herbie gave us a scare when she had a bad allergic reaction to some unknown thing. Then we went walking at Franklin Parker with Julio and NeighborFriend. Towards the end of our hike, Julio had a clumsy moment and fell off a little bridge into the frigid stream below. He seemed ok at the time, but he came up really sore on his left hind a short while later, and I worried we'd have to do surgery on his stifle. It was an expensive year for pets. 

The weather turned bitter at the end of the month, but that didn't stop Eryca and me from continuing to enjoy our horses. We went on a particularly frigid trail ride. In fact, we were riding so much that I started to do separate posts for our riding media. 

I was still obsessively logging my yoga journey. While I did continue to do yoga throughout the year, I stopped documenting it so much. Plus between riding my two horses, feeding the barn, and teaching/training a full schedule, I had less time to dedicate to playing with more complex poses. I am currently not doing yoga on a regular basis because I'm training in the office and then still taking care of the barn daily, but I plan to add daily yoga back into my routine once I'm working from home.

February

The month started with more brutal winter weather. First we had super cold temperatures and cutting wind. Then we got hammered with a blizzard. Eryca and I went riding anyway. I forgot that water freezes and that creeks are made of water. I gracelessly fell on my ass on the ice. Booger also got back out on trail. Jess came out to visit and rode Lilly with me in the snow. Then Eryca and I rode in the snow some more. And then we did it again. I even went out on Booger solo. Even Christine came out for a turn! There were a lot of snowy trail rides in February, mostly because my business came to a grinding halt and I had a lot of free time.

February is when things got a little crazy. Fran was battling cancer and had a major surgery right before the blizzard hit. We got battered with several snow storms in a row. George the sheep died. In the middle of all that, Juli quit her job at the racehorse barn and moved her two mares in. The wheels fell off the bus when I figured out that the girl getting paid to take care of the animals was in fact collecting her money but not doing any of the work.  I stepped in and took over on what was supposed to be a temporary basis. At the time we had four sheep, five horses, and two cows at that barn (plus two dogs and two horses at home). Well, it has been almost a year and I'm still doing the animal care. In all honesty, I'm a control freak and I prefer to do self care so I don't think that's going to change, but it was a lot at the time. 

I took advantage of the snowfall and got updated pictures of Lucy and Booger.

Booger officially/unofficially became my second horse and I bought her her own set of Taylored Tack. 

I introduced Dee on the blog. I had started casually job hunting before the pandemic, and this year I got pretty serious about making a career change. Even though I still had a full client list, and finally narrowed it down to only clients I liked, I blogged way less about horse training and my business than I have in the past. I think I knew, deep down, that chapter of my life was wrapping up.

As if things weren't crazy enough, life threw us for a loop with the unexpected addition of a calf. It turns out that one of the two cows on the property had gotten pregnant about two weeks before Fran bought them. They were practically babies themselves at the time, so when Mike pointed out that the brown cow's udder was bagging up, I dismissed him. A call from a friend of Fran's led to a wild night in which a group of near-strangers came together during a pandemic to save the life of a feral beef cow. We were rewarded with a healthy calf, who we named Norman after the City Slickers movie. In all honesty, this was probably my favorite story to come out of 2021, though it sort of sucked at the time.

On the upside, Mike got probably the best photo of the year on our way home from checking on the calf the next morning. Eagles have made a huge comeback in the area in the last two years. I now see them frequently enough that it's not that exciting any more. On this day, the eagle was sitting almost within reach!

Outside of cows and snow, I was trying desperately to find a way to combat Herbie's loss of mobility. I tried to order a wheel chair for her. I did a lot of research and asked a few experts in the field for recommendations. The top company according to everyone was Ruff Rollin, and I measured Herbie and dropped a thousand dollars on a custom four-wheel cart. After weeks of waiting, many phone calls to the worst customer service ever, and delayed shipping, the wheel chair finally arrived and it was a total piece of crap. The craftsmanship sucked. The materials were garbage. The design was not only flawed, but completely different from what I'd ordered. I don't think it would have mattered if it had been a great wheel chair because Herbie didn't cooperate at all and displayed zero interest in using it to get around, preferring to be carried or wheeled everywhere like the princess she was. 

