Moving house...

Hey everyone!
It's so good to FINALLY have internet again, there are just no words, haha. So as you probably gathered by my title, yes we have moved house.
It took us almost a month to get ready for the move, starting with cleaning up after the previous tenant... Again, there are no words... Every square inch of the place was sprayed, wiped, disinfected, and aired out. I even scrubbed the front porch with pine o clean. Then there was the mission of making the windows see-through, the doors open and close-able, and getting the hot water to be, well, hot.
Thank god my friend's hubby is a gas plumber and was happy to help us out. Thanks again Tim if you are reading this!
So here we are finally living on a horse property AND having the chance to not only save up for our dream, but to have a taste of it in the meanwhile. It is so good to look out our bedroom window in the morning to see green grass, the arena, the stables and just know that it is all waiting just there, right at our fingertips. Jay and I have even started to go for a few walks before dinner, just through the pasture, take in the summery evening air...
So things are finally good at the moment after us having a crap last month.
We've had a few people out to ride Roger, the last ride went really well and she's coming back out for a second ride tomorrow so hoping it goes well as they were lovely people! I hope they take him, as he would be going to a fantastic home, and then I will be able to buy and take on another one.
Have already put my feelers out for my next Thoroughbred, so watch this space!
Not much else to report really... Oh I bought a dressage saddle! And I dropped my stirrups by 5 holes. No, really! Haha. I love my bargains off the internet, now just to find a pony, and get Rodge off to a new home.
Will keep you guys updated on how everything goes, wish me luck!
Luv Katie x

Okay, HUGE week this week, lots going on, loads of good news!

Last week was a real downer, had a couple of friends have accidents with their horses, 2 people I know lost their horses, and all around me people were having horse problems with injuries etc, then right on cue I have a little mishap, and chip a bone in my foot and am out of bloody action! Then I got a few pieces of good news...
My mate that was moving off her horse property ended up staying put, and long story short there is a little cottage on the land that we have been offered to rent off her, which will give me the opportunity to ride and train, but will give me the chance to save some money for our own property - woohoo! :)
So we will be moving in there in the next few weeks, should things go to plan... It's been an on and off thing over the past month or so, so here's hoping it all works out.

Roger and I at Ayr Hill August 2011

Roger has been listed for sale, as much as it breaks my heart to see him go. If I had the money I would keep him, but he is in his prime, and I can't afford to go out and compete, buy a float, and commit to being a full time show jumper while we're saving, so the decision has been made for him to go and be a superstar. It will also wipe out that last little bit of debt we have so we will be able to start saving straight away - I have been waiting for that moment for ever! It's so hard to try and pay bills, rent keep our cars going, as well as run horses and save money, but I guess we all have to make sacrifices in our lives for what we want, so I can put this down as a pretty big one. As long as he goes to an awesome home where his new owners love him as much as Georgie and I do, then I will be very happy.

When we move into the cottage, and Roger has gone to his new home I am going to buy another off the tracker, and see how I go producing one on my own to educate and sell on to a good home. Hoping if I am successful I can take on more, and not only will I be saving them from the meat man< I will be getting more experience with them, and all the proceeds will be going towards our land so we can save even more. I am really enjoying working with the ottb's! :)

Anyway, that's pretty much all my news, if anything happens I will log in and keep you updated, I'm going to try and do a post every few weeks so I can keep on top of everything, and keep you guys entertained as well!

Thanks for reading, Luv Katie xx

Pretty good last couple of weeks! This weekend just gone I took our boy Roger out to a show and did our highest course yet, 85cm. He absolutely flew, we were so rapt with him, not to mention he went straight on the float without putting up the usual fight. We are thinking about taking him to an official showjumping comp next month, so if we get to that stage that would be wonderful!

A good friend of mine is moving off her horse property this coming weekend, and as she's just had her baby I'm helping her finish off her last breaker who so far has not been backed yet. Another fantastic learning opportunity right there that will be helpful in the future if we decide to go down the breaking/training path!

Still watching the property market like a hawk, but nothing new has cropped up, I don't know if we're being too picky about what we want, but I'd just hate to move somewhere and a couple of months down the road think 'Crap, we really did need that third bedroom' or regret getting too much, or not enough land etc etc... We've got a check list of what to go through when the time comes for us to buy our land...

1. Must be on a road that will not be horrific to try and tow a float or drive a truck down. Doesn't matter if it's dirt or not, but definitely thinking not a one lane windy road up a mountain...

