Riding & Writing...: An Interview with Ohio Author Joy MillerUpton

An Interview with Ohio Author Joy MillerUpton

From southeastern Ohio, Joy MillerUpton is the author of Journeys: Finding Joy on Horseback, a memoir. From Joy’s bio: Born 11 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Joy S. MillerUpton has always felt the tug of history. Journalists, in Joy’s eyes, are historians. After graduating with a BS in Journalism from Ohio University, she began working as a journalist. Over a period of more than four decades Joy’s career has included freelance writing and photography, newspaper journalism, and marketing. She has always valued accuracy and balance in all her forms of storytelling; trying to get it right, for history.

Welcome, Joy!

GM: Your book was released last year. Tell us about your authorship, author journey, and how it has enriched your life...

JMU: I learned to read when I was very young, thanks to parents who were constantly reading both for themselves and to me and my seven siblings. That seemed to naturally lead to writing—I remember my brother and me producing a neighborhood “newspaper” when we were about nine or 10. In the 1950s and 60s we wrote real letters by hand in cursive script. Our family regularly exchanged letters—I still have some from grandparents and from my Dad when he served in the Korean War.

In my second year of college, I chose journalism for a career path. During the past five decades I have been fortunate to make a living from the writing skills I learned. I started out freelancing for magazines and newspapers, then worked for newspapers for 10 years. In 1987 my husband and I formed a writing/photography/publication-design business and provided services for numerous large and small entities until 2005. I also worked fulltime in marketing for a local hospital.

You can’t be a writer without having endless curiosity. I have been privileged to meet people from all levels and walks of life, including criminals, saints, artists, politicians (including a U.S. president’s wife who chewed me out for photographing her applying makeup) as well as what most would term “ordinary” people. I have traveled by horseback, hitchhiked, and rode and lived on a tugboat for a month to produce stories. In the air I’ve traveled by balloon, helicopter and single-engine planes (once with a student earning his instrument rating—the plane was set up so he couldn’t see through the windshield). I have shared meals with jail inmates, Chincoteague pony-swim firefighters (sorry, I couldn’t get the raw oysters down), politicians and folks too poor to have a guest but did so anyway. I have scuba dived with sharks, been dangled out a window several stories high to get the photo, staked out persons-of-interest, hidden from potential gunfire behind my car door, been knocked for a loop by football players while photographing games, stalked Big Foot and drove 35 miles through a blizzard to get to the news office. This is just the tip of the iceberg; and my curiosity is still not sated.

GM: How much do horses define your day-to-day activities?

JMU: My day is book-ended by horses. They are fed before I eat breakfast (this feeding is often shared by my husband) and again before supper (as I call the last meal of the day). I usually visit them mid-day and give them a one-flake-of-hay snack. On my lucky days I spend several hours with them, grooming, holding for the farrier, riding or just hanging out. Vacations have been non-existent the past few years as finding just the right person to care for multiple animals at least twice a day is difficult. If I’m going to a late-day event, that will require an early feeding time. Then, I feed again after I return home (which usually means a change of clothes—some days it feels like I’m a member of a royal family with three or four clothing changes). The mares have never complained about being fed an extra time!

Several times a year I arrange for and/or pick up hay and other horse- necessities. Fence repair, ground maintenance, stall cleanup, regular vet and farrier visits and tack care are all part of horse ownership responsibilities. We have been fortunate for the past year not to have a sick or injured horse. For the previous two years we treated my husband’s foundered horse, which meant keeping her in a stall 24/7 and more than doubled the work load.

GM: Your book is about many things, including horses and horsemanship. What horses do you currently stable?

JMP: In May, 2020 I had to have my 26-year-old Quarter horse, Oskar, euthanized. He had been with us since he was a four-month-old weanling. That same day I found another home for his pasture-mate (a mule) and also sent along a teenaged horse who was jobless at the time to keep the mule company. I went from six horses to three in one day. It was traumatic at first, as for many years I’d had at least a half-dozen horses.

After the death of my husband’s foundered horse in 2021 we were left with two Quarter horses. Libby came from Bella Run Equine Rescue in 2016 and we purchased Zoe at auction in 2018.

Funny story about Libby’s age. Although Bella Run bought her at auction in an area where many of the horses go for meat, the mare actually had registration papers. When I went to the rescue to look at her there was a second horse shown to me. I thought I was told they were both 15. Libby came home with me and I registered her so I could trace her background. Somehow, I missed correctly checking her age when I got the registration papers. As the years passed I added up her age so that when someone recently asked me how old she is I rattled off “21.” As it happens the person asking knew a lot about western-born Quarter horses (she was born in South Dakota) and he was curious about her lineage. I dragged out her papers and was astonished to see she was a 2004 filly! Not many females get to deduct three years from their age in one day.

A stunning sorrel, Libby definitely has days when her “red” shows. I hired a trainer to get us through the first couple of years. It appeared she had been used as a broodmare more than she had been ridden so we had a number of issues to tackle. But the more I was around her the more I fell in love with her. She is very sensible on trails and will plow through water and mud and easily navigate tangles. She hates being ridden in an arena. She loves to eat more than anything in the world! And, we have developed a great partnership. She is my main mare. And, she is only 18!

I originally bought Zoe as a horse on which I could teach my horse-crazy niece to ride. That may still happen but this lovely gentle animal needs to develop a few more skills first. The trainer who sold her for a client insisted she was 12 years old four years ago. I see nothing to dispute that. (Her registration papers, of course, were “lost.”) A flea-bitten gray with a long flowing mane, she is the picture of any girl’s dream horse.

