2017: In Review

Well, it’s been a year, that’s for sure, for better and for worse.

The beginning of the year saw Fin come home , the greatest belated Christmas gift there was. I wrapped up 2016 with a count of the number of shoes I purchased : 16. 2017’s count? 15. Oops. It snowed in South Carolina . I got used to life with a dog, was still working in human healthcare and not riding. It was 80 degrees . Dad came to town and took me to dinner, we discovered alternative facts must have been what horses have been spooking at all this time, and I spent a weekend refinishing a free dresser . Discovered that when being read in on a confidential project saying, “it’s okay my only friend is my dog,” does not instill as much confidence as you think it might. Learned Fin likes to be vacuumed . Reorganized my closet, cleaned my baseboards and generally prepared for spring.

Went to NYC for a weekend with my best friends. Purchased expensive candles, saw the Carole King Broadway show, laughed way too hard, ate a lot of really good food. Cheered on the Heels to a National Championship!

Jump judged The Fork 3* and realized I was officially bitten by the eventing bug and it wasn’t going anywhere.

Went to Asheville, NC and spent the day hiking with a friend and the dogs. Fell into a waterfall.

Flew up to Washington DC for a week and visited multiple friends, bought a scrunchie , attended a wedding and… ate . Duh. Spent a day with our Life Flight crew on the helicopter and had one of the coolest experiences of my life to date.

Accepted a job in Indiana and moved, 13 days later. Spent almost a month back in New Mexico between jobs, celebrated my younger brother’s high school graduation and rode Lucy bareback in a halter .

Started new job in veterinary medicine and bought Fin the Dog a swimming pool.

Signed a lease on Doc and officially jumped head first into the eventing world. Celebrated a quarter century on Earth. Finished my first CT !

Went to Kansas City for work and snuggled puppies .

College football season started!

Visited Olivia in Virginia, rode Frankie the Unicorn and drank wine with a mini-donk . My parents came to town and I fell off Doc… turning. Observed neighborhood plant drama .

Auburn . Won . The . Iron. Bowl.

I showed (successfully!) at BN. I did not freeze to death .

Fin and I went home for Thanksgiving, I continued the saddle shopping ordeal, and did Black Friday damage . Discovered that my fate was determined in 1999.

Totaled my car. Celebrated our company’s 35th anniversary and looked like a real human!

Went home for Christmas, bought a new car , bought a saddle, bought three jackets to deal with real winter. Took the donkey on a walk.

Returned to single digit temperatures in Indianapolis, cried to myself. Took a blanket to work. Received the almost-last of the Black Friday purchases and wrote a blog post summarizing the entire year.

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While perhaps not the horsiest of years I’ve had, once I ended up in Indy it became decidedly more so. 2017 was a big year of change – my first big job out of fellowship, my first move above the Mason-Dixon line, a transition from human medicine to veterinary medicine. I grew up a lot in 2017 and started to feel like I might actually sortof understand this adult thing at 25.

I realized the horses keep me sane when everything else in my life goes a little haywire. While this post may be more personal than equestrian, they’re all so interrelated in my life that I don’t think it’s possible to talk about one without the other.

Some changes were scarier than others, but I learned I can trust my gut, that I know myself better than I think I do and that I’m stronger than I think I am.

I gained confidence personally and professionally and realized I have the power to change circumstances that made me unhappy. While I’m nervously excited to creep towards the upper end of my 20s, I’m also at peace with a lot. I loved South Carolina, but spent a lot of my time there anxious and unsettled and while the move wasn’t one I ever imagined for myself, it has certainly provided some relief to those emotions.

Thanks to this great community, I’ve made friends all over the country, ended up in a new sport, developed an addiction to obnoxiously expensive Italian breeches and had a damn good time. Grateful that at the end of the day I am happy, healthy and incredibly blessed. Ready for 2018 – onwards and upwards!