New Year's Eve...Aiken and More...

It's hard to believe that it's nearly 2012, there's a very good chance it is by the time your reading this entry. The last few weeks have been hectic. I've been detailing the truck saga on the podcast, and it continues. I should be here in the next week or two.

We departed cold NJ for Aiken, SC 2 days ago (68 degrees today). It's always a bit of a cluster getting the entire barn packed and ready to pick up and move. We had my trailer with 5 horses and loaded to the ceiling with equipment as well as a 10 horse 18 wheeler.

Jess offering the horses water at the gas station - yes there are 5 horses in there too!

The trip is roughly 14 hrs and it seemed to take every bit of it just getting out of the driveway! You'll have to check Tuesday's podcast for details, but it involved removing the tailgate and extending the neck of the trailer in the middle of the road and this was within the first mile...

We finally arrived in Aiken on Thursday evening. We're at a new facility this year, it's owned by Taryn Hartnett and it's a beautiful 29 stall facility with ring and the best galloping hill I've seen in Aiken.

The Front of the Barn

Running Order is tentitivly headed for Rolex this spring. Being that we're down here through early April, I was a concerned about getting him fit enough on the flat terrain surrounding Aiken. No worries now, it's 1.1 miles long with a steady grade and good footing, couldn't ask for much more!

RO - Tribute - Trevor (Jess' horse High Society) on the Gallop

View from the Ring back to the Barn

I have to thank Jess, Michelle, Jenny (our fellow Canadian) and Melanie for all of their hard work. It's a monumental effort transporting the 16 horses down here. Taryn and Avery, the barn's owners showed up on day one to sign the lease etc and promptly asked us if we were hosting a tack sale. I should have grabbed a picture. Use your imagination and I assure you that's about half of the actual mess we had the morning after we arrived. Only a few days in, they've established order and it all seems completely under control.

I'll try to get some more pics up online, we do have some more on the facebook page here of the trip down and around the barn.

Coming up this week we have a jumper show at High Fields and with my fingers crossed I might be heading back to NJ to get my new truck.