COVID Horse Life Update Part Three

I can't wait to see this face again.

If you didn't read through the previous two parts of this please review those first. Those are important details into the updates I have for this post and are good perspective into my decision.

First, I can't tell you how much I've been struggling with this over the last month. I also can't emphasis enough how much this doesn't have to do with not being able to see Katai right now, and how much it does have to do with the lack of communication, poor communication, and lack of any sort of transparent plan regarding the barn closure. I'd also seen shortcuts taken that, when I could be there all the time, didn't concern me but those certainly started to eat at me when I couldn't be there. With that, two things really struck me over the past week that ultimately really made the decision for me.

First, my poor, amazing boyfriend has been listening to me process this and worry about any and all options. He's quietly talked me through it and been so amazingly supportive. Pretty early on he supported me moving Katai, partially because I think he understands how much my mental health is tied to this decision and is fantastic at supporting me through advocating for myself. I've been the one really hesitating to move in that direction. During yet another night of me being emotional and second guessing myself he said something that has really stuck with me. Basically I was talking about how awesome my barn owner had been when other people had horse emergencies and how she was such a nice person. I was feeling awful for even thinking about moving and he said something along the lines of "Just because she's amazing, doesn't mean she's the right fit for you right now". It really struck me in that the barn isn't awful, the owner isn't awful, no one is a villain here, it's just that with the unprecedented things we're dealing with right now, things have significantly shifted and what was amazing before, isn't necessarily amazing right now.

I'm jealous of those of you who can't see your horse right now but know that they're receiving amazing care. I'm jealous of those of you who have your own property and can continue to see, care for, and even ride your horse(s) through this time, I'm jealous of those of you that are at barns that have taken appropriate steps for social distancing and are listening to the science while allowing you to continue to see your horses and ride.

At any rate, I FINALLY came to the decision to move. The deposit has been paid to the new(ish) barn, notice has been given, and I'm planning to move in the middle of May pending final trailer arrangements.

So, where am I going? It's actually a barn I've been at before back in the winter of 2014/2015. This is the barn where I escaped to from the awful trainer that was my first dressage instructor. At the time I NEEDED an onsite trainer since I needed lessons and didn't have a trailer. Because of that, I didn't stay long but loved it there and the only negative I can remember is that I wasn't in a heated barn and it was the middle of winter so it was super cold.

This is the larger, unheated arena that's in the unheated barn I boarded in.

The people were lovely and it has super amenities. Since I left they also replaced all of the footing with a fiber/sand mix and made some other property improvements. I'll also get some additional "amenities" by being in the heated barn including that, well, there's heat and Katai will get led in rather than ran in like my current barn and this unheated barn. They also have a solarium that I'm super excited to use.

This was in the unheated barn. I think her stall was just to the right of this picture.

I actually have had this barn on my list for awhile and was going to move back just prior to when I moved to Jane's. I was so confident that I was going to move back at that point that I even started on the tack locker project with my dad. This is the only barn I'm aware of in the area that will allow you to have a tack locker. In the meantime, my dad has been kind enough to store the locker but I'm going to pick it up in May, finally get the exterior painted, and get that moved up there. I can't wait to finally start using it.

Tack locker in progress from back 2017/2018

Then, when I was leaving my previous barn and going to my current barn I was planning to move there again until my friend at the current barn invited me out for a visit and I fell in love with her facility and knew a few people there. It feels in some way like I've come full circle and found my way back.

I also really enjoyed reading through L. Williams Viva Carlos post about the barns in the area so while I didn't technically shop around I thought I might do a post about barns, what they offer, and what they check off my list. In the long run, I'm STILL on the waitlist for dream barn and after checking in earlier this month it sounds like there hasn't been any movement since February 2019 when I got on the waitlist. I figure either I'll love it here and decide to stay long term or I'll move there when the spot opens up. I really hadn't planned to move again before a spot opened up there but it turns out we're living through something that's changing plans everywhere so it's not too unexpected that I'd need to revise my plans.

Actual Riding Updates!!

Yes, that’s right and they’re positive :)

This whole social barn thing is really helping my motivation to ride. At the old barn I’d be the only one there, literally the only one on the property a good chunk of the time and so if Katai was at all anxious or spicy I’d lunge partially from a self-preservation perspective and partially just because I was anxious and didn’t have any reason to ride. It was tough always being alone.

Here there are always people around and there have been at least a few times when I’ve arrived at the barn with no motivation, thinking I’d just lunge, and then changed my mind when I got there because there were lots of other people riding. Part of it is that this barn has a recommendation (I won’t call it a rule because they’re flexible) of no lunging in the indoor when someone else is riding. They’re fine in the outdoor, because it's bigger, but if there are lots of other people riding I’d still prefer to ride rather than lunge since I still feel the risk of accident is higher. Mostly though it’s just that when my friends are tacking up to ride I’d prefer to tack up and ride with them!

