01/01/2025
Disclaimer: Long and boring year in review post ahead.
I’m so ready to leave 2024 in the dust, and not look back. We had our best and busiest year yet with the business. We were at capacity several months and actually had to put people on a waiting list, a new experience for us! The word is getting out. People are starting to hear from others that there is an equine rehab & conditioning center in SW MI that can and does help horses become better versions of themselves.
We’ve had some of the biggest trials of our lives last year, starting at the end of Jan/24, when Dale had a ladder slide out from under him, breaking his femur in two places and shattering his heel. Nearly a month in the ortho trauma center and at Leffingwell in GR, and three surgeries later, he’s getting around, but still with some difficulty. We were basically shut down the month of February while I was back and forth with Dale being in GR until early March when he came home to recover further. It isn’t over yet, but it could have been so much worse and I’m thankful for his recovery so far every single day. He’s back to work at nearly full capacity. Nicole Ginter-you were instrumental in keeping us on track when Dale was on the DL, and we appreciate you more than words can ever say. Thank you. ❤️
I had my car totaled on April 1, ( ha ha, April Fools! 😖) getting sideswiped by a distracted driver in Holland coming home from job #1. I wasn’t hurt thankfully. Cars can be replaced. Then we lost our beloved senior dog Gerti. She was one of those senior adoptions where we knew our time was limited with her, but she became a huge part of our lives. She was the happiest dog I’d ever been around, and she made everyone around her happy. She was joyful just to be in a family. She had multiple organ failure and declined very quickly and was pts.
By August, Dale was getting around better so I decided it was my turn for some “attention”. Turning a horse out, I was struck in the face. It happened so fast, I still don’t know what happened, or even what part of the horse hit me. I had extensive facial and eye socket fractures, broken nose, lefort II fracture, three brain bleeds and a TBI. I had a helicopter ride to the ortho trauma center (here we go again) in GR. Just so you know, they don’t give multiple family member discounts. I was put back together by an extreme talented plastic surgery team and most people can’t tell I was ever injured. I’m still working on some PT, but again, I am so thankful for the injury not being any worse, and happy my recovery has gone so well. I’ve been back to work at both jobs since mid October and aside from some occasional odd memory issues (and it could be that I’m just getting old) and a total loss of my sense of smell, I’m mostly back to “normal”, as much as anyone can consider me normal. So we’ve certainly had our trials and tribulations this year, and have still managed to keep it pulled together. We all are blessed to be where we are, all things considered. I look forward for a great start to 2025. We plan on making it the best year yet!
Thank you to everyone who entrusted us with your horses in 2024. We look forward to turning it up a notch in 2025.
