So I was left horseless with very little money to spend on another horse. I went to see some problem horses who had the right breeding and were cheap but had an issue like a mean buck in them. None of these really appealed to me and so I was debating going to Ascot horse sales and buying an ex racer.

Then my mother (who is horsey) went to a dinner party with an old family friend and after quaffing a few alcoholic beverages went out and looked at the friends new horses and told her that I was looking for a new horse. The next day my mother told me to ring the friend and tell her if I was interested in having the horse that she had looked at. I asked my mom for details but all she could remember was that he had a nice head. My mother said to go and see the horse but I trusted our friend and so I said I would have him. This was 4 weeks ago and the horse known as the ginger giraffe is still with me and I rather like him!

Well it’s been a hell of a two weeks.  I am officially done being an investment banker, which feels really odd.  My last week of work absolutely flew by.  I had meetings in Philly and New Jersey as well as my farewell dinner, which made the time go by very quickly.  I will really miss my coworkers who have become almost like family after two years of spending nearly 80 hours a week together, but I won’t lie, the feeling of stepping out of those elevators for the last time as an employee was pretty incredible.  Also, I have learned so much in the last two years, not only in terms of financial analysis and the ins and outs of the process involved in selling a company, but also skills that are critical to anyone running any type of business. 

First of all, in dealing with hundreds of companies in the last two years, I have developed an appreciation of what an exceptionally run business looks like versus a very poorly run one.  Believe it or not, the differences are not always as straightforward as one would think.  You can have an exceptional handle on your books, but if you do not have an astute awareness of potential risks facing your company, it really will not do you much good.  Similarly, you could have the most incredibly marketing engine in place, but if you can’t understand how to build a profitable cost structure, you will have a well known and recognized entity that doesn’t have a dollar to its name.  This is also all assuming you have a product or service that people are actually interested in buying.  Finding a balance to each of these challenges is much more easily said than done, but hopefully having seen some business plans and strategies in effect will help me put a successful business model in place myself.

My experience as a banker has also taught me that the client always comes first, and when I say always I mean ALWAYS.  The example which most clearly stands out to me is when my horse, Benjamin James, arrived from New Zealand.  He arrived on a Tuesday, and I had a late client meeting that night so could not go out to see him.  The next night, I asked for specific permission to leave early, at 7:00 pm, so that I could go out and see my horse that had just flown halfway around the world.  About 45 minutes into my hour long drive, I got a phone call from the VP on the deal saying that we had an emergency and I needed to be in the office ASAP.  I explained the situation, so I got to the barn, gave BJ one quick pat while I was on a call, and then went to sit on the phone and computer for the next four hours so I could help work out the issues we were having.  As Gerald and Clare went to bed that night around 11pm, I gave them a wave as I sat on what was turning into a three hour conference call.  After two years of that kind of responsiveness being the expectation, it is pretty much second-nature at this point. 

Now that I am done, I keep going to grab my blackberry, or what I grew to fondly regard as my “leash”, and it’s not there! Honestly though, since being done, things have been just as crazy as ever.  I drove a huge UHaul truck out to Illinois, have moved in, and the place is really starting to look pretty great.  I have been out there working every day, the latest was giving each and every stall an intense cleaning and scrubbing out over a dozen plastic stall hay feeders.  They were pretty disgusting, but are all cleaned, sanitized, and sparkling now!  For the week and a half left that I have at home, I am hoping to get the indoor dragged and in good working order, finish getting the place cleaned up, and pull together some ideas for cross country jumps and where I would want them located on the land.  I went out in the truck with my dad to look at the land again.  It was pretty funny, because my dad doesn’t even like to go near horses, but he was showing me spots in the tree line and hills where he thought it would be great to put jumps, an area where he thought a dressage ring would look nice, and a spot where the stadium jumps should go!  

I have a ton of work to do before I get back to Virginia, and my return seems to be creeping up on me quicker and quicker.  My plan for the three months I am there staying with Gerald and Clare is to pretty much to put myself through eventing boot camp!  I will be riding my horses as well as helping to get the staff horses fit every day.  Once hunting starts, I will be helping to groom and take care of the staff horses as well.  I have also scheduled lessons with Leslie Law and also am going to continue going to my dressage instructor Mary Ann.  Also, I need to get fit.  Sitting in front of a computer for 16 hours a day and being able to expense take out dinners every night doesn’t result in peak athletic performance.  My goal by the end of the three months is to qualify again and compete at Prelim with BJ, move Bam up to Training, and be able to run a 6:30 minute mile and to run five miles at an eight minute pace.  Hopefully by the end of this fall, my horses and I will be in great shape and we can use the winter to continue tuning up our flatwork and stadium and then attack the spring eventing season.  I have already found a working student position with Holly Hudspeth, who I just saw is also an EN guest writer, and I am absolutely thrilled about the opportunity. 

Well, I have to get out to the barn.  My brother offered to help me pick up rocks from the indoor and I’m going to jump at the opportunity for free labor before it expires!  We are heading out now with his dog Milo who is quickly becoming the farm mascot, he’s the one in the picture.