Yesterday I finally hitched my truck up to my trailer, loaded my horse in it, and drove us to a lesson. That sentence might not seem special to most, but for me it’s a years-long dream finally coming to fruition.

It’s hard to explain just how I felt when I pulled out of the driveway at the barn. Elated? Triumphant? Exultant? Euphoric? Terrified? Maybe a little bit of all those things. I haven’t had my own rig for over a decade, and not being able to go wherever you want whenever you want is a very hard thing when you’re me. I greatly value independence.

As with any new thing there was a bit of trepidation on my part, hoping that Henry would like his new trailer and that it would perform as expected on the drive. Henry put his feet on the ramp, looked around, walked in, and pooped. I’m gonna call that his stamp of approval. The hour and 45 minute ride there was uneventful, as was the ride back. If anything, the rig performed admirably. My truck had no problem with the hills or the wind (as it should be, considering I’m only at about half of it’s towing capacity), and Henry seemed calm and happy.

When I posted last September about desperately wanting a rig, I really had no idea how or when it would possibly happen. But there’s something magical about putting things out there in the universe, because here we are now, only 4 months later, and it’s a reality. Thanks to Beth for passing Betty the trailer down to me and to everyone else who helped make Rue the truck possible… it means more to me than you’ll ever know. It’s not just a truck and trailer- it’s endless possibilities and so many open doors of opportunity.

Freedom is oh so very sweet. Here’s to many more happy journeys with Betty and Rue.

Even at 32, with 14 years experience of being a supposed “adult”, there are still times when I’ve hit the limit for how much grown-up stuff I can handle at one time. These past couple weeks have taken me well beyond that limit.

It started when my car died. There’s always a trigger, isn’t there? One car dead means a) you have to buy a new car, b) you have to get rid of the old, now-dead car. But it’s not that easy, of course. Selling the old car means finding the title (which took me all of two minutes, go me with my awesome organizational skills for ONCE in my life) calling someone to come get it, negotiating a sale price, cancelling the toll tag, signing over the title, and removing said car from your insurance. That’s so many phone calls. I hate phone calls.

Then of course the new car requires a lot of the same things in reverse except it starts with loan paperwork. OMG whyyyyyyy so much paperwork? Then insurance, toll tag, getting a new higher-rated hitch put on so it can haul my trailer, blah blah blah.  That right there is enough to explode anyone’s brain. So of course I had to take a childish moment to get a unicorn to hang from the new truck’s rear view mirror. Ah, Levity.

And then since the truck was officially purchased, it was time to get the trailer ready to go. I finally got it registered in my name, which was a hell of a process in itself. First I tried calling my county to ask what I needed, which involved a 35 minute hold time, a 10 minute conversation, an email, and a suggestion that I try to register it the county of the person I bought it from instead. No joke. Because my county is ridiculous and wanted me to do a thousand things which would have required an insane amount of time and money. Yeah no. So off I went, driving 1.5hrs to the seller’s county, since all they wanted from me was a bill of sale and plate number. Unfortunately I’m stupid and wrote down the wrong plate number, so I had to stand outside of the tax office and go through every single form of my social media trying to find a picture of the right plate. Instagram saved the day. Well, mostly… we had to guess a few times to get the first number.

Once the registration was done, the next thing was getting new tires put on the trailer. That required more phone calls, an appointment, and then a 30 minute wait in line regardless of the fact that I’d made an appointment. Then I got the USRider membership (yes, I caved). Then I had to buy the the actual hitch and ball (which took trial and error using barnmate’s hitches to figure out what I really needed), mats, silicone, WD-40, and all the other crap I needed to finish out the inside of the trailer. That part wasn’t so bad since no paperwork or communication with other humans was required. Communicating with humans is the worst.

Then came the last thing… having the trailer painted. Getting someone to call or email me back has proven to be a fun challenge. Or show up. Or be on time. Or just completely not leave me hanging in the wind. Or not quote me $1800 (that’s hilarious). This part is still a work in progress (we supposedly have an appointment tomorrow), but I’m kind of at the point where no shits are left to give. Spending 3 straight days working on Excel spreadsheets and charts at work hasn’t helped. Nor have my ridiculously awful attempts at trying to ride a decent 15 meter circle. I need a coloring book and some macaroni and cheese, STAT… adulting (and dressaging) is too hard.

 

Remember when I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was coveting a tent for my new truck? Guess what SO surprised me with last weekend?

Of all the things I ever thought I’d get ridiculously excited over, a tent isn’t really one of them, but I love this thing. Mostly because I’m both cheap and poor, so any alternative to paying for a hotel room at horse shows is welcome.

I have a 6.5 foot truck bed, and the tent goes all the way to the end of the tailgate, making it about 8′ long total. Plenty of sleeping space. It’s about 5′ tall on the inside, so while I can’t stand all the way up, I can stand up well enough to get dressed. There are also cool storage compartments and a shelf inside of the tent for lights and stuff. It took a little bit of trial and error to figure out the best way to put it up, but it’s really pretty simple once I got it. It’ll be harder to do with one person of course, but do-able. It was SUPER easy to take down and fold back into it’s carrying bag.

The SO also bought me the truck bed air mattress that blows up via a rechargeable battery pack that plugs into one end. It inflates/deflates on it’s own and is a regular queen size bed. Fancy. And mesmerizing to watch.

I’m not sure when I’ll actually get the chance to use it for the first time… my spring show season is going to be pretty sparse since I’m saving up for Coconino. BUT – Bobby did get to use his this past weekend. Yes, he bought one too. Because he’s a copy cat in every way, shape, and form. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery though right? Figures, he’s obsessed with me.

His truck is smaller and his bed is shorter but with the tailgate down it still gave him enough sleeping room. He said it was awesome! We’re totally glamping now. I can’t wait to make a little tent city at shows.

Next step: This.

 

I feel like I spent most of last year complaining about the weather. In my defense, it wasn’t just my imagination- it was our wettest year ever on record. Although the wet weather pattern was predicted to continue through winter, so far this January has been nothing short of awesome. Thank you Texas, because I was about to lose my damn mind.

That’s not to say that we’re dry… we’ve been so saturated with rain that I’m pretty sure we will never be truly dry ever again, but at least we’ve been able to ride for more than a couple days at a time. It’s glorious.

You can even ride in shorts, if you’re Bobby.

Last week I stole my neighbor’s Christmas tree so that I could take it to the barn and use it as jump filler. Henry was not impressed in the least (are you jealous of his ability to take off and land at the same time? mad skills.) but I’m totally down with the fact that I’m jumping a Christmas tree in January in a tank top.

Someone remind me of this next month when it starts raining again.