For years I longingly watched social media influencers as they migrated from the cold northern states to the south to ride their horses all winter.
“What a dream come true that would be.”
“I wish I could do that.”
“I wish I had a job that allowed for this”
Professionals, most certainly…and their grooms. Maybe the retired and/or wealthy folks can do it too. It’s most certainly out of reach for someone like me.
Or is it?
As I have matured (numerically not mentally, ha), I’ve come to know not one but several people who go to Aiken. Some for a few months. Some for a few weeks. Actual humans that I enjoy talking to and know personally.
The year 2025 broke me. As I healed, I began to look at life through a new lens. Create more healthy boundaries. Do more of what brings joy. Take chances. Live life, spend the time and money before you’re too old and crippled to do it. Find balance in life.
When Andrea was down for a lesson day a few months ago, I asked her when she was going to Aiken, SC for the winter. I was curious because I wanted to see when we were losing her for the winter lesson days. She casually asked if I wanted to come down. I brushed it off initially…certainly that’s too far and too expensive…only in my wildest dreams. Certainly, I can’t go and take that kind of time off. But the thought danced in my mind.
Maybe it’s not so farfetched.
Although I worked from home during the years of COVID, my company limits our allowed work from home time to medical or short-term reasons. Telling them I want to work from home for 3 months so I can travel to South Carolina and train horses on my days off in the wintertime was a hard “no” from management.
Andrea and I spoke again. She suggested I come down for just a week. I couldn’t imagine driving 14.5 hours one way (likely over 2 days) just to return home in a week.
“So come down for a weekend and I’ll find a horse for you to ride.”
My ears were pricked at this thought. Certainly, THAT is doable!
One day while on my lunch break I began a preliminary search of flights to South Carolina…to renting a car…finding a place to stay. I wanted to know more. What’s the true cost of this? Is it actually within my reach?
I dug deeper. It suddenly occurred to me that I am given a choice to use 8 hours or holiday pay or 8 hours of holiday time off every holiday. I typically convert it to time off…the most valuable resource. I have 90 days from the holiday to use that time. From November to February there are 6 holidays (Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day). There’s 48 hours….one of my long weeks. From there I also have 24 hours available of floating holiday before I ever use a day of vacation. So, if I take 1 vacation day and plan accordingly, I am getting 2 weeks off…I actually get 18 days off.
Side Note: My schedule has me work 12 hour shifts from 6am-6pm. I work three days one week (36 hours) and four the next (48 hours). Over two weeks it adds up to about 84 hours…plus 8 hours of overtime.
With some convincing I starting to seriously consider a 2-week trip with Stanley. I messaged a friend who goes for a few months each year (she’s full time remote and it doesn’t matter where she remotes from). As it happened, she offered me a spare room in her AirBnB at a very reasonable rate…and it included a place for Stanley right on the property.
With that…things started to click into place one by one.
So now I’m here…Starting 2026 with a plan to travel to Aiken, South Carolina in February. It seemed surreal to start but as we have approached it has gotten more and more real.
In the past few weeks I’ve been prepping for our journey.
I booked a horse motel as a layover in Virginia for our journey down and also for our return home.
I searched along my route and found gas stations that had diesel and a large enough parking lot within 2 hours of each other in case I need frequent stops (The addresses are saved sequentially in my calendar).
I installed a floating vinyl floor in my new trailer in order to preserve the carpet underneath.
I installed a 30 gallon standing water tank in the dressing room of my trailer.
I mounted a thick piece of sturdy lattice to the front stall in my trailer and loaded it with the hay I’d need for the trip.
I shoveled off the snow from the top of my trailer’s roof. Suzanne helped lift me in the bucket of her tractor to get up there!
I prepped enough feedbags for Stanley for the trip…and also enough to last Tiger and Suzanne’s new mare Fern since I prep their supplements at home. Three weeks of supplements for three horses….126 bags of supplements (2 feedings a day for three horses over 21 days)!
I washed all of Stanley’s boots, his fly masks, fly sheets, and his rain sheets.
The week before travel I packed bags, installed hooks inside my dressing room. Loaded tack. Loaded sheets, boots, blankets, saddle pads, halters, and more. I loaded my helmet, protective gear, crops, riding clothes, buckets, feed, and everything I think I might need.
Last Monday my vet came out to do a Health Certificate, pull blood for Coggins, administer vaccines.
Friday afternoon I left work early to hook my trailer up and pull it around to our loading point. . We had a snow storm and getting it out sucked but I got it done. The final items were loaded. The travel gear (boots, hay bags etc) were set up.
All that is left is to arrive Saturday morning, load, and depart!
If you’re reading this as it’s published, I’ll be somewhere between New York and Virginia.
Please wish us a safe journey and I will give updates when I can!
Are you in Aiken? Reach out!
Have you been to Aiken? Let me know your favorite things to do and see!
The Green Horseman 
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