Other than money, what would make your horse life simpler?
Pretty much my entire life is horses, so I'll refer to my dressage life since thay is my hobby instead of my job. I think that more than anything, living a normal life with a normal job would make my dressage life easier. How ironic that my horse related job makes riding much more complicated. You're probably thinking I'm insane and wondering how that's possible.
Moving three times a year is a pain as far as trainers go. My most consistent trainer is JL in Albuquerque. The problem with this is that I'm only there two to three months out of the year. I'm comfortable riding with JL and I have complete faith in his knowledge. His barn isn't full of a bunch of bitchy dressage queens, just nice ones. His wife also trains and they have both been absolutely wonderful to me. Finding another situation like that seems difficult and I sometimes just don't even feel like bothering to find a trainer in the other cities I temporarily reside in. I did board Indy at a jumping facility in Denver last year, and really liked the trainer there. However, he's not going to want to have to come help me at a dressage show.
Another problem is finding a boarding facility that takes good care of the horses, has a decent facility to ride in, and that I can afford to board two to three horses at. Preferably one with a trainer.
Lastly, it's hard to plan anything. We are never sure exactly when or how many horses we're going to have in. Trying to plan something more than four or five days ahead of time gets pretty tricky. There aren't many clinics or shows that you can sign up for only four days out.
Basically, having a life with a consistent schedule and not moving every few months would definitely make my dressage life easier.
That being said, I love my job and I am very lucky to work with horses all day. I wouldn't change it.
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Moving three times a year is a pain as far as trainers go. My most consistent trainer is JL in Albuquerque. The problem with this is that I'm only there two to three months out of the year. I'm comfortable riding with JL and I have complete faith in his knowledge. His barn isn't full of a bunch of bitchy dressage queens, just nice ones. His wife also trains and they have both been absolutely wonderful to me. Finding another situation like that seems difficult and I sometimes just don't even feel like bothering to find a trainer in the other cities I temporarily reside in. I did board Indy at a jumping facility in Denver last year, and really liked the trainer there. However, he's not going to want to have to come help me at a dressage show.
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| JL riding my RPSI Stallion, Windtalker. |
Another problem is finding a boarding facility that takes good care of the horses, has a decent facility to ride in, and that I can afford to board two to three horses at. Preferably one with a trainer.
Lastly, it's hard to plan anything. We are never sure exactly when or how many horses we're going to have in. Trying to plan something more than four or five days ahead of time gets pretty tricky. There aren't many clinics or shows that you can sign up for only four days out.
Basically, having a life with a consistent schedule and not moving every few months would definitely make my dressage life easier.
That being said, I love my job and I am very lucky to work with horses all day. I wouldn't change it.
Wow that would definitely be frustrating!!! I guess it's a good thing you love your job hehehe. I used to exercise horses for extra cash and finally realized that working with horses for other people kept me from enjoying my own horse so I gave it up. I'm glad it wasn't my main income!
ReplyDeleteI do love it, but finding a little better balance between the two would be nice.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, boarding in the Denver area (at least) is just some degree of compromise! I can totally see how multiple moves makes it a challenge to keep a rhythm in training.
ReplyDeleteGreat bllog
ReplyDelete