That meant that this week when I went out on Monday I was still feeling like crap and thought I’d just groom and lunge and maybe work in hand outside a bit. When I got there though my friend M (who was the reason I moved here) was there and just finishing up grooming and there were lots of other people riding. I had decided I might ride and then I saw another friend drive up. When I asked she thought that she’d ride in the outdoor. I figured I’d see how Katai was, since she’d been a pill the previous few days, but she was so good and quiet in the barn that I decided to join my friend in the outdoor. I didn’t have a death wish though so I decided to lunge first. At first Katai was a little tight and spicy but she calmed down pretty quick and before I could second guess myself I led her over to the mounting block and hopped on.

Long story short she was SUPER good. She acted like she’d been riding in that outdoor her entire life. She wasn’t spooky even with some construction happening at a nearby pole building, or the foal that was being weaned running around in a neighboring paddock. We walked for a while so that I could make sure she was really tuned in and then did some trotting and finally cantered. I let her run into the canter and just kept it nice and forward and low key but with that being said she never put a foot wrong. The arena is huge so she had lots of room to navigate and not feel like she was losing her balance which I think helped. She fell into trot going right at one point and I wasn’t going to ask for more but she went back into canter and the transition was gorgeous and she was listening to me so I just went with it for another circle or two.

I kept the whole ride pretty short because the arena footing is way different than what she’s used to at this point and we’re still acclimating. I was so proud of her and stuffed her full of treats when I hopped off and then hand walked her to “cool down” for a while even though she wasn’t sweaty at all. I think that part of what was so different was that she was out there with a horse that she knows well. I’m ok with that being our method of helping her understand that the outdoor is a safe place though and plan to ride out there with friends as much as possible until the weather dictates that we only ride inside.

I’m up north at a cabin with my bf this weekend so probably no updates for a bit but I’m hoping to post more soon!

Settling In

You can juuuuust see a tiny white speck of a pony in this
but it was so pretty that I wanted to share.

The new barn is great, really fantastically great. The missing piece from many of the past barns for me has been the social piece. This place is finally everything and more that I could want from that perspective. The people are fantastic and every single time I’ve been out, no matter what time of the day or what day it is there are at least 3-4 people there grooming, riding, lunging, or in some way working with their horses. Most people ride their horse(s) on a regular basis, work with instructors, feed supplements, and just groom or lunge. Everyone is nice and positive and while there’s a lot of diversity from a horse care philosophy and/or training perspective everyone seems to get along really well. There are at least 4 people that board at this barn that I’ve either previously boarded with or knew through a friend and one of the people who is boarding here now boarded at both J’s and Jane’s with me.

There are certainly nice things about having the barn or arena to myself but it is just so much nicer to know that there will be other awesome people to talk to, learn from, compare notes with, and support and be supported by. It’s so motivating to me to go to the barn and then even if, like this past weekend, all I can manage to do is feed supplements I can also hang out and talk with other people, watch others ride, help grab a needed side rein, etc. and feel like the drive to the barn was more valuable than it would have been to just go feed supplements (even though that’s also very rewarding :)

Puppy was napping with me and then when I got up off the couch she got absorbed into the cushions.
You can see how disgusted she was about it lol

Katai also seems to be adjusting and figuring things out. I went out on Monday the day after she arrived and then again on Tuesday. She was definitely tired from dealing with figuring out the new herd dynamic. I missed a couple of days but went out again the following Saturday. Things were on track and going great but then I started to get sick. I was really hoping it would be just a few day thing but alas the cold kicked my butt a full 6.5ish days and I’m only feeling mostly better still more than a week now from when I first got sick hence why I’ve been so quiet!

I'm planning to post a review on my new grooming bag soon!

This past weekend though I was feeling up to getting to the barn and knew that I really needed to. The most unfortunate thing about Katai being on pasture board this winter is that she’s relying on me to feed supplements. I’m working to figure out a storage solution so that I can keep them at the barn (in a mouse proof way) so that others can help if I can’t make it out but I didn’t have that figured out prior to getting sick this time. Most of the time I should be able to make it out at least 5 days a week and it’s a little extra motivation to make it out there but I know there will be times when I can’t so I want to have a backup plan figured out. On Saturday she was not especially excited to see me and slowly walked away but then stood when I approached. She was unusually subdued but didn’t have a temp. She also wouldn’t eat her “grain” but I knew she’d been eating on the round bale all day and maybe just wasn’t hungry enough for the supplements to taste good. I was slightly concerned but figured I’d check on her the next day (knowing she’d have a lot of eyes on her between then and Sunday) and get someone involved if she wasn’t perking up by then.

