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[RC] One butt, 2 horses etc... - Melinda FaubelSorry - I would have posted to the original poster only (because of the length)...but no e-mail was listed. I am going ABSOLUTELY stir crazy with the smoke and not being able to ride (hence the time to write this e-mail!). I am compulsively watching the air forecast just waiting and waiting for the "moderate" air quality to come!
Here is goes.
I have a full time job/career (actually I'm a salaried supervisor so I'm sure everyone knows what "full time means"....). 2 Horses but no kids, single etc.
First realize that I am one of those people that HAS to be organized. I recognize that this is overkill and way too over thought for some people.
Non-horsey stuff:
housework, grocery shopping, and all other non-horsey chores get done on days that it is impossible to ride. With the smoke lately, my house is getting very clean AND my cupboards are stocked, and I'm actually cooking. This doesn't happen often.
Horsey stuff:
My goal is to ride each horse 3x per week. Each horse gets 2 shorter weekday rides and a longer weekend ride. I have a horse that is already doing endurance and a new horse that is doing LSD. I do each "short" or "long" ride according to their condition and fittness. What this translates into is a weekday ride of ~1 1/2 hours each and a weekend ride ~3.5-4.5 hours.
I decide which horse has priority that day based on which of the 3 workouts I have remaining that week. If I have time after the first ride, I will take the other horse on a "bonus" ride. Bonus rides are very easy rides of ~1 hour, very slow, just to stretch out the legs and have more relationship building time. So maybe a horse will be ridden 4-5 days week included bonus rides.
It is made easier by the fact I am doing about 1 endurance ride a month with my well-conditioned mount...which means she gets a break 1 week before and 1 week after. So in reality there are only 2 weeks a month that I'm scrabbling to get my riding in, and if my new horse doesn't get ridden as much, I figure that she needs time off to, even though she isn't competing.
I log EVERYTHING. I got a half size calendar from Target for each horse (the kind where each set of 2 facing pages shows squares for one week). Daily, I record what I fed them, how long we went, how far, heart rates, anything off, weather conditions, horses mood, how many miles i hauled them, if I did anything like ice after a ride, if I noticed any filling etc. In the front pages (where you are suppose to list your classes etc.) I keep a list of dates of all vet visits, farrier, worming, any bumps and cuts or injuries, trailer milage, competitions/events, etc. Everything in one place. In the front of the book where the contact information goes I list all their various registration numbers, my contact information, my vets contact, my farrier contact, and my boarding contact info. I also record weekly and monthly milage in a list to make sure I am not increasing milage too fast and to make sure that I give my horses a break once in a while.
I guard my horse time very carefully. Most of the time I go directly to the stable after work. I keep a chest of clothes in my trailer so I can change. I pack an extra big lunch so I can have an evening snack at the stable. I might not always have the freedom to spend this kind of time forever (husband, children, going back to school etc.) so I'm trying to have fun while I can!
Melinda
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