Several weeks ago I was bored and perusing western cities on craigslist for jobs, an activity I have done countless times over the last few years. I searched for "horse" in the listings and found a job for customer service at EasyCare Inc, a company that specializes in manufacturing and selling horse products (primarily hoof boots). I have been using their products for the past eight years and was shocked not only that this company was hiring, but that it was also paying better than Verizon. After my initial excitement about the job posting, I came back to earth. I didn't think I had a chance, after all, I was 2000 miles away. What company would want to take a risk on someone that has to move that far? Even though it was a long shot I decided to email them my resume and now, less than two months later I am living in Catalina, AZ and am the new customer service representative.
It was almost exactly a year ago that I had My Great Western Adventure to bring Bruiser east. My dad had sworn that was his first and last time helping me haul cross country but you know what they say...never say never. This time we planned a four day, three night route with stops in Brinkley, AK; Clinton, OK and Albuquerque, NM. Each day averaged eight hours drive time so that if we ran into any trouble, the horses would still be ok. The first day we got off to a late start due to tropical storm lee. Once on the road we made good time until a truck in Alabama kicked up a rock and cracked my windshield. As a result, I missed a turn and we spent some extra time finding the interstate. Luckily we were able to get it replaced the next morning in Brinkley but that meant another late start.
The rest of the trip went smoothly. The weather was perfect, not too hot thanks to the cold front that lowered temperatures 15 to 20 degrees from just a few days before. Bruiser traveled so much better this trip than he did when I brought him from Utah; having Cal as a trailer companion really made a big difference. We listened to Prey by Michael Crichton for three of the four days and it was a life saver on those long boring stretches of I-40. The final two hours of our last day was the only time the temperature was above 90 degrees. We arrived in Catalina early in the afternoon and everyone was thrilled the trip was over. (Below left: days 3&4. Below right days 1&2).
As if finding the job of my dreams wasn't wonderful enough, I also found an amazing place to live at the base of the Catalina Mountains. I am renting a room and boarding the horses at the home of a wonderful couple that has three horses and two dogs. Cecilia studies natural horsemanship and keeps her horses barefoot so I knew we would have a lot in common. The horses met over the fence the first day. Cecilia's Peruvian, Gus and Bruiser had to show off to each other.
Over the weekend I went on my first trail ride, right out the back gate...it was awesome. During our ride, Gus kept Bruiser company and they were fairly quiet when we put them together. At first Cecilia put Gus in with a halter which Bruiser quickly tried to grab hold of. After she took it off though there wasn't too much fuss. When we returned and started untacking, they decided to put on a show and Bruiser had much less bravado now that there was not a fence to protect him.
I am in love with my new job and the Tucson area and I can't wait to see what the future holds!
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