On Sunday when I went to catch her it was immediately clear that, while she still maybe wasn’t feeling herself, she was feeling much less subdued. She actually ran from me! This pony has NEVER been tough to catch the entire time I’ve owned her even when she was feral at the beginning. At the most she’d just walk a couple of steps and then stand nervously. This is the only time I can ever remember her actually putting any effort into evading me. I walked her down and it didn’t take long but I still have a lot of congestion in my lungs so it was more work than I was looking for. When she eventually stood she was clearly unhappy to be caught but just didn’t want to run anymore. She was also super reactive. I realized pretty quick that it was because she hadn’t been getting her magnesium and made a plan to get her on a loading dose for a couple of days to catch up. She was also clearly in raging heat so she was interesting, to say the least, in the cross ties and wanted to kick at me when I picked her back feet. We survived that and I lunged her in the outdoor but she SCREAMED the entire time to a bunch of mares that are in a pasture near the outdoor who she’s never met before.

Seriously *headdesk*

At least she got her supplements, was sound, and had more energy so I could stop worrying about her being sick. Now I just need to feel better, get her back on her supplements (at least the magnesium) and work some energy off on the lunge and then hopefully by end of this week I’ll be able to fit in a ride or two before we leave for a cabin up north for the weekend!

Moving

I was hoping to have more photos but alas, I’m bad at remembering to take them.
 Instead we’ll do a photo tour of previous barns starting with J's Barn

These have stopped being exciting adventures at this point and are more like slightly annoying necessities lol. With that being said, I have been trying have the mindset of using this move to continue to prep for trailering to shows or as traveling practice in general. I actually talked about it with my therapist and she gave me some homework as far as keeping my anxiety low. She also reminded me that something that’s super scary for both of us like trailering is not the place to focus on others and instead to ask for what we need and focus on our relationship. While my therapist isn’t a horse person it was EXACTLY what I needed to hear and continues right along with the theme of really focusing on the relationship and trust that Katai and I have built.

Temporary "escape from J's barn" barn

A lot of the anxiety with moving Katai comes from knowing that she’s not always a great loader and then feeling embarrassed and guilty that she isn’t better. In all honesty I work hard on it and try to utilize resources (such as others offering to let me practice loading her) whenever I can. This summer alone I practiced in two different trailers, one a few different days, and we made some progress. I also really hate feeling judged. As I told my therapist horse people can be extra judgy and part of why I moved was that the people at my previous barn were super extra special judgy which definitely increase my anxiety about everything including getting her loaded.

Crazy people barn

That morning I actually was managing to keep my anxiety low on the drive to the barn. I was working through some of the homework I had from my therapist specifically for pony moving. When I got to the barn though I saw that two of the judgiest people (and most forceful handlers) were there and got scared. One of the two (miss nosy) was the person who was bullying me when I first moved in. We have an understanding but I still don’t trust her to help or handle my pony at all and knew that she’d try to insert herself in getting Katai loaded. She had also seen me doing trailer practice with Katai on a day when I’d neglected to use a lunge line and, because of that, Katai got free and spooked her horse. I felt super bad about it but horses will be horses and humans will be humans and it was extra unfortunate since that literally hasn’t happened since I first got my pony and of course that was the horse that she spooked *headdesk*. I apologized to her that day but she didn’t handle it very well.

Lovely barn, I only moved because it got too expensive for my living situation at the time

Anyway, on Sunday I was at the barn early so I picked up the last few things. After a while the new barn owner, who we’ll call M, showed up with the trailer and I was relieved to see that it was fully open in the back and had a ramp since I knew that both things would help Katai load quickly. I ignored miss nosy inserting herself into the conversation and walked up to M and let her know how she could help which was basically to stand off to the side, wait for me to walk Katai in, and then hold the doors shut so that I could fasten her up. M looked doubtful and my stomach churned but she heard me. I went and got Katai and led her back to the trailer and could tell that as I walked up miss nosy had been telling M what an awful loader Katai was. I marched right up into the trailer, Katai followed, pulled back once, and then walked right on and turned around. She proceeded to stand fairly quietly next to me while M pushed the doors shut. I tied her up, fastened the slant, and then walked out of the trailer. The whole thing took less than 3 minutes and miss nosy was nowhere to be seen when I walked out of the trailer.

Jane's barn <3

M locked up the trailer, I hopped in my car and we had an uneventful trip to the barn. Very nicely M asked me if I needed anything when I went to unload her. We basically reversed the process, Katai unloaded nicely, and then we walked her to the pasture and let her go to start introducing herself. The whole thing including drive time took no more than 35 minutes and was another good experience to include in the growing list of positive travel experiences.

