I paged through the phone book in a panic.  I had just organized my business into an LLC, and now the government was sending all sorts of forms.  I am not a paperwork kind of girl, and I needed a book keeper.  John and Rena, of J and R services, answered the call, and have been handling scary forms for me ever since.  Here they are on the day that they took their complimentary ride.

One very special part of having stood at the corner of Hawthorne and Derby for many years, was the number of good friends who came to see us on a regular basis.  Michelle left carrots, Phil did his share of brushing.  No one adopted me and my horses with quite the tenacity of Joyce.  She is my biggest booster.  It is wonderful to know that what helps me so much also gives her life a lift and a purpose.  Joyce lives alone, and having someone who needed her made her shine.  If we needed more water, she would fetch it.  If I wanted to run to the bathroom, she was there.  She answered questions for visitors and even took reservations for me in the busiest days of the Halloween season.  My not keeping regular hours near the big brick church leaves a blank for both Joyce and me.  She hopes, as I do, that we will have many special reservations in Salem this summer, so I can afford to spend time before and after the reservation just standing around and visiting with our friends.

I have some people to thank. 

 During this last year, I struggled with self doubt, one by product of losing three horses within a year: Magggie, Shorty and last of all Molly.  I had bought a replacement horse, Chester, in a hurry so as to fulfill job commitments during the Autumn of '07.  Over the winter Chester became very difficult to handle.  Horses will sense what is inside you, and Chester's nature was to use my tentativeness against me.  A good place for learning starts with the realization that Chester brought to me-  I don't know very much at all about how to be a horsewoman.  Over last spring, with a lot of help from training materials from the Parelli natural horsemanship course, I rebuilt my confidence and learned so much about standing my ground.  I had a huge helping hand from Julia French, the driver who has been with Friendship Carriage tours since 2002.  

I also spent a great deal of time writing back and forth with Heather Colby, who mentored me and helped me sort out if I should persist with Chester, or decide that he was better suited for a different type of job with another person.  She and her husband Scott even gave Chester a month's trial, eventually confirming for me that this horse was not one who was ever going to go to work with a good attitude.  Heather ably pointed out skills that I need to develop in order to be a safe and strong leader in the horse/human team.  I am indebted to her for this moral support.  That is Heather in the picture with her team of mules.