I never wanted to be a big show stable.  I never wanted to be a show stable at all.  All I ever wanted, when I was young, was to have my horses in my backyard.  To love, care for them, and enjoy what they had to offer.  I had always taught.  First at a large stable, and then privately.  The people I learned from loved horses, and children.  I too fell right into their passion.  I wanted to share my love and knowledge with others.  With the children who would never have the money or horses to make it to the “Big Time.”  That’s pretty much what I have done for the last 52 years.

The other day a client asked if I took Credit Cards.  My reply was, no I’m just a small operation.  She looked around at the property and said “this is not a small operation.”  I have to admit, not when you mow it isn’t.  I have a few boarders, and a few lessons.  Isn’t that what retirement is supposed to be?

It’s funny.  When you look at things through other people’s eyes how different they look.  I looked around at the beautiful green pastures, the long white barn.  The fencing with the new boards my husband had just replaced, and saw things from her point of view.  Yes it was beautiful, and somewhat impressive to someone who doesn’t have a barn of their own.  When you see things everyday, you really don’t have a clear impression of what you have.  I see an isle way that needs to be swept.  I see trim that needs to be painted.  Stalls that need a fresh coat of stain.  I see a lot of grass that needs to be cut.  But the picture is rather pleasing when you really take things in.

My barn is a good working barn.  Nothing fancy or beautiful like my barn was in New Jersey.  I loved that barn.  It was over 300 years old.  It was there during the American Revolution.  Troops had kept their horses in it, according to the Historical Society.  (Not sure whose troops.)  Battles were fought down the road, and all around us.  The barn had varnished wood planks on the front of the stalls with wrought iron and brass.  We, of course, did all of that when we bought the place.  It was just open space at the time.  The barn was three stories high, and a beautiful barn red color with white trim.  Oh did I ever love that barn, and the old farmhouse that was the same age.  I registered it with the Historical Society before I left so that no harm would come to it.  I still miss all of that.  What I don’t miss are the winters.

I kept my first horse in a little one stall barn with an 18 x 24 paddock, in the back of a trucking company.  From there she went to a barn made out of a shipping container in my backyard.  It wasn’t a permanent structure so it was legal.  Then we bought the farm in New Jersey with my beautiful barn.  Through all the different places that my horses called home, there was one thing that I made sure of, their home was always painted, clean, and decorated with flowers.  I have a couple of large pots with flowers as you enter my barn now.  The window boxes have flowers in them.  There are flowering bushes in front of the barn with Palm trees. ( We thought they were palmetto bushes when we planted them.)  Surprise!  They are now taller than the barn.

Cob webs.  That’s another story.  I work at keeping them under control, but spiders certainly work harder than I do.  In the old days they left cob webs up.  You were supposed to take a hand full and put them on a wound so that the blood would clot.  There’s another one of those myths that I’m not sure about.  Well that worked until the Fire Marshall would come in and write you a summons for a fire hazard.  They burn real good.

It doesn’t take much to be thought of as a “Class Act.”  It doesn’t matter if all you have is a lean-to and a small pen.  Take pride in what you have.  Always put your best foot forward.  Clean up any debris (you know, those things that you keep because you might need them someday).  You don’t have to get rid of everything.  Just neatly store things out of sight.  Give a quick coat of paint.  Put some flowers in a pot or hanging basket.  When you take your horse off the property make sure he/she is clean and neat (no manure stains, brushed mane and tail).  Also keep your tack clean and in good condition.  Make sure that your appearance is clean and neat (don’t look like the stable help that you were 15 minutes ago).  Ride with pride in what you have, and who you are.  I once knew a girl who thought that, because of where she lived, people would all be envious of her.  Well I certainly wasn’t envious of her dry, moldy tack, or where she lived for that matter.

People will look at you as though you have it all.  And truthfully, you do.  It’s all a matter of what you do with it, and how you present your horse and yourself.

Think of yourself as a “Class Act” and others will look at you as though you are.