Weird barn, rough trainer, extra long commute

I like M so far. She hung out watching the herd go through the initial integration for about 15 minutes even though it was raining. We chatted but also she was keeping a careful eye on everything and was ready to break up any fights that occurred if needed. There were definitely a few scuffles which I was surprised to see. Katai has definitely matured and seems to have decided that she needs to be top mare which is so weird since I’m used to her being bottom of the pack. We eventually decided that they were quiet enough and she gave me a tour and I got to know M and the rules a little more. I like her combination of no nonsense but also no superfluous rules and can tell that it’s all about trust which I like since I know my stuff and hate being micromanaged (looking at you previous barn). I got my stuff unloaded into a beautiful and luxurious feeling open sort of tack locker/compartment in the room for the pasture boarders. I really like the setup! I’m looking forward to eventually moving Katai into a stall but I’m certainly going to be spoiled even with pasture board. The barn is set up really nice and feels cozy and like home again which is so super nice.

I’m planning to go out tonight and do my first lunge or ride with Katai even though it’s a Monday. Worst case scenario we’ll just do ground work and get her used to the new facility, best case scenario we’ll do a nice ride in the indoor. I’d like to do groundwork outside but it’s supposed to be raining out and it’s only in the 50s-60s this week so I’d rather not get that cold and wet. I can’t believe it’s almost blanket season again!

Current barn, defending herself from the other frisky mares :)

Dancing in the Rain

I have one quote at my work desk that says “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” – Unknown

This has felt like it’s embodied what’s going on with my life over the past year and thankfully I have been learning how to dance in the rain. 0/10 do not recommend all of the life changing things happening at once (even if they’re positive) but I am so so so lucky to have so many amazing things going on in my life.

Not a great photo but I went to a helmet trade in day and finally got a long oval 1K in rose gold.
I <3 it

The new job is awesome, I’m really enjoying being here. It has been a little tough to face the change in work, even though other change has quieted down. I enjoy learning and taking on new things but when everything in my life feels new and I have more questions than answers it’s tough to hold on to my self-confidence.

The house savings is also going well. We’re still on track to be able to afford the friend’s house next spring/summer and we’re both cautiously optimistic and starting to plan for being there next year. I’m continuing to really stick to my budget and money things feel better than ever. Of course getting a job where I’m making more certainly helps but even with that I haven’t splurged or really changed my spending habits and almost all of the additional money is going towards the house.

Other things in my life have been more stable and things with me and my bf continue to be awesome. He’s an amazing person and so supportive of me including challenging me when he thinks he should which I SO appreciate. The most recent thing has been with my current barn. I’ve felt like I’m doing ok but I must be complaining/expressing more than I thought because he started to slowly and gently push me to look at other options. What was in my mind was to wait until we have the house and then move Katai but when I went to a friend’s barn and spoke positively about it he asked about it and then when I actually started to consider moving there he encouraged me to at least really consider it. Sure enough I’m moving and I’m so thrilled and can’t wait.

Doing DnD prep at the cabin a few weeks back.

The new barn is heated and has a heated indoor connected to the barn. Unfortunately I can’t take on any additional cost right now so while the stalls in that barn are amazingly affordable and beautiful (I’m seriously considering just staying here and trailering to the waitlist barn for lessons) I needed to move to pasture for now. I’ll be saving a small amount of money a month but will have to figure out how to get Katai her supplements on a regular basis. Since we’re moving there early September the pastures shouldn’t be overly rich so that will be ok diet wise. Then by next summer when the grass is starting to come up my hope is to move her into a stall. If for some reason I can’t get her a stall because of budget things she’ll just get a grazing muzzle until I can.

Living by this recently

After a few recent “incidents” at the current barn that left me fuming (which is unusual for me) it’s definitely time to leave. I’m also really glad that I’ll have heat this winter since I feel like I especially struggled with not being able to ride consistently during the winter because of the cold this past year. The current barn is just no longer my sanctuary and looking at moving has made me realize how long I’ve felt like I’m walking on egg shells there. At all of my past barns I’ve been excited when I’ve seen other vehicles in the parking lot and know that there’s someone else to ride with. At this barn if there’s a car in the parking lot I start to feel anxious and consider just leaving and coming back another day. That’s not ok.

