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Tuesday, November 15, 2016

A New Adventure!



This last year has been one of great changes for me.  I sold Sjapoer, I relocated to Germany to train and I began to seriously consider my future options in the sport I love.  I have spent the last 5 amazing years with SJ, training every day, working every day and fitting in life on the edges.  By that I mean, when I had time I took a class, when I had time I dated, when I had time I contemplated the vast world beyond my sport.  With the sale of Sjapoer and turning 21, the inevitable transition to adult life had come upon me.  What would be the best use of my money from selling SJ?  What would be the best use of my time long term?  I explored, as my mentor and friend Christine suggested what I wanted.  I took some time to be young and explore on the weekend breaks of my training in Germany. I traveled.  I danced. I also explored.  I took more classes online. I researched, and did what always works for me; I made a pros and cons list.  I wanted to know the full impact of my choices before I made a decision.  I don’t jump quickly into anything and particularly anything this big.  I am like my Uncle James and Christine that way.  I like to think about things from a lot of angles first.  During this process I spoke to my Uncle too.  He has guided me on financial decisions since we opened my stock account over a decade ago.  He agreed to match my Sjapoer money to help me move forward in my career.  We had a family meeting, I admit I have a great support team!  I am very lucky.  My Uncle came, my Grandma and my parents.  I don’t remember exactly how this progressed because fate seemed to intervene a bit.  But here is the long and short of it. My Uncle James had been buying hunting property in Michigan and found an amazing equestrian facility.  It was a former HJ barn known as Windsong Stables in Battle Creek.  It has a full size indoor with viewing room, 2 outdoor arenas, 2 barns with 33 stalls, 40 acres, 2 laundry rooms, 3 tack rooms, 2 feed rooms, 2 indoor and 4 outdoor wash racks and endless beautiful paddocks of green grass.   So we discussed my desire to stay in the equestrian world forever, my need for a way to generate multiple potential horses, and also my desire to give back to the sport and the people that have given me so much.  So using my Uncle’s matching money, I bought it.  I have my own place!  As of last weekend the name has changed to Flyaway stables and 2 big Uhauls and 3 college students unloaded all my stuff into the barn and house!  I already have plans for some things I want to do to the property, so it won’t be open to the public for about 6 months, but I hope to be ready for summer!  Also I have contacted Lendon and Dressage 4 Kids and donated one barn (11 stalls) as a permanent home for D4K for life!  Lendon can use it for any and all programs she desires!  The barn has a laundry room, tack room, feed room, and direct access to the indoor arena with a full sound system and viewing room!  I am putting in a special place for you to sit though Lendon so we have to chat about what you want!  Full heat lamps and comfortable chair, I assume.  I also hope to use it for USDF and USEF events as well. I asked my long-time friend Jessica Hainsworth to partner with me after her graduation to make Flyaway stables a premier breeding and training barn!  For the next year, while the upgrades are being done, I will continue to train and ride in Europe. I am genuinely excited at the endless possibilities this property will give me and hopefully many other young riders like me!  I know this is a big risk to get a facility to start a long term horse program rather than to just invest directly into one horse but if I want to have a long term career in dressage and not just one horse I had to take a big jump.  This felt right.  The property is beautiful, the city is quaint and the timing is perfect.  Thanks to everyone who helped me to make this expanded dream a reality! 

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