tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post7977449799621617609..comments2024-03-26T05:15:39.663-07:00Comments on Equestrian Ink: The Horse-Obsessed MindJami Davenporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05259390150273030284noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-50369419946810162222011-08-09T09:47:47.743-07:002011-08-09T09:47:47.743-07:00Not to mention (to carry on from previous comment)...Not to mention (to carry on from previous comment)<br /><br />I really want to be free to write for eight hours a day, and when I had my farm, all the time that I was sitting at the computer, I was thinking, "Princess needs her hooves done, the yearlings need to be worked in the round pen, I have GOT to ride Bonnie and Final Call, the water trough really has to be scrubbed before it films over completely..." etc etc and I couldn't concentrate. I really had to make that choice... one or the other!<br /><br />I think it's okay and kind of exciting that life comes in installments, though. It isn't one long movie with a single plot and setting. It's a whole bunch of different channels and seasons and genres! I don't have a five year plan or a ten year plan... anything could happen!Natalie Keller Reinerthttp://retiredracehorseblog.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-29771295142383981172011-08-09T09:44:10.959-07:002011-08-09T09:44:10.959-07:00Laura, most of my friends share your opinion. Move...Laura, most of my friends share your opinion. Move to the CITY? Are ye MAD?! A few do agree with me, the change is nice...<br /><br />The strongest feeling I get on most days here is relief. After 20 years of constantly worrying about critters, whether they're my critters or someone else's critters, I have NO RESPONSIBILITY. I hadn't realized how completely burned out and exhausted I was. It's something that happens to a lot of horse people (usually high school seniors who are trying to balance international show careers and studying for AP classes at the same time!); it just took a while to hit me.<br /><br />I can go out at night, I can leave for a weekend, I can forget to go to the store and rely on the late-night deli on the ground-floor of my building to supply me with hummus and Ben & Jerry's pints... let's just say I'm having my long-deferred college years, the ones that I spent grooming for USEF members and racing stables and running my own training barn, now in my roaring 30s!Natalie Keller Reinerthttp://retiredracehorseblog.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-49980583428347707572011-08-09T09:20:05.742-07:002011-08-09T09:20:05.742-07:00Natalie--I enjoyed your post very much. It fascina...Natalie--I enjoyed your post very much. It fascinates me how many different ways there are to be passionate about horses. Unlike you and kel, I haven't the least bit of interest in competing any more, though I did compete pretty obsessively for many years (at cutting and team roping) so I get that emotion. Today I am very content with relaxed trail rides and don't miss competing at all. BUT, I would sooner jump off a cliff than move to the city where I could not keep horses. The thing I am most passionate about these days(equinewise) is living with horses, being around them 24/7, having them be part of our lives. It gives me endless delight, even on the days that I don't get to ride. So, yeah, many different ways to be passionate about horses for sure.Laura Crumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15200878892304748308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-3680345669864838592011-08-09T08:58:10.325-07:002011-08-09T08:58:10.325-07:00I'm allergic to dryer sheets, so that is espec...I'm allergic to dryer sheets, so that is especially useful advice for me. Thanks.<br /><br />Kel, we are all alike! And isn't it comforting to know that even if you snipped horses out of your life, as I have done (except that my entire work-at-home life revolves around the horses whose pictures adorn my walls and bookshelves), you still gaze out the window of subway cars and imagine how thrilling an urban cross-country ride might be? You calculate the heights of things in 2'6", 2'9", and 3'6" denominations? You go into a brownstone backyard and exclaim "This is totally wide enough to keep a horse in! What is this, 12 by 24?" <br /><br />IT NEVER ENDS. That's comforting, somehow.Natalie Keller Reinerthttp://retiredracehorseblog.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-62612802415756878842011-08-09T08:49:56.097-07:002011-08-09T08:49:56.097-07:00Natalie,
Your post made me smile. It is posts li...Natalie, <br /><br />Your post made me smile. It is posts like yours that let me know I am NOT crazy. At least, I am pretty sure that I am not crazy... I don't eat dryer sheets or my dead husbands ashes. Watched that on TV. Made me feel pretty good about my horse obsession. :) <br />When my mind wonders it always ends up either riding every step of a reining pattern, pondering how to fix whatever wasn't right with my ride the night before, or going through the maze of "horsey what if's" that are consistantly bubbling around in my head. Obsession isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as you stay away from the dryer sheets.horsegeneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08614136458074519322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-50477503369343091962011-08-09T08:34:27.376-07:002011-08-09T08:34:27.376-07:00Thanks Alison!
Well, in the course of writing a ...Thanks Alison! <br /><br />Well, in the course of writing a blog, Retired Racehorse, about reschooling one particular OTTB to be an event horse, I ended up networking with a trainer at Aqueduct in NYC who invited me out for a ride. I went to New York, rode a few horses, and when he offered me a job as his exercise rider... I took it! We moved to New York (our favorite place in the world) a few months later. <br /><br />As for why I stopped doing it... well, I wanted to write... and as you can see, I am incapable of doing something part-time!<br /><br />The whole story is chronicled at Retired Racehorse Blog! http://retiredracehorseblog.wordpress.comNatalie Keller Reinerthttp://retiredracehorseblog.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-70039746113551555332011-08-09T06:54:08.873-07:002011-08-09T06:54:08.873-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.LMWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13864380425727734883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5037107797013641705.post-53184291390202827822011-08-09T06:28:48.656-07:002011-08-09T06:28:48.656-07:00Welcome, Natalie!
I'd sure love to know the b...Welcome, Natalie!<br /><br />I'd sure love to know the back story behind why you are now in NYC and not on a farm or riding race horses!Alisonhttp://www.alisonhartbooks.comnoreply@blogger.com