What I know about the new barn:
-Katai will be on pasture board with other mares
-They do not feed supplements to pasture horses so I’ll have to figure that out. I think I’ll be ok as long as I can go out 5 days a week but will be figuring out a backup plan if I can’t or if I’m out of town or something.
-The barn that I’ll have my tack and equipment in and where I’ll groom and tack up is heated and connected to the heated indoor
-The barn is adorable and has several stalls. It’s fairly small and really nice. My hope is to get a stall in this barn next year.
-The indoor is fairly small but bigger than what I have now (I think it is at the very least wider but it’s tough to tell without measuring it) at around 60-130 feet so just under regulation small dressage size. It sounds like the footing is slightly deep but based on what I saw I wasn’t worried about it
-There is a much larger outdoor that’s in an awesome and beautiful location. Apparently the footing there is even nicer than the indoor.
-L (the trainer I worked with before Jane) teaches my friend at this barn so will be available for lessons. With my current budget and how out of shape Katai and I are I likely won’t take many lessons at first but it will be AWESOME to have a trainer again.
-My awesome friend boards here (of course since that’s how I found it ) and is the one who took the really nice pictures of Katai and me at the shows we’ve attended. She also rides dressage, takes lessons from L, and shows occasionally. Plus she trail rides a ton so will be a good trail buddy.
-The barn is directly across from a large park system with lots of horse trails so I’ll have trails very available to me. I’m looking forward to getting Katai more exposure in that environment

No Longer Waiting

Oh goodness has it ever been a rollercoaster around here recently!

I had mentioned in a previous post(s) that I just felt like I was waiting for everything, well for the most part I’m not waiting anymore. Now I can finally talk about what has been going on. Without further ado, in no particular order, some of the big things that have been happening in my life recently!

First, I’ve been looking for a new job since the end of last year. I believe I started really applying at the end of November. Starting in January I started getting some interviews. Each time I made it to the final round and at least in two cases I was the 2nd place candidate. It was tough and I just tried to move on. I always feel like everything happens for a reason and so was the case with this. Then, in June I began interviewing for a major healthcare company in MN and this time I made it through and received an offer! Not only was it exactly the job I was looking for but my eventual offer was WAY more than what I I’d have been making at the other jobs I came close on. It is significantly more than what I make now which opened up a whole bunch of opportunities.

Second, a couple of months ago an opportunity came up to purchase a friend’s house. They’re moving out East and would prefer that their house, which they love, go to someone in the friend circle vs. to a stranger and it happened to be offered to us. Bf and I talked about it a ton and were interested but trying not to get too excited about it. Turns out that if you aren’t planning to buy a house you probably aren’t putting much into a down payment and a house in Minneapolis needs a pretty good sized down payment. We had a mortgage meeting scheduled but then when I knew an offer was on the way we delayed it so that we had that info. Very luckily in the meantime the bf got a promotion!! We talked with the mortgage person on the 3rd and it turns out that if we put all of our “extra” money into savings for the house we’ll be able to make it on time with a very small buffer. If it hadn’t been for my job offer and significant increase and my bf’s promotion we likely wouldn’t have been able to make it happen but now we can!!! We’re going to go ahead with it because at the worse we’ll have a bunch of money in a savings account that we can put toward a future house. That of course brings me to my third thing which is barn/boarding stuff.

Not that I have annnnny anxiety about this....

Barn boarding stuff has been up in the air for a little while. I know that my barn is going to close down at some point. At the soonest that will be the summer/fall of 2020 but there is some chance that it could be much further out. All of that is being determined now but what I don’t want to run into is trying to find a place in the last couple of months along with the other 20-40 boarders (tough to get a good count with how many people have multiple horses there). With that in mind I’ve been looking at other options for a while. During the winter I stumbled over the website of a barn I’d never heard of that’s to the SW of Minneapolis. I did some digging and it looked like an amazing set up. However, after my experience at the previous barn with S2 I was a little gun shy about “fancy” barns.

I bookmarked that website and moved on but I couldn’t quite get the barn out of my mind. I don’t remember exactly what prompted it (maybe the extremely cold winter) but at some point I reached out to the owner and set up a tour. I went out at some point in February on an EXTREMELY cold day and got a tour. It’s amazing. There are a few gold medalists that either train or clinic there and the indoor arena is enormous and amazing. There are serious dressage peeps but also lots of people who trail ride, ride western, event, etc. They even have an evening each week where they do horse agility! The property has a pond that you can ride in and access to TONS of trails. The outdoor arena is also very nice and they have a round pen that actually has great footing. This place gets fantastic reviews and the owner is a true business woman who seems to also really understand horse people (and owns a horse herself). I took a spot on the waitlist for a pasture spot because they still feed supplements to pasture horses and it sounds like the grass isn’t that rich but ideally I wanted to get a stall there eventually.

Then I went back and watched the resident gold medalist dressage trainer (who also events) teach a few lessons and that REALLY made me want to move. She was awesome. She taught in a light hearted but honest sort of way that was really refreshing.

