Monday, June 23, 2025

On the Move

 As promised, here is the big news...! 


After almost a year of searching, we found THE ONE. My husband and I were very particular about where and what we wanted. There were a few times it would have been easier, so much easier, to compromise but I'm glad we held out for the right family home to finally come along. 

The full story about our house-hunting adventure is a lot. I'll save that saga for a late night fireside/backyard firepit chat someday later. 

We have been very busy packing up and will officially start moving in our things this upcoming weekend. I'm very excited to re-organize my horse tack and art desk and will share photos when things are mostly set up. 

With the move/new home location, I now have most of mid-NJ accessible to me via major highways. As a result, I have been searching for a new place for Quest as well and have reached out to several barns. Most of the places I've found so far only have stalls with day turnout though so it might be tough finding a place with just pasture. It would be wonderful to have her close to home again. I miss our evening trail rides together. 

Keeping all fingers crossed that something good turns up!

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Core Memories

Wow, it's been quite a while since I've updated here in blogger-verse. The year is already halfway over and this is my first post of 2025. There is very good reason for that though and hopefully things in my little slice of life are finally settling down after a very chaotic and crazy eight, nine months. But more on that later...

As for other news, time is moving right along. The kiddos are growing like weeds every day and Quest is doing well as ever with her herd buddies and pasture. We do trail ride from time to time but mostly, it has been little family bareback tandem rides in the arena and around the barn property. My best mareface has never set a foot wrong with the kids. I'm so very grateful to be able to share her and this very important part of my life with my children. 


I admit, I can't help trying to guess which one of them would catch the horse bug like I did. At the moment, my bet is on my daughter. 

During our last barn visit, my son was more interested in just hanging out with the horses by the fence. My baby girl, on the other hand, was so excited to help get Quest ready for our ride. She took out each grooming tool and was systematically using them on mareface. Seeing my 2-year old loving on her mommy's horse is forever now a core memory. 


I still have riding goals and things that I want to do, though now I get to look forward to those adventures together with my family. It is really a feeling like no other.

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Baby T's First Ride

Summer is flying by much too quickly. We have been so very busy, and thankfully...it's the good kind of busy.

I have been meaning to get T riding months ago but the drive to the barn is long enough that she was always completely out for her mid-morning nap. Now that T is older, she's also awake for longer stretches. A few weeks ago, we had a (rare) free weekend morning and it turned out to be a perfect family time at the barn. 

After grabbing Quest from the field and getting her groomed and tacked up in the little S-hackmore and bareback pad, we headed over to the outdoor. I hopped on first to knock the rust off and then C got his tandem pony ride in first. He really enjoyed telling me where to put Quest's feet. As we serpentined and wound our way around the barrels and traffic cones, C kept asking if we could go over the small jumps that were already set up in the outdoor arena. Maybe one day haha 

During this entire time, my husband was having quite a time keeping T from trying to climb the fence into the arena. It was such a magical moment to see her face light up when she finally got on Quest, nothing but smiles and happy baby laughs. 


I guess I can finally officially say that both my kids have ridden Quest now. Words don't express how grateful I am to have a rock-steady and sane mare like her. She just knows what is needed from her in the moment and goes right into babysitting mode when the kids are around. She's truly my once-in-a-lifetime horse. 

Wednesday, July 3, 2024

MCL Puzzle Tournament

My husband and I participated in another speed-puzzle competition this past week. Word of the tournament has definitely spread. By the time the event started, the room was PACKED and every table was occupied. The organizer learned their lessons from last time and the selected puzzle for this event was larger (550 pieces) and featured a more complex design. The image has bright sections here and there which made it good for a thorough sort upfront. 


Once we sorted as much as we could, we then start working on each of the sorted piles as smaller puzzles. We ended up finishing in 1hr 6mins which is pretty good being a team of just two people. We came in a respectable 6th in teams overall and 1st in pairs.  It was quite interesting to note that the teams that did beat us were teams of 4 or more and we also finished ahead of all the other pairs teams by several good minutes. 

I was really pleased with how we did. My husband has been such a great sport being my to-go partner and support. I think this event confirms the fact we just honestly need more man/woman-power if we want to come out in the top.  Next time! 

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Birthday Mare

Quest turned 20 years old a couple weeks ago! I have her papers and it has been always been pretty neat to know/have an exact date. I did a celebratory post on FB the day of, and it was so hard picking out just a few photos that exemplified our decade-long journey together.  

Quest was a long-shot, life-long dream come true. I still can't believe how incredibly lucky I was finding her where and when I did. As a first-time horse owner who was constantly learning things as I went, Quest was imperfectly perfect for me - always forgiving, patient, and game for any crazy thing that I set in front of us. 



I hope to do many more things with her, but of course only time will tell what the path ahead looks like. Whatever may come, it'll certainly be an adventure.