She is learning to not be pushy and she has come a long way in her attitude about having her feet handled. When asked to “whoa” she almost always does. She loves to roll in the mud and does so without fail every day she can find even a tiny bit of slop. Zoe surprised me with a trick while I was riding her one day—while we were ambling along, she quite suddenly laid down. I stepped off and the trainer we were working with helped me remount and we asked her to trot off. She also pulled her trick on my husband on the trail. There was a bit of slope on the side he stepped off and he rolled down and into a patch of briars. That made him a bit grumpy but he got back on and we continued our ride. He actually loves Zoe and will ride her anytime. She has never laid down with either of us again, but she did lay down with another rider twice in just a few minutes. Naturally, we tell anyone who wants to ride her what to expect.

Libby carried me and Zoe toted a wonderful woman rider several miles to vote in November, 2022. This is a tradition I have abided by as often as possible for 50 years but it was a little more challenging this year due to some health issues I have had. Without my companion rider it would have been very difficult. Libby provided the only drama when she sensed a large field of grass nearby and just about ran off with me to get to it. (Did I mention she loves to eat?) Zoe was a perfect lady.

GM: Describe a day in your life with horses...

JMU: Someone may have warned me about this but I wouldn’t have believed them; as your horses age, so do you! At age 81, some days all my energy goes into caring for my two mares (and two dogs, four cats and a husband). Not to mention taking care of two tourist rental cabins on our 73 acres. Then there is the next book I am writing…

Most days I find the chores are all I can manage, but I do have a plan. I have hired a young woman to come once a week just for the purpose of having someone with a phone in her hand who can dial 911 if needed. That motivates me to get in a little riding, even if just down the lane to the mailbox.

Just walking into the barn two or three times a day really lifts my spirits. Libby always greets me with a low nicker, which becomes a more insistent whinny if I am slow bringing a treat or a flake or two of hay. Zoe hangs back as Libby warns her to, but she still gets treats and scratches; she just has to wait her turn.

The horses have a 40 x 10-foot, three-sided shelter that opens on a big field. Since they spend a lot of their time there, the twice-daily manure cleanup is usually at least two wheelbarrow loads. We have a system that catches water from the barn roof into two water troughs, which we heat in the winter time. The fuzzy-coated mares are a tad overweight on their hay-only diet, which they eat from slow-feed hanging bags. My clothing is always spiky with hay bits from stuffing bags.

I love just hanging out with them. Libby tolerates grooming more than she did when she first arrived here. She now easily picks up all four feet for inspection. Zoe loves to be groomed, but post grooming she frequently heads for a mud hole to reinvent her light coloring. Most of my clothing collects a few ounces of mud after a session with Zoe.

GM: Living in the Hocking Hills, where is your favorite place to trail ride?

JMU: Right out my front door! Since 1972 I have been very fortunate to live on this beautiful piece of our planet. I have developed a series of circular trails on our 73 forested, hilly acres that are perfect for riding and hiking. I am fortunate to also have the Buckeye Trail pass along my property as well as dead-end township roads.

GM: Do you have advice for riders coming to the Hocking Hills for the first time

JMU: Oh, yes! Make sure your horse is in good condition before tackling the steep terrain here. Don’t push your horse too much until you know she can handle the physical challenge of Hocking Hills (and nearby areas too, such as Zaleski). My veterinarian has seen horses die here.

Try to carry a map or have GPS, as sometimes trail markers can be hard to read or may have vanished during storms. Be ready for mud if it has been rainy. Bees can be a problem, especially in heavily-ridden areas in July, August and September. Remember to bring fly spray to help with the variety of biting insects. Before I set off on a ride on public trails I try to talk with horse riders returning from a ride and ask if there are problem areas.

Practice trail courtesy and don’t blow by slower riders.

All that said, there is no more beautiful place to ride!

GM: Back to your book... When is your next author event and how can readers purchase a signed copy of your book?

JMU: Signed copies of Journeys: Finding Joy on Horseback are always available directly from me. I can be contacted at joy.millerupton37@gmail.com.

Pre-signed copies are available at White’s Mill, 2White’s Mill Dr., Athens; LittleProfessor Book Center, 65 S. Court St., Athens; the gift shop at OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital, 55 Hospital Dr., Athens; Homegrown on Main, 65 W. Main St., Logan; DustyBluesGallery, 14775 OH-664, Logan; and at Epilogue Bookery, 201 W. MainSt., Lancaster.

Although a date has not been set, I have been invited to speak at Epilogue Bookery in 2023 and plan several library presentations, including the Logan Hocking County Library. I hope to also speak at the 2023 Big Foot Festival in August.

GM: List 10 things that your fans may not know about you...

JMU:

Over the years, one of my favorite equines to ride was our little mule, Barney. At 13.1 hands, I could easily step up on him. The tallest mount I’ve ever ridden was also a mule—he was 18 hands and I had to get on a picnic table to mount.
Barney never bucked but once he got startled and spun under me, dumped me and then proceeded to walk just a few steps ahead of me, all two miles through the woods to home.
If you want me to sit through a two-hour movie there better be at least one horse in it.
I am shy.
But I can talk about horses all day long.
You will never find me without long underwear if the temperature is below 45 degrees. That includes indoors.
When I was five years old I started first grade in Yermo, California (the Mohave Desert) and wore cowboy boots to school every day.
When I was in the third grade a mean boy sat in front of me. Once I had to defend myself by stabbing him with my pencil. The teacher deemed it self-defense and I didn’t get in trouble.
When I was in 10^th grade my family lived in a deep south state. At all assemblies “Dixie” would be played and every one of the 3,000 students but me would stand with their hands over their hearts.
My instrument of choice for the high school marching band and orchestra was the trombone (I earned first chair for my efforts).