I've gotten to the point where I hardly keep track of the days anymore; weekends are only significant in the sense that I know I will probably have to get up at or before 4 am to help for shows, but otherwise relatively uneventful. My body seems to be adjusting well to the daily workload and I'm not nearly as physically or mentally drained anymore by the time I get home which is fantastic. Went in to the barn (after a lazy morning) to watch one of Jimmy's lessons which is always so helpful, even if I'm not riding (which I have yet to do since arriving, not really holding my breath because someone has to help around the barn while everyone's riding!) and I always learn so much watching other people ride. Tim has been helping me a lot from day to day on my rides, most of which are on Leo whom I absolutely adore and is so good to me. He's one of those great been-there, done-that horses who teaches you so much about your riding, which I need because that's the only way I can eventually help with other horses. Had a fun flat lesson with Tim where we did lots of lateral work and ended on some pretty decent half-passes, if I do say so myself! I've never really done a half pass at a trot, let alone a canter, but Tim sent me up the 3/4 line and said half-pass over to the center line. I told him I didn't quite know how to do that when he responded, "Well, you are, so just keep doing it."
I've also been getting on quite a few different horses than when I got here, and I love the variety because they're obviously all different and I can't just ride one like I would the other. I had such a good no stirrups jumping lesson with Sharon the other day on Leo; we spent about a half hour just warming up with lots of transitions and leg yielding into the circle to straighten them out and then send them forward- something I never really would have thought of but that's why I'm here! Then she set up two poles 24 feet apart on the ground and we had to fit two strides in at first (pretty standard at the canter) then three strides (harder than I expected even with Leo who can get this superb collected canter) and then one stride in between, all making us adjust our riding so the horse adjusts accordingly. We jumped a small course after but I think the first half of the lesson was my favorite, it helped my seat and position so much.
Around the barn, I (almost) have the routine down, to the point where I don't have to be told 1000 times to do something before I actually do it. Kay decided my nickname is Space Cadet because she thinks I have this spacey look on my face whenever she talks to me. Virginia HT are this weekend, followed by Rubicon where we end the season, then I get to go home for a few days!! I am beyond excited to be home with the fam, ride my Oopsie and hopefully Al and Newton as well, and fingers-crossed catch up with some friends. Luckily for me, my aunt and uncle live about a half hour away right now, which means on my day off every week I trek over there in Old Gold and spend the evening with them. I look forward to it every week, and it's so nice to have familiar faces so close, because without them I really don't know anyone besides barn people.
When I visited the barn in late August, I met Marley and Tim, and Marley was wearing these pink Tailored Sportsman riding pants that I will never forget. I thought they were kind of weird at first but I couldn't stop thinking about them and started looking everywhere for them but with no luck. WELL, I confessed my attraction to them to Marley last week and she told me where she got them, so I found them online and THEY WERE ON SALE, I could hardly believe it. So obviously I ordered them and they are so so great I can't wait to wear them to the barn tomorrow.
Since I'm just rambling now I'm going to get off this and look for some new music, something I use to do all the time but haven't had much time for lately. And I'm going to try to update this a little more often!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The First Ten Days
I have to say, it feels kind of strange writing to no one in particular, but a few people have said they wanted to stay updated on how my year went and that I should blog about it so they could read it, so here it goes!
Well I made it through the first week at the barn! Left NH early Monday morning (Oct. 4th) after a long weekend at the WEG in Lexington, drove straight down to West Virginia where the barn is. Passed a lot of townships (which I still don't understand) and farms on the way here. Dad brought me over to the barn at 7 am the next morning, where I got barely got acquainted with the barn before I started working- and let me tell you, not fully understanding the dynamics of it and how to do everything definitely proved to be a major struggle the first few days, to the point where I questioned if I could even manage a full week here. But I'm alive! Ten days without a break of roughly 12 hours days, every day, physical exhaustion ensues pretty quickly. Today is my first day off, and I made a full to-do list the previous days leading up to it, which included sleeping in (accomplished), lounging around having breakfast and tea while doing the laundry for the first time (accomplished), finding Starbucks and finally setting up the internet with Tether to my laptop with my phone (accomplished), downloading new music which I feel I've been deprived of (in the process of being accomplished) and writing my first entry. I'm heading to my Aunt and Uncles in a bit to have the first home cooked meal since my arrival which I am absolutely thrilled about, and to pick up my saddles that they brought with them from home. I also still have to go grocery shopping and finish unpacking... the only things I've managed to put away are my necessary clothes (i.e., riding pants and tshirts).