2. Must have a flat spot to ride and possibly put an arena in. After riding for 20 years in paddocks, I want a damn arena! Seriously though, come the winter time I want to be able to keep working the horses without the worry of them slipping in the mud, and being able to keep a jumping program going in all weather.

3. House MUST be 3 bedrooms and not in desperate need of a total renovation - obv reasons...

Last of all, 4. We'd like to be within a 1.5-2 hour distance from our families.

They don't sound too picky do they? It doesn't have to be a super modern house, or be anything fancy, just enough to get us by really!

Been selling a few water trays to some local pony clubs and show jumpers which has been good for the pocket money, will have to book our tax in and then we can finally start saving up!

That's pretty much all the news I can think of for the moment, until next time...

Luv Katie x

So, things are going well this week! We went to a property inspection- not that we can afford it right now just quietly- we just wanted to check out what was in our price range and get some motivation.
Well, it worked. We went straight home and re-jigged the finances and figured out a debt plan to get ourselves in a position where we can start to save, and things are looking better than we thought.
Later that day I got a phone call from the riding school with some extra shifts, so now I'm officially working 6 days a week - eep! Jay's full time work is going well, he's due for a pay rise, and next week when we get our tax return we should be just about debt free - yahoo!

I can't wait to start looking for our own acreage so we can take our horse rescue to the next level, and get some competing done. I've joined up with EFA and started going to comps regularly with Roger so he gets nice and experienced before he goes to his new home in a couple of months, and then we can rescue another ex racehorse and start all over again.
I'm booked in for another riding lesson this coming Thurday which I'm really looking forward to, trying to keep improving my riding as much as I can, I'm hoping that by the time we get onto our acreage (hoping this time next year, give or take) I will be a much more established rider, and be experienced in the comp circuit, and used to it all etc...

SO - my goals for the next 12 months are...
-Improve my riding considerably
-Save a house deposit with Jay
-Start looking for a property Aug 2012
-Compete regularly, like every other week
-Do a HEAP of reading and learn as much as possible

So there it is! I have a show jumping comp on the 6th August on Roger, if he goes on the float! We have a friend coming to work on him who is sensational with groundwork, natural horsemanship etc, so that should be awesome to watch, and another great learning opportunity too. Other than that there is not a whole lot of news, will make another entry in a week or so, or maybe after my comp if nothing interesting goes on!

Until next time, Katie xx

The first post...

Hi there!
I should start by introducing myself... My name is Katie, I'm 26. I'm Australian, and I live with my boyfriend Jay on the Mornington Peninsula.
I have been interested in horses forever, well since I was little, and have been riding off and on since I was 12. It was only in recent years where I started competing and taking lessons, following a relationship break up - pouring myself into riding really gave me something to look forward to every week, and before long I was once again hooked on horses!
It wasn't long before I did my first comp, a dressage test which was a huge deal because I came to the school as nothing more than a self taught paddock basher. Next dressage comp I rode a friends horse and placed 4th out of over 20 to get my first ever ribbon, then the jumping comps began where I found my true calling. I absolutely LOVE jumping.
After a couple of years at Oakwood I started looking for horses to work to further my riding as I couldn't afford to have extra lessons, or afford my own horse. I met my now dear friend Georgie through a customer at work, and started riding her off the track thoroughbred, getting him going for her. She had rescued him from being sent to market for meat. Before long she had rescued another, King, and I put my hand straight up to work on him. We decided from there that ex-racehorse rescue was to be our game, and after King went to his new home we got Roger who is my current ride.

This past 6 months have been an absolute whirlwind... I have started working at Oakwood, where I have been taking lessons, and I have started competing Roger in low level dressage and jumping. I have been learning as much as I can, passed my EFA riding certificate to go towards becoming a coach if I decide to do that, and have started competing a horse for a friend of mine to get me out there jumping bigger courses, and to get him back into competing again.
Now the real fun starts, Jay and I have decided to buy an acreage so I can train full time, so we are currently saving like mad for that and are hoping to be in there by this time next year.

I'm hoping I can look back over my posts when we are on our property and remember just how hard we worked for it, and how badly I wanted it. We've been to inspect a few that are on the market and know our price range, what we can afford, where we want to move, and have a pretty good idea of what we want house-wise etc.

I figure if I write it all down, then I am committed to it, so here it is... I want to be a successful horse rescuer and trainer, I want to be a successful show jumper, and I want to do it all from my own property... Here we go!

Luv Katie x