I also flew the drone to get cool snow aerials. 

March

Remember when that ship got stuck in the Suez Canal? Yeah, that was this year....

I joined the MFTHBA to get more information on Lucy. As a result, I went down the rabbit hole on her pedigree. I eventually did a follow up post in which I traced Lucy all the way back to Messenger. Then I took my super inbred horse on a nice bareback trail ride.

I took some official photos of Norman. He got banded so he'd grow into a steer and not a bull. At least we know I draw the line somewhere? Oh yeah, and somewhere in the process I went off the deep end and halter broke the feral cow, Steak, and made her my friend. I also posted other photos from around the farm.

Eryca and I managed to find a safe way across the creek. 

I tried to take Booger on another trail ride and she was terrible. At the time her behavior rattled me, but I knew logically that she just needed more structured miles. I set a goal of riding Booger for 100 miles. By the end of the year, we surpassed three hundred!

Around the middle of March, the snow finally melted. Mike and I took pictures of the dogs. I started to suspect that Herbie wouldn't live through the year. A friend of mine set my skeptical ass up with an animal communicator, who gave me a lot of closure and peace of mind. Some day, maybe I'll write about it.

Mike and I were feeling a little stir crazy, but the weather wasn't really cooperating for hiking. Instead we drove down to the Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Preserve for a day of bird watching from the warmth of our car.

I posted a ton of photos of all three mares, and NeighborFriend rode Boo. 

I continued to do yoga and make really good progress.

I went on my only conditioning ride with the endurance group.

As the snow melted, I went back to riding, training, and teaching. We started dog walking again. Eryca and I were mostly stuck in the ring and we did fun things like yoga on horseback. We broke in our air fryer and I started to pony Booger off of Lucy in the ring. I forgot how to walk and landed flat on my big, fat butt in the mud. 

At the end of the month, we finally saw signs of spring, and Eryca hit the trails to celebrate.

April

Derek Chauvin was convicted in the murder of George Floyd. 

I decided to take it back a few steps with Booger and long lined her on trail. Clients started to pick up as the weather improved. Mike bought me a new camera. Herbie spent a lot of time sunning herself on the back deck. Things seemed to be on fire every time I taught at Ashley's. I started to plot and play with the basics of driving with Booger. Janet the matriarch of the sheep died. The cows moved on to their new home, much to my relief. Jess got Frank, my favorite min pin. We got permission from the neighbor to ride on her property even though it's not part of the trail system. I spent a lot of time working on head stands. 

Mike and I took Julio walking in the Warren Highlands.

Mike and I managed to get our first vaccines! I took Lucy for a nine mile solo ride. 

Eryca and I agreed to meet every Wednesday to horseback ride after work. With hunting season over, we were able to hit the trails. I started to pony Booger along with us on our adventures. 

The miles started to add up, and Eryca and I took a slight detour. 

On one of our many adventures, we found yet another owl! For those of you counting at home, that's three owls I've picked up in the wild. Sadly, this one did not make it, but at least it got to pass peacefully at the Raptor Trust. 

I took Booger out for another solo trail ride and she redeemed herself. Mike came out to get some updated photos of us in the ring.

Eryca and I got a jump start on our goals for the year when we trailered the horses off the property for the first time together. We went to Deer Path Park and had a brilliant day of riding.

May

People panicked about a gas shortage and put fuel in plastic bags in their homes.

Clover the standardbred found a new home and her most recent adopters reached out to me with updates. A pony at a barn I teach at colicked and died during my lesson with the BO. Mike and I got a crash course in sheep shearing. Julio got his "elbow nipple" removed. Fran got stone dust delivered and I took it upon myself to level it. Fran rode Lilly for the first time since her surgery. Our TV died so we got a new one.We started to watch baseball. One of the racehorses I used to work with broke down on the track. 

Bryce and Eryca came over to celebrate our vaccination status.

The trees were screaming with cicadas.

Booger progressed in her pre-driving training.

Mike and I opened up the month by doing an eight and a half mile trail ride together. He actually joined me two weekends in a row! And then I hit the trifecta and Mike volunteered for yet another ride in one month! 

