It is that time of year. The time of year when you see just how many layers of Under Armour you can ride in. The time of year when you pick apart every piece of your riding, trying to improve and fill in the holes. The time of year when I am ever so thankful to have an indoor.
This is my first winter as a professional, and it is a tough one. Already the interest in lessons has died down tremendously - the foxhunters are out hunting, my young kids are busy with school, and my adults busy with work! It is difficult to get all of the extra horses ridden as well because the ground is frozen! It is definitely a struggle to make ends meet right now, and it is only December! This is a tough business, and as Dhruva told me "life with horses is not easy. If it was, then everyone would do it." So true. It is a fabulous job - and I am very much blessed to be doing it, but not having a consistent paycheck is sure stressful! To offset expenses I am applying to jobs, both part and full time. Hopefully this will help cover the horse's expenses at least for the winter.
I have been taking the extra time in the morning (when I am waiting for the ground to thaw) and starting on the P90X program. It is incredibly important for my fitness to match that of my horses. I have been ridiculously sore for the past couple of days so I will keep you posted on my progress!
Willy and Deacon and I went to Scott Hassler's for dressage lessons today. They were fabulous! Deacon showed some very mature work, and I was really able to free-up his hind-end. Willy worked in the double bridle, and started to go over the Advanced test. The tough parts for us appear to be the extensions and flying changes. Surprisingly Scott was quite pleased with the progress I have made in my half-passes both at the trot and canter. I had the opportunity to ride in Scott's new ring...oh boy! It was absolutely beautiful! I will have to take some pictures next time I venture up there!
I have also been organizing lessons with Sally Cousins at AOPF. Oh boy were they fun! Deacon was PERFECT, Willy was so enthusiastic, Havannah was a super star in her first stadium jumping school, and a client's horse Ella was fabulous as well. I post another update shortly. I have three really great sale horses right now!