Sushi dinner!!! with my bf :)

Fast forward to end of April. I was still on the waitlist at that barn. I went to the horse expo and just as I was leaving I saw Jane’s SO and then Jane. I actually teared up and when she saw me she did as well. We hugged and then I let them know that I’d been wanting to call and check in. Jane’s SO said “you should come see our new barn!” I kid you not the first think that I could think of was an amazing local barn that I’d seen for sale on Facebook. Sure enough he confirmed that’s what they were in the process of purchasing. Back in this post I went to see a potential instructor teach a lesson at this barn. After that I put it on my list as a backup place but then it sold to someone who didn’t want to operate it as a boarding barn and became a private stable. I seriously had goosebumps as Jane and her SO were talking about it. They invited me to move Katai there and I was seriously pumped about the opportunity.

That pretty much brings us to today. Ever since the horse expo I’ve been excited about both options. The issue currently is that both options with a stall are about double what I’m paying right now. I would be able to afford that, however, now since meeting with the mortgage person and deciding to purchase the house both options are out. I called Jane this week and let her know and she was really happy for us but sad that we weren't able to move there. It’s really bittersweet right now but I also am SUPER excited about buying a house and ultimately since that’s next spring it won’t be long and I’ll be able to move pretty much wherever I want at that time. In the meantime I’m still on the waitlist for the other barn for a pasture spot. If that opens up I’m going to make it work so that I can have a heated indoor sooner and also because that waitlist is seriously long and I don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to be there. Mostly I’m just happy that I’m no longer waiting on everything!

New Barn Feels

First I just want to put a note that I've been trying to comment on everyone's blogs but for some reason google isn't allowing me to submit comments. I thought it was just a temporary thing one day but I'm still not able to at this point. I'm going to reach out to support to get it figured out but in the meantime just know that I'm still reading them all!

Mostly I’m loving the new barn. I adore the arena which is the perfect combination of cozy, cute, and had pretty decent footing. It’s not spacious by any means but two people can ride fairly comfortably in it and, let’s face it, Katai is tiny so if I can’t maneuver her around a space this size I don’t have any hope of getting any geometry correct in any test at this point ;)

Katai has a nice sized stall, the hay is amazing, I love having a nice low key trail just outside her paddock, there’s a grazing pen for horses that are in dry lots just so that they can have a mini graze while their people hang out, 99% of the people are great (just like any barn), there are a ton of very long term boarders, the barn manger is FANTASTIC, and I really like my new instructor.

The only drawback so far has been that 1% of people here (let’s be honest, that’s one person) haven’t been very nice but I can handle myself and I’m hoping that with time that will calm down (side note, it's already gotten better between when I typed up this post and when I posted it). It’s never been an issue for me before since I’m good at making friends, I work hard, I’ve been around horses since I was 7 so I know a few things, I have good communication skills, and I tend to get along with everyone but for some reason there’s one person here who I apparently rub the wrong way. Oh well, we can’t all be friends with everyone.

The other main drawback is that the two larger, outdoor arenas are fairly rocky. They’re fine for most horses but Katai is barefoot and we’re rehabbing her hooves right now so she’s still a little tender. The last thing I want is for her to not trust her footing so we’ve just avoided both arenas for the most part. With winter coming it isn’t worth worrying about but we have a couple of ideas for how to combat it next year if her hooves still aren’t at the gravel crushing phase.

The best thing is that Katai has been calm, happy, relaxed, and just seems really content at this barn. She was happy at Janes but still had more anxious energy than she does here and it’s a huge improvement from the last barn where she constantly seemed to be in flight or fight mode for some reason. I’m also loving the cost and the much, much shorter commute.

In addition, K (my new instructor) is nicely low key and relaxed about things while still having great suggestions and I love how she explains theory. She’s also already talking about bringing me to shows next year which would be amazing. I’m excited to keep taking lessons with her and see how far we can go together! I also have plans with one of the amazing barn people who invited me to go to a hunter pace with her! With weather and other things we aren't going to be able to do the hunter pace this year but hopefully next year and we already have plans for a trail ride in a couple weeks!

All The Changes - New Barn

We are finally getting nice summer weather!

This is going to be one of a series of catch up posts that I’ve written already and will post over the next week or so. Previously I’d been working on multiple updates but by the time I got back to working on the drafts they were always out of date. This way that won’t happen!

Where to start. I think where I automatically want to start is by explaining why I’m moving again since I’m embarrassed by the number of barns I’ve been at. However, every move has been for a good reason and I haven’t burned any bridges or had issues at any of the barns, I’ve just had really good, really different reasons for leaving each time and most of those were because of non-horse life changes that caused a ripple effect.

As mentioned in my last post the main reasons for this move were cost and location. These wouldn’t have been factors if it hadn’t been for all of the other things I have going on in my life right now and, while some of them I maybe could have planned for better, for the most part it took me being at my current barn to decide that it wasn’t going to work out.