In may, we got our second shots and mine kicked my ass.

I ponied Booger off of Lucy a lot. I took her out by myself, but ran into a random person to take a picture. I also took her out with Eryca and went around the vineyard. I even brought her along on one of our Wednesday night play dates.

Eryca and I trailered out again and rode Baldpate Mountain. I actually went to Baldpate twice in one month, when Julie came to pick me up later in the month.

We also trailered out to Horseshoe Bend.

I finally remembered to bring the drone out to the barn. I did not fly the drone nearly as much as I would have liked this year, mostly because we didn't really go anywhere new. 

Lucy started to build fitness and I took her on a fast eleven and a half mile solo ride. It was sa good month for trail riding. Lucy and I figured out how to connect the valley and did a thirteen mile loop.

We took Julio hiking at Round Mountain.

I went a little overboard in the matchy matchy department and took some liberty photos of Booger.

It started to get hot out. Eryca and I ditched our saddles for trail riding.

Mike came out to take pictures of me riding Lucy bareback and bridleless.

June

It was hot, hot, hot (and buggy).  We cooked a lot. Booger's old paddock finally recovered enough to give her more space to roam. We took Julio walking at Horseshoe Bend and the newly-discovered LaPort Preserve. I came to the dark side and bought a pair of Crocs. We found a neighbor's great Dane wandering down the street and returned her to them. My Easy Boots literally came apart at the seams and made me cranky. Juli joined us for a trail ride. Lucy's back legs randomly swelled up like tree trunks and I freaked out a little. Mike and I randomly went Geocaching after visiting the bike shop. We went kayaking at Round Valley.

Booger and I headed out for a short, hot trail ride. Ponying her throughout the spring made a huge difference. Eryca and I outran a massive thunderstorm on Lucy and Lilly. We were riding so much that I started to consolidate all our riding media. I continued to pony Booger out on trail, and even introduced some off leash horse walking. I started checking off all the local  loops with Booger in tow.

I started to get more serious about jumping. 

Eryca and I went to our first hunter pace and team What the Foxtrot was born.

Mike came out and took updated photos of me riding Booger.

I talked a bit about some of my clients at Ashley's.

Eryca and I got to choose our own adventure on a trail ride. 

We successfully pieced together all the trails on our end of the valley to form a ten mile loop. Along the way, we rescued a baby blue jay that was stranded in the creek.

I was still posting the occasional yoga progress photo.

July
Billionaires in space.

The weather was wild. We had massive thunderstorms and smoke from the west coast fires. We photographed fawns in our back yard. I came in second place in my division for the second quarter of Top Trail Horse. Fran took the Haflinger From Hell on trial and it was a disaster. Angela's baby was born and became the tiniest human I'd ever met. Mike and I started bike riding together. 

I posted pictures of Wesley and Ubee. I did a photo shoot of Lucy.

Eryca and I went to the AEA hunter pace despite blistering heat. We came in second out of a huge number of riders.

My former student, Cam, came out to ride Booger.

I went to Muckleratz for my first endurance ride since the pandemic began. I did the LD on Maddie. Mike was the photographer.

I found a great deal on a used jog cart and hitched Booger for the first time for her 11th birthday. 

I posted another ride log, detailing our various trail ride adventures, including Julie coming for another visit and raspberry picking on horseback.

August

People started taking horse wormer to treat COVID.

Floods, fire, and calamity here in NJ. The neighbors had a brush fire, Hopewell flooded after Henri, and Riverview burned to the ground. Mike had to put our driveway back where it belonged.

The landlord's kids started taking riding lessons on Oreo. Fran tried to ride Felix. The ring was covered in weeds, which was making me crazy. I finally got the tractor back and fixed it. I got a pair of barrels for the ring. I did something to my wrist and couldn't do arm balances in yoga. Mike came up with a solution for Herbie. He got her a hundred dollar utility cart from Tractor Supply. She loved it. 

Booger went on her longest ride to date. I posted more ride logs instead of individual ride posts. I photographed Booger again. Eryca and I did a fifteen mile loop out the back door.

Mike and I really started to get into the swing of bike riding, something which I hope to do much more of this year.

