Learning to Work

It can be difficult to imagine top trainers and riders in their earliest moments of development, times when they may have been still acquiring basic horsemanship knowledge and learning the often difficult lessons the horses we love seem to like to teach us. While horsewoman Julie Ulrich has now ridden and coached at international levels, she relied on her remarkable energy and work ethic to overcome her initial lack of practical skills. In this excerpt from her fascinating memoir Packing My Bags, she lifts the veil and admits to her early shortcomings.

***

When Richard Ulrich married me, he thought that he was marrying a partner, a right-hand girl. But, because of my upbringing, he had a surprise coming. I had never made a bed, ironed a shirt, or made a cup of coffee in my life. At college, I had paid the girl next door to tidy my dorm room so that it passed inspection. I had also paid her to do my ironing.

The first dinner I made for Richard was macaroni and cheese. It was served in the lovely silver tureen we received at our wedding, and accompanied by the solid silver serving fork coming from the same source. It was beautiful as I brought it to the table, which I had set myself. There were two forks, two spoons, folded linen napkins, two glasses at each of our places, and candles. He tried to serve the macaroni but was unable to push the fork into the casserole. He tried again without further success. Then, he looked at me and asked, “Did you remember to cook the macaroni first?” I burst into tears. I had a long way to go.

It wasn’t much better in the stable. I could ride. Under stress, I could also saddle and bridle a horse. Other than that, I could not do too much. I did not know what to feed, when to give hay, or how to drive a wheelbarrow. In my home, my father refused to consider that a woman should be employed. I had never had a job. But I could sit chilly on a hot horse!

Richard was already the owner of a summer stable, Dennis Riding School, on Cape Cod, which opened in mid-June and closed on Labor Day. It was assumed that I would be ready to muck out stalls, groom horses, and teach all day every day for the full duration. I had a lot to learn but I was thrilled! My first job!

As Richard had a full-time job running a stable near Boston, I went to run Dennis Riding School with Richard’s brother and two sisters. Luckily, one of his sisters did the cooking. I rapidly learned to do the rest.

I led trail rides and taught camp riders and other tourists all day long. Richard’s older brother, Donald, also taught and groomed like me, but he didn’t know how to ride. As he was a school teacher during the winter, liked to act, and was charming, he had all the prerequisites for a beginner-level riding instructor. He also handled the money very carefully.

A part of the challenge of a summer stable is that one must lease the horses to use in the school and, in our case, on the trail rides. Also in our case, as we handled all the summer camp riding programs on Cape Cod. These horses needed to be weight carriers, not too tall (in case of the inevitable spill), and slow. We could only have 12 horses with our budget. All our horses did all the jobs. Jumping was pretty much out of the question.

Most of the horses remained saddled all day and went out four to five times. We fed a lot and three times a day. They all gained weight, a point stressed by Richard. I learned to saddle and pad a horse in such a way that he could work every day. Richard never leased poorly conformed horses to avoid having a difficult horse to saddle. Today, I never buy a horse that does not carry a saddle well. Horses that need breastplates or ponies that need cruppers could never get past Richard’s scrutiny. We used endurance-type saddles that spread the weight over a large surface. All saddles fit exactly the horse assigned. Richard added and adjusted the padding, and the girths and saddles were not changed during the day. All girths were rope girths. We never had sore backs and that was very important with a small group of horses. They worked hard.

We had no electricity so Coleman lanterns came into use if you were still awake after sundown. I was in a different world and pretty tired by the end of a successful summer. Being out of favor with my family made me realize what a privileged life I had led as a child. Now, Richard and I were on a strict budget and we saved every penny. We tried to get invitations to dinner to make ends meet.

After the summer, we could think about buying a winter stable to build ourselves. Richard found just the spot.

I was 18 when we bought our first farm in Pembroke, Massachusetts. Friars Gate Farm was a back lot with a cabin, on a hillside covered with trees. The farm cost $15,000 and we had to apply for a mortgage. We also had to clear the land, get rid of the tree stumps, and build a barn.

I was eager to begin! I was eager to have my horse O’Malley back from the friends who had kept him for me and give him his own stall.

Richard found a day job working in Boston with his father, and I worked alone during the day sawing trees. Richard cut and stacked the wood after work and on weekends. After the first two days, he was not happy with my work. The trees fell in every direction and were on top of each other. It was impossible to sort out the mess. I had to learn how to control the direction of the fall of the tree that I cut. I was not a great assistant but I was always energetic. I had only a hand saw. It was my first wedding anniversary present from Richard. He decided that I was not ready for a chainsaw… rightly so.