The puppies playing/cuddling for T.
I'll have to do a whole post on them at some point :)

Cost and location are pretty clear reasons for a move, however, in addition there is also the fact that while moving to a barn that trailered to shows sounded ideal in practice it’s not necessarily working out for where Katai and I are right now. For one thing they only trailer to a very limited (3-4) number of rated shows per year. No schooling shows, and all of these are out of town, and require a full weekend and a hotel. That is not only costly but tough to make my current schedule align. Plus, right now I really need at least a few schooling shows to help Katai build confidence in being off property at that type of environment. I know, I know, beggars can’t be choosers but based on the shows they selected this year I haven’t been able to attend even one show and I’m concerned about my ability to next year as well. Since that was one of the primary reasons I moved here it was one of the things that caused me to re-evaluate.

When I did decide to re-evaluate I went back to the options I had listed prior to moving to this barn which were:

-Moving to an expensive show type barn that trailers to shows where I don’t need a trailer

-Moving to a cheaper, more bare bones barn that met my basic requirements where I could save some money and hopefully afford a trailer, and therefore more flexibility, in the future.

I tried the first and the only other options for barns like this would cost approx. $1000-$2600 per month (or even $3200 if I wanted them to groom and tack up Katai for me [which I very much do not just so we’re clear]) which is money I certainly don’t have. Plus, in those cases I’d likely be facing very similar problems to what I am right now except that they would be closer to my current location. 

The fairy princess looking like a princess

The second was tough mainly because the barns that I was looking at were very bare bones and were either just pasture board with no supplements fed which would be really tough, really far away which would be tough, or were so bare bones that they didn’t even have an indoor which basically would mean not riding for 4-5 months out of the year in MN.

I sat on this for a long time and had started contacting barns for tours since I knew that would help me make the decision. However, in the meantime I sent a completely unrelated message to a local dressage rider on Instagram commenting on a story she had posted about the gorgeous new rose gold OneK that I’ve been coveting. She actually responded and then I randomly asked her where she boarded since I didn’t recognize the location from the pictures. It turns out that she is the dressage trainer at a unadvertised local barn that met pretty much all of the requirements. Even better she sent me the contact info for the barn manager and when I wrote to the BM I found out that while they almost never have openings they happened to have a couple and were interviewing people that week. I managed to fit in an appointment and for the first time ever interviewed to get into a barn. 

and not looking quite as much like a fairy princess

It felt pretty intense especially since she gave me an idea of the “competition” I was up against but luckily it was determined that Katai and I would fit in well and so we got a spot for move in around mid-August.

This barn is much more in line with Jane’s on a sliding scale of small bare bones barns to fancy huge show barns which is perfect because Jane’s is still my favorite place I’ve boarded at. I may have even gone back to Jane’s except, something I never mentioned is that, it was for sale and sold shortly after I moved out. However, one big improvement is that this barn has two outdoor arenas and trails right on the property. Right down the road there are also additional trails and it’s pretty close to another dressage barn that also has a dressage instructor (because options are nice). There is a dressage instructor/trainer on site as well who I’m hoping to work with (the person I messaged) and I think that she and I will get along just based on following her Instagram for awhile J

Proof that sometimes we have a string of good days :)

There are other dressage people that board there who go to a decent number of local, rated shows and I know that the trainer is willing to haul so fingers crossed this will work out to be the best of both worlds. The indoor is quite small and not heated and the barn is also not heated which is going to be the worst part of the move but with how much closer it is and the other amenities I think it will balance out.

Overall I’d say I’m optimistic about the new barn. I’m not excited about it only because I’m dreading another move and the upheaval it causes and I’m wanting some stability in my life since I’m really over the gypsy lifestyle at this point. However, I’m already feeling motivated to work with Katai when I have a 25 minute drive vs. a 50 minute drive to the barn. I’m also excited about being able to work with another dressage instructor since I learn so much from each person I work with.

Exacerbated (long post feel free to skip)

While I know I haven’t done a good job of updating this blog this year I have still been reading all of the blogs I subscribe to. Reading a couple of posts recently made me want to post an update on what is going on more from my riding perspective and mind set than just a general update so here goes.

 I am, along with at least one other blogger, currently struggling with the move up to second level and really have been since last fall. At first it was because I was getting a lot of attitude from Katai as she also struggled with the new expectations but then it became more because we were consistently derailed. First by saddle fit, then ulcers, then SAD, then more saddle fit issues, then my anxiety, then a new boyfriend, then a new puppy, then the weather, then a barn move, then a longer drive, then more expensive lessons, then the weather again…

This weather? Making riding difficult? No that can't be...

