"When I first started vet school, I had this image of how my life would turn out. I would be a horse vet and deal only with the top event horses; I would 3-day event in my spare time; I would go on four holidays a year; I would be married to a top lawyer who would encourage me to run my own vet practice as a hobby; I would have a dog.
One of those things came to pass…………..the dog.
The rest is so far removed from the life I now have that I can barely remember the original dream. Now, I haven’t sat on a horse for nearly ten years (except for a one-off western riding experience on a recent jaunt to Argentina). My husband and I are very happily married but he is not a top lawyer and therefore does not keep me in the style to which I should be accustomed.
I go to my farms each day; I chat; I act as a counsellor. I also do some vetting. I find myself constantly striving to absorb new knowledge in dairy farming- things are developing so quickly; farmers are learning more and pushing on so much. I love the new pace of life on the big dairies.
I work long days – don’t we all? But I go to CrossFit about 4 times a week to stay fit. There is always more weight to go on the barbell, more pull ups to be done, a faster time to achieve on the rower. The competitiveness keeps me hanging on in there and allows me to go trail running on the local hills (with the dog!) where I get the best views of Somerset and realise how lucky I am to live on the doorstep of such a beautiful place.
Then I get home just in time to read bedtime stories to my kids and, if I am lucky, they remember who their Mummy is and I get a big cuddle and it is all worthwhile!!!"
