My blog got severely hacked on Friday night, so it’s been pretty interesting around here. I had to delete a ton of plugins and stuff, and it’s not 100% up to snuff yet. There’s no security risk for any visitors though, so don’t worry about that. I’ve also installed a bunch of security stuff to WordPress, which means it shouldn’t be happening again. Ah, the life and fun times of a web designer.

Now today’s challenge might as well be called ‘one of your best friends’ because not only is Rebecca an amazing equestrian professional, but she’s also the coolest.

The first time I met Rebecca was actually at a model horse show when I was in middle school or early high school… can’t remember. This proved to us early on that we were both nerds, but that’s a different story.

Much later in college, I joined the NCSU IHSA Equestrian team, where I re-met her through the eq team and our astronomy class. We studied together for tests, and I tried to help her stay awake in class – which wasn’t very successful (to be fair, our professor would shut off the lights and then go on and on about the stars while showing pretty pictures of planets… who can stay awake during that?).

While I was busy floundering around and trying to figure out what my major and life path would be, Rebecca decided early on to make horses her career. She was a working student for a friend, hunter/jumper trainer and vet student and later managed the barn that I boarded at for several years before I left NC. I boarded and she worked at the same place for a while, but around the same time I put my horse up for sale and started browsing places to live outside of NC – she did the same. We both got offered jobs at SmartPak, but only one of us headed to Plymouth. Rebecca was quite a bit braver, and headed to Wellington.

Now Rebecca works as a groom for a fancy smancy hunter/jumper farm, and lives in Wellington in the winter and Saratoga in the summer. I visit Wellington every year to go see her, and call it my horsey heaven vacation. We talk often – though it’s mostly me asking an endless array of horse questions. What thrush medication should I get? What do you think of this saddle? How long should I cold hose my broken horse? She never gets tired of me asking though, and her tireless sense of humor never fails to make people smile.

Plus, her whippet can jump higher than my horse… and that’s just not something you see every day! 🙂

You may also like:

Day 1 – When and why you started riding Day 22 – The Importance of Riding in Your Life Day 3 – Your Best Riding Cross Country Blog Friend Adventure Time Day 10 – How Your Friends/Family Feel About Your Riding