Amid an array of half-finished grocery lists, an organized lineup of my horse’s blankets, and miscellaneous championship winner interview questions in the notes on my phone, I have a habit of keeping a list of the best things that have happened each year. The date and an emoji or two serve as a log of some of the year’s highlights—call it my modern way of keeping a diary.
In what feels like a record year both in and out of the saddle, 2019’s list includes a few especially exciting moments. So as the world prepares to close the door on the last 365 days, it feels only right to look back on the best of them.
In April, Ax cantered his first line and vertical since 2017’s Mystery Lameness. After 16 months with all four on the ground and only trotting the occasional small crossrail, I’m not sure who was more excited. A few months later, in October, he cantered his first full course in almost two years. It’s the small victories, friends.
Ax also turned 19 on January 7, which still feels unreal. Almost as unreal as the fact that he will now be turning 20 next month. Thankfully he keeps letting me know that his age is just a number and that he couldn’t give a buck about it. The goal is to keep it that way in years to come.
One of the year’s big announcements came when I began a new job at the United States Hunter Jumper Association in May, which might have been the best thing I did for myself in 2019. I love my new job and all the traveling I was able to do because of it. In a five-month span, I found myself in Devon, Pennsylvania for an equitation classic held during Junior Hunter Finals; Crete, Illinois and Santa Fe, New Mexico for zone jumper championships; Lexington, Kentucky for the Green Hunter Incentive and International Hunter Derby Championships, as well as time in the USHJA office; St. Louis, Missouri for zone hunter championships; and Findlay, Ohio for the Emerging Athletes Program and Horsemanship Quiz Challenge Nationals. It’s safe to say spent quite a bit of time in airports and at horse shows in 2019.
Photography was also huge theme this year. With warmer weather and shedding ponies, May held the first few client sessions of 2019 for Terisé M. Cole Photography and they didn’t stop until the fuzzies started coming back in late October. I never would have though it would be a record year for my little side-hustle.
Outside all things equine related, my boyfriend and I moved into a cute little duplex in June for the next chapter of our adventure. After years in a dingy, post-college apartment, moving into a place we loved the second we set foot inside was refreshing and feels so much more like home.
The other big news in 2019 came in July. I began the month with a boyfriend but ended it with a fiancé. Everything else really pales to promising your partner forever over Thai noodles and a movie and getting to don a sparkly family heirloom. Let the wedding planning begin!
For the first time in a while, I’m not super excited for another January 1. This year was full of memories and much-needed life upgrades, so I’m a little sad to put it in the past. That said, because 2019 was so amazing, I can’t wait to see what 2020 has in store.
The Working Amateur 