Confessions and adventures

The original plan for this year was for Karen and I to go on another international riding adventure in September. Unfortunately, things have gone a little sideways for both of us. Never say never, but that probably isn't going to happen.

It's okay.

We have Carol to take up the slack.

While she was here this week, she was telling me all about her fun ride in Cádiz, Spain. I said, "This feels like a blog post."

And now it is.

Thank you, Carol. You're the best.

Confessions and Adventures of a Non Horse Obsessed Friend

by Carol Beutel

I have a confession to make, and hopefully it won’t stop you from reading until the end: I am not now nor have I ever been horse obsessed. 

As a child, I was around horses occasionally. I even went on a few pony rides. They were okay, but they did not turn me into a horse obsessed person like my daughter...

and my best friend.

Those two are horse crazy!

Which, actually, is how I became Jennifer's best friend.

My daughter always loved horses. She drew pictures, 

wrote stories...

and always wanted to be around them.

When I first met Jennifer, she told me her boys were more interested in playing in the dirt than riding horses. I begged her to take my daughter and leave the boys with me anytime she wanted. She took me up on that!

We eventually discovered we had other interests including dogs, reading and adventuring out with the kids.

But always, there were horses.

So I adapted.

I took riding lessons...

and went to tack shops.

I spent a lot of time at the barn.

I even part leased a horse for a little while!

I moved away from Colorado in 2018, but still there were horses.. Every time I saw one, I would inundate Jennifer’s inbox with pictures and stories. She always responded, "Yay! Jealous!"

riding in Croatia

Of course, I also came back to Colorado whenever I could to spend time with Jennifer and her family.

one year ago yesterday!

Including the horse.

Last year I retired, and since then, I have travelled the world: Ireland, South Africa, Europe and all over the US. 

I have made several trips to Colorado and each time I try to talk Jennifer into joining me on another big adventure.The timing is never right, so instead she gets to hear all about my adventures and receive lots of photos.

The latest was from my transAtlantic cruise and return to Germany. 

I met many new friends on the cruise including two women who shared my name. For the rest of the trip, we were known as “ the Carols”.

While we were discussing our shore excursion plan, the eldest Carol mentioned she was going horseback riding in Cádiz, Spain. I quickly found the excursion desk and added myself to that excursion.

I’m so glad I did.

This was one of the best purchased trail rides I’ve ever experienced, and I have had many all over the world.

The horses were well cared for and the staff took very good care of us!

Some of the horse names were Spirit, Nueva and Margarita. Africana was my horse.

The saddles were English but surprisingly comfortable. The helmet selection was also great and I was very happy to find one that fit well and didn’t hurt my head.

I even took a picture of the helmet to see if Jennifer could find me one.

There was also a tack shop attached to the stable, which I wish I had had more time to explore.

If you ever find yourself in or near Cádiz, I highly recommend contacting the Royal Center Stables.

For now, I’m adding it to my list of places to take Jennifer. 

Do you think I can convince her to join me for a second transAtlantic cruise? Norwegian has some amazing deals. It was cheaper than a one way flight!

Yes, my friend! I am convinced. Please contact whoever is in charge of these things and make it possible, okay?

Beginning of the end

The signs arrived on Thursday.

The hanging process was well underway by the time I pulled into the parking lot on Friday.

Heavy sigh.

Even though I knew it was coming, I was not prepared.

I opted out of hanging signs, choosing instead to help customers.

Tack shops are a business, but they are also a hub for the local equestrian community. 

On this day, the community came out in force to express their shock and sadness. The phone rang non-stop. Tears were shed, and not just by the staff.

I spent the entire day having the same conversations over and over again. 

Not just our store, the whole company. Yes, even the website. Catalog, too. All of it. Nothing to do with profitability. Private equity. Leverage. Extract. Exit. Use your gift cards. They expire May 29. No more USEF or military discounts. No Rider Rewards either. No closing day set. About sixty days. We don't know. It's all in the hands of the liquidation company. We don't know.

Despite everything, I remain committed to this job and this community. Even though it’s hard, I plan to stick it out to the bitter end. Most of my coworkers feel the same way. If you shop at Dover Saddlery in the next sixty days, please be nice to the employees. We are trying really hard, and this isn’t our fault.

Errands and coping

Carol's Tuesday morning flight from Munich to Washington DC was cancelled, so she decided to reroute through Denver.

I picked her up at the airport after work. Instead of going straight home, we stopped at Senor Rics for drinks, queso and lots and lots of talk.

As luck would have it, I was not have to work the next day. However, I did have a full schedule of errands, some of which were not optional and also not fun. I apologized to Carol and told her she was not obligated to spend the day with me.

She was having none of that. 

"We'll make it fun," she said.  

And we did.

Errand number one was taking Piper to the vet for some diagnostic work. Don't worry, she's fine. We're just being proactive.

After the appointment, we dropped Piper off at home and took the car to the tire shop for a repair.

While we were waiting, we walked to a nearby antiques mall.

We spent a fun hour perusing the wares and looking for horses.

Happily, they were plentiful.

We also found a lot of real horse tack.

I did buy a saddle this week, but not this one.

After the tire was fixed - let's hope it stays fixed this time! - we went grocery shopping.

We swung by the house to unload the food, then it was on to the barn!

Karen had turned everyone out earlier, so I took advantage of the Sage-free time to give her stall an extra good cleaning.

When that was done, we visited the foal, who is now named Daktari.

Then it was time to bring in the horses. Ladies first.

Then Kaffi.

It was around this time when the big work bomb dropped.

Everything came to a screeching halt. My phone was pinging non-stop with messages from co-workers. Carol and I went back to the house. I spent the rest of the day trying to cope. 

The next morning, I dropped Carol off at the airport.

This wasn't one of our fun-filled adventure outings, but that's okay. What I needed on this day was someone to make errands fun and someone to help me cope.