Summer Memories

Honestly, I am starting to find it difficult to find things to write about. I never thought it would be possible for me to run out of things to say about horses. Unfortunately, that day has come. For this post, I think I will talk about my summer and what that will include with the horses and how it will be different from the school year.

The most obvious change between school and summer, is that I will be at home and will take over the daily care of my horses. During the year, my parents are in charge of making sure they get hay four times a day, grain twice a day, and a clean stall to sleep in at night. This means that in the summer, there is no such thing as sleeping in. I am up at 8am normally ready to go out to the barn. I will admit, I will normally roll out of bed at 7:59, throw my boots on and go out in my pajamas to do the morning feeding.

Also during the summer, I have a lot more free time in order to ride. In the perfect world, I would be able to ride both of my horses in the same day. Due to an accident that occured while riding though, I am not able to ride more than one a day. In the summer of 2005, I took a bad fall off of my horse and about a week after that started having back pain. When I went to the doctor, they told me I had a stress fracture in my lower back that would always cause me trouble. They were right, I am not able to ride both horses without experiencing severe back pain. That means that I have to rotate which horse I ride everyday which can get a little annoying.

Throughout a normal summer, I would be competing in anywhere between five and ten competitions. This summer, however, I will not be competing. There are a couple factors that play into this decision. First of all, I have not been able to ride on a regular basis throughout the year so my horses are very fat and out of shape. By the time I come back to school, they might be back up to their top performance. Secondly, I will actually have a job this summer that requires 40 hours a week which means that cuts down on my riding time too. Thirdly, the horse that I would normally compete will hopefully be sold by the time competitions start.

This summer, I am looking forward to being able to spend some time not just around my barn but hopefully at other barns with various horses. This will help me improve my riding by using different types of horses. I am hoping to ride everyday this summer and be more motivated to continue riding all through next year. The school year provides added complications when it comes to my riding schedule, but summer gives me a blank slate to start clean and begin anything I want to pursue.