Regarding the barn, which is the reason I ventured down here, it's been tough but a great experience so far. I can't even begin to explain what I've learned since arriving here, and it keeps growing day by day. Riding out of your own barn is so much different from a professional stable, so the way we do things at home isn't exactly acceptable or correct, which has been an adjustment with some reprimanding on my behalf. The early mornings haven't been too tough to get use to, but not having Oops when I'm constantly surrounded by dozens of other horses has been, and I REALLY miss my dog, Porter. Apparently, the house where Hillary and I live use to allow dogs, but no longer, which is quite a bummer because I could really use one right about now. I've ridden a bunch of different horses as might be expected, which is also fantastic because each of them is teaching me something new, as well as lessons I've been getting from Tim and Sharon. They're both so helpful- everyone here is, always willing to take time to show clueless me how to properly pull a tail or wrap a bridle after cleaning it. I've done my fair share of screwing up, which was hard at first because I had no idea the routine or even which horses were which, but now that I've got somewhat of an understanding of the pace of the day (it literally moves at light speed) or where the horses go has helped a ton. So I'm adjusting better now, and hopefully I'll have my own car down here in a week or so, because as well as the Old Gold truck runs, I don't think it can handle too much more of my extended drives home due to my inability to navigate the back roads after dark. Whoops!
Until next time!
Well I made it through the first week at the barn! Left NH early Monday morning (Oct. 4th) after a long weekend at the WEG in Lexington, drove straight down to West Virginia where the barn is. Passed a lot of townships (which I still don't understand) and farms on the way here. Dad brought me over to the barn at 7 am the next morning, where I got barely got acquainted with the barn before I started working- and let me tell you, not fully understanding the dynamics of it and how to do everything definitely proved to be a major struggle the first few days, to the point where I questioned if I could even manage a full week here. But I'm alive! Ten days without a break of roughly 12 hours days, every day, physical exhaustion ensues pretty quickly. Today is my first day off, and I made a full to-do list the previous days leading up to it, which included sleeping in (accomplished), lounging around having breakfast and tea while doing the laundry for the first time (accomplished), finding Starbucks and finally setting up the internet with Tether to my laptop with my phone (accomplished), downloading new music which I feel I've been deprived of (in the process of being accomplished) and writing my first entry. I'm heading to my Aunt and Uncles in a bit to have the first home cooked meal since my arrival which I am absolutely thrilled about, and to pick up my saddles that they brought with them from home. I also still have to go grocery shopping and finish unpacking... the only things I've managed to put away are my necessary clothes (i.e., riding pants and tshirts).
Regarding the barn, which is the reason I ventured down here, it's been tough but a great experience so far. I can't even begin to explain what I've learned since arriving here, and it keeps growing day by day. Riding out of your own barn is so much different from a professional stable, so the way we do things at home isn't exactly acceptable or correct, which has been an adjustment with some reprimanding on my behalf. The early mornings haven't been too tough to get use to, but not having Oops when I'm constantly surrounded by dozens of other horses has been, and I REALLY miss my dog, Porter. Apparently, the house where Hillary and I live use to allow dogs, but no longer, which is quite a bummer because I could really use one right about now. I've ridden a bunch of different horses as might be expected, which is also fantastic because each of them is teaching me something new, as well as lessons I've been getting from Tim and Sharon. They're both so helpful- everyone here is, always willing to take time to show clueless me how to properly pull a tail or wrap a bridle after cleaning it. I've done my fair share of screwing up, which was hard at first because I had no idea the routine or even which horses were which, but now that I've got somewhat of an understanding of the pace of the day (it literally moves at light speed) or where the horses go has helped a ton. So I'm adjusting better now, and hopefully I'll have my own car down here in a week or so, because as well as the Old Gold truck runs, I don't think it can handle too much more of my extended drives home due to my inability to navigate the back roads after dark. Whoops!
Until next time!
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