Well.  January 2024 was fun .   I reached goals then the goal line moved so the better part of the month was in re-group mode!  I believe though that it was part of my learning curve (I’m a complete circle now if no one has noticed) and thankfully as a USMC wife, I am exceptional at adapting and overcoming!

February is going to bring me into the time of “ASK FOR HELP!”  I am so overwhelmed and touched by the number of folks who have reached out to my whiny and frantic social media posts, those who send offers of assistance and the much appreciated “You Got This!” words of encouragement.  

One of the reasons that I continue to hint and hide and reveal and hide on this endeavor is my deep need for perfection.  Thank goodness for Januaries or I would still be trying to achieve the impossible.  With a new month brings a new attitude!  If something isn’t quite right, or accurate or even incomplete – IT IS OKAY.  Somebody out there will point it out and it can be FIXED!!  I am NOT alone in this – I have people and I am blessed.  Let’s DO THIS!!

A mere 9 years ago, I told my husband, “I either want a boat or a horse.” I had just sold my goats, most of my chickens and wanted, no, needed something that allowed me to enjoy the outdoors. Always content to make me happy, his response was “Let’s buy you a horse”.   Famous last words. 

If you are reading this, I don’t even have to list the warm, fuzzy, happy things that go with owning a horse. What I did NOT expect to experience in my first six months of ownership was bad feet, eye injury, colic, rain rot, thrush, bad attitudes, wood chewing, buddy sourness, food aggression, escape artistry, lost shoes, broken halters, broken fences, cuts, bites, TANGLES and the painful reality that I don’t bounce anymore. I saw the inside of my mare’s hoof, the inside of her gut, watched as a hose went up her nose, a camera into her stomach, and arms go up the other end AND I learned to give an intramuscular injection. In the first 6 months y’all.  Subsequently, I learned how to be a tack hoarder, was introduced to Feed Lots, kill pens and rescues – and there have been lots of rescues and infinitely more lessons, but those are for another story. Really, I just wanted to ride, like I did 25+ years ago. 

I cannot say that I wouldn’t trade any of my experiences, although there were several I could have definitely lived without, but through each one, I learned, and I grew. I could fill up pages thanking everyone for the role they have played in my journey. I am still working on becoming a better horsewoman on the ground, in the saddle, and in my day to day life. I hope that never changes. 

In 2018, still VERY new to the equine world, I cultivated the idea of Triad Horseplay with the hopes of helping other local equestrian families find things to make horse life slightly less challenging.  Never did I ever dream that the Equine Community in the triad area would be absolutely bursting at the seams with places, and service providers, products and horse owners. Fast forward (and absolutely skipping 2020 when everyone got stuck on perpetual stall rest) to late 2021 when I decided to enroll in college (bucket list thing!) at St. Andrews University to get my BA in Equine Management. That is what set the chain of events that presented to you today. I could not be more thrilled or excited to introduce Carolina Horseplay! 

My heartfelt goal for this website is to connect any level of horse owner in the Carolinas to any need they may have to successfully care for and enjoy their horses!!