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!
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