We finally went kayaking at Merrill Creek, which was awesome.

We took a road trip to Maryland to see Nicole and Carlos. 

Riding media for the month featured jumping Booger, more trail riding, and the addition of Fran's newest horse, Felix. I still haven't introduced him on the blog and maybe I never will. Unfortunately, he came with a URI that sidelined a lot of my plans for the mares. This is why it's important to be strict about quarantine, but what do I know?

 

September

September started with Hurricane Ida demolishing a large part of NJ, including our little corner of the state. I have never seen flooding like this in my life. Our basement flooded and our driveway looked like the Grand Canyon, but we were lucky compared to many of our neighbors, some of whom lost everything. There were several deaths, including one person we knew. Several tornadoes ripped through our area, and two narrowly missed us. The trails were completely trashed too.

I wrote a piece about trail riding through the valley as fall approached.

We got sand for the arena which felt like Christmas came early. I put 30 days on Felix, but it didn't make much difference. We went hatchet throwing with friends.It was Lilly's turn to have a fat leg. A small lump on Julio's leg turned out to be cancer and he had surgery to remove it. We got clean margins, but I was really stressed anyway. I tried Chicken of the Woods and didn't like it. Mike started building me more jumps. We took the Corvette out for a ride and took Herbie out in her wagon. Little did we know that would be one of her last hikes. We had a bonfire in the pasture. I shared more riding media.

Nicole and Carlos came up for a visit. We visited Merrill Creek, had lunch in our favorite bunker, and went horseback riding. 

There was a hunter pace up in Tewksbury. At the last minute, Eryca couldn't make it. Mike stepped up and rode with me. It was his first horse competition! His horse only got stung by bees a little. We also celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. 

Booger also got to go on trail adventures.

I grew increasingly behind on blogging and tried not to stress about it too much. 

October

I took a part time office job for my old boss from the vet clinic. I rode Quite Quiet for the first time. Fran's dog, Benny, died. Eryca and I spent time painting jumps and making flower boxes. I met Juli's bosses for the first time and met Tucker and the minis. 

I completed Virtual Tevis with Lucy. 

Yoga was still a regular part of my life.

I posted jumping pictures.

I did the LD at Mustang Memorial on a 23 year old mare named Angel and we came in Top Ten, earning my 500 mile LD patch.

The next day, Eryca and I did the fall hunter pace at home, coming in third and getting the fastest time.

I spent a lot of time trail riding with Bob. 

The month's riding media included driving Booger on trail for the first time, Tor coming to visit, and extensive storm damage to the trail network. We continued to have girls' nights and jumping photos.

Booger did another longer trail ride and got a new theme song. 

Nicole and Carlos came back again. We went to the Gorge and the dam and Round Valley. They stayed for three days and we went horseback riding. 

Mike and I photographed a new endurance ride and it was a disaster.

November

Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty.

I spent a lot of time at Juli's barn. I celebrated my 35th birthday by going out to eat for the first time in two years... and probably the last time for a long time. The days got shorter and the shadows got longer. I was back to teaching under the lights and riding my girls in the dark.  We took Julio for a longer walk around the corner and he split a nail and needed some time off to heal. Herbie started to decline. 

I took fall photos of the girls.

I rode Booger dressed as a unicorn.

Eryca and I did the last hunter pace of the season and finished third. 

Mike and I went to see the ocean.

I put on my big girl panties to jump Booger.

December

Omicron surged and we are worse off than we were this time last year. I got boosted yesterday and it kicked my ass. 

We put Herbie down on the fifth. I started a new job last week. I just recapped all this so I won't get into it again.

I posted jumping photos.

I closed out the year with some last trail rides, last dog walks, and mini horse drives. 

Over all, it was  roller coaster of a year. I rode my own horses more than I have in a long time. It's probably the most I have ridden since I worked at the horse rescue. We accomplished a lot and had so many good times along the way. I am excited for a new chapter work-wise, and of course devastated to be starting the new year without our Herbie girl. Despite a world that seems to be collapsing around us, I have so much to be grateful for.

Someone recently posted their priorities as follows: things I need to do, things I want to do, things other people want me to do, in that order. That is going to be my motto going into 2022.