Finding Our Paths

The picture above was sent to me by a breeder in Canada with whom I connected on Facebook several years ago when I was struggling to find a placement for one of my school horses. Charley was just 14, but an injury in the paddock meant that she couldn't fulfill her teaching duties any longer and we'd sent her to a local breeder who was trying to promote her young stallion, but the mare hadn't been able to get in foal.I had just brought Charley back to our college barn and was at a loss. She's well-bred, has phenomenal confirmation, and - best of all - possesses the most wonderful, non-chestnut mare temperament you could ask for. My preference from a program standpoint would have been to get her sound and let her keep teaching students, but the injury worked against me and so a broodmare placement was ideal - if someone could figure out how to make that happen.While scrolling Facebook one rainy Sunday afternoon, a Dutch warmblood sale group I'm part of featured a message from a woman looking for broodmares exactly like Charley (minus the reproductive challenges). But as we talked, the breeder determined that, if a reproductive vet could examine her and see that there were no major issues, she wanted to take a chance on her. So we did the exam and Charley shipped to Canada and in her first year, it was a no go. She raised an orphan filly for her new owner when another broodmare passed away tragically, but still couldn't seem to produce one of her own.Until last week.That little guy is a walking (now galloping) miracle of patience, persistence, and a unified belief that sometimes things happen in their own time and we can't force it. We simply have to be patient and unwavering.Sometimes the college process is like Charley's story. We try and try (and try) to make things happen or get the decision/outcome we envision to be the right one and then the universe sits us down and makes us wait for something else and, when it appears, it becomes the thing we were looking for all along. It's frustrating while we're in the thick of it, but in the end, we're grateful for how things turn out.I'm grateful to go on that journey with my clients year in and year out. Happy spring to all of you!

New Blog Entries:

Check out the recap of my March visit to Sewanee - The University of the South

here

OR read up on the stop after it, Middle Tennessee State University (

read that here

).

ATTEND THE ExEL SHOWS COLLEGE COMBINE IN TENNESSEE THIS JUNEFeaturing clinics by top professionals and a college fair, as well as a test prep camp and college advising services (courtesy of The Equestrian College Advisor), this event aims to connect riders to college riding opportunities and education. (Scholarships available for those in financial need.)

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