The Trek South

        So for the last 6 years, when mid November rolls around I have made the trek to North Carolina for the winter. Usually as soon as November hits I start getting antsy to get out of the cold north and head to the sunny south. There is a lot of work involved but it is always worth it.

A couple weeks before the date the horses leave, I start packing. I have to be careful not to start packing too early, I get ahead of myself and end up having to unpack things we need. This year we had a 15 mile ride two weeks before we left and I rode Jumbie at Equine Affaire so the last couple weeks flew by and we needed a lot of stuff. With these rides at the end of our stay, I really couldn't start packing early.  Once the packing begins, the aisle fills with boxes and bags, ready to be loaded onto the van.

I head down to North Carolina a day or two before the horses so I can prepare the farm for their arrival. This year I drove to my college roommate, Michelle Matschke's home the night before the drive. I then left there at 4 am and arrived in Southern Pines around 4 pm. Getting there in the early evening gives me time to clean my apartment and move all my stuff in from the car.

The next two days I set up all the stalls and paddocks for the horses, clean the barn and start cleaning up around the property. It's nice to have the barn clean, so that when all the tack and equipment arrives I can put it away right off the bat. It is always overwhelming when I get to the farm, there is so much that needs to be done. The barn basically sits empty all summer and the dirt and debris that accumulates is always amazing to me. I have to focus on one area at a time or it will drive me crazy.

Lila, Tesla and Liz all finished up the barn in Vermont and loaded the horses and equipment on the van. The horses all get commercially shipped by Michael Bateman, he drives them over night and they usually arrive sometime the next morning. He arrived Wednesday around 8, we got all the horses off and I was pleasantly surprised at how fresh they all were. Each one took off galloping and leaping in their paddocks. This is always a good sign after such a long trip! The all settled in nicely and drank plenty of water throughout the afternoon.

I managed to get everything unpacked but there is still loads of clean up. Tesla was driving down on Wednesday and we have a new working student starting after Thanksgiving. Denny and May won't be down for a few weeks so we have time to get everything cleaned, all the jumps out, and get the horses legged up.

Yay for another winter in the south!