 Yeah, so while I’m certainly struggling with moving to 2nd level that’s been exacerbated by all of the other things going on in my life. It is a two way street though and while I’ve shared a lot about all of the other things there is certainly a component of the barn and riding no longer feeling entirely like my happy place, at least not to the extent that it did. The question then is whether I’m going to let myself continue to be derailed and just not focus on riding as much as I have been or completely let the blog go but I don’t want to do either of those things and honestly my life wouldn’t be complete without horses and working toward some sort of riding accomplishments.

Delicious blueberry, spinach smoothies are one way
to make the high heat and humidity tolerable

 So what am I doing to fix it?

 When I stepped back and analyzed why I was really struggling a couple months ago I found that I’ve added the following:
An additional commute in the morning of 10-15 minutes
An additional commute in the evening of 20-50 minutes
An additional commute to the barn each way of at least 20 minutes
Additional time spent walking puppies (I used to be able to let Veggie out in the backyard) of 10-15 minutes 3-4 times per day
Additional time with my bf

 If you completely cut out the time with my bf that’s an additional hour – hour and 45 minutes for days I don’t go to the barn and an additional hour and 40 minutes to 2 hours and 15 minutes on days when I do go to the barn from how my schedule used to be. When you add in time with bf at home and time with bf doing events that pull me away from home that’s a considerable change from my previously quiet (but also lonely :) schedule.

Lots of days like this with huge thunderheads as our weather wildly swings

Having laid that out I feel less guilty for not being able to get to the barn as much or guilty for our lack of progress. Then when I look at budget as well and that is also tight. Moving into the new apartment, needing to pay for parking every day, boarding at a more expensive barn without lessons included, a new puppy, a new (used) car, needing/wanting to go out on dates with my bf… All of these things were items that I took into account but it still feels tighter than I want which is annoying. The tighter budget means fewer lessons and less ability to do shows and/or clinics.

 With looking at the above there are a lot of things that I can’t control but there are a couple of things that I can control and one of those is the barn where I’m boarding Katai. So yep, you guessed it, I’m moving again. The new barn is cheaper by a good bit, and much closer. I’ll easily save 30-50 minutes each time I go to the barn between the shorter drive and the setup of the barn. I found it through my horse network since, like Jane’s place, it doesn’t have any online presence. I’ll do a post specifically about the barn soon, I’m getting so good at them at this point..

One of the busy weekends spent up north with my bf and his family

I have a couple of other ideas as well to help take some pressure off and bf is amazing as always since after I figured this out we had a long positive and supportive conversation about doing a food prep and chores day together. That way we could both get stuff ready together for our busy weeks since not having food to eat has been one of the huge stressors I’ve been dealing with. We’ve also talked about leaving more weekends open so that we can just veg and hang out together or do our own thing (riding for me and climbing for him) vs. always having stuff scheduled.

 I really like this guy.

 There are a couple of other plans in the works to help with reducing my scheduled time but right now they’re just in the beginning stages so nothing I’m comfortable sharing yet. It is making me feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel though. Work has also gotten better in the last couple of weeks thanks to a shift in how our department workflows function and because we added some additional staff. I’m also receiving a promotion which is fantastic :) That all means that my stress should be far lower when I get home which will make for less need to veg and more ability to do the things I want to do.

Another busy weekend spent in NC with my bf for one of his friend's wedding

 As far as what I’m doing to help with my riding?

 I love my current trainer. She’s an amazing person and the tools she gave me to help with Katai’s ground work have made a significant difference. As long as I keep doing my homework I’m confident that next time I show I’ll have a much easier time getting through to Katai which was exactly what I hoped to gain from her. However, she has seemed to me to be uncomfortable helping me get to 2nd level and has encouraged me to clinic vs. taking dressage lessons with her. I truly appreciate her honesty, and, it’s then tough to feel like it makes sense to invest in many lessons with her.

At the new barn there is a dressage instructor that I follow on social media and who is riding at least a couple levels above me. In addition, there is another, locally well known, dressage instructor nearby who has a history of bringing riders up the levels. At this point I’m still comfortable mainly going it alone for a while both to help with my current level of burnout (weekly lessons just aren’t a thing I can do right now) and because we still really need to build strength more than anything else. However, being able to take a lesson a month or as needed to ensure we’re headed in the right directly would be amazing.

 Of course it’s also going to be extremely helpful to be so much closer to the barn. That will help reduce my burnout, increase my motivation to go, and make it easier to get there even when I have more limited time. More than anything I need to get back into a 5 day routine since Katai is not doing well on the 2-3 days a week that I’ve been managing for the past couple of crazy months. So, I finally feel like I have at least the beginning of a plan in place.

Hopefully the reduction in stress and increase in available time will mean I can increase my blogging as well but my first goal is to get my riding back to where it needs to be and then hopefully the blogging will follow!

Shifts

It has been so long since I've posted, almost a month at this point, so I'm pretty much giving up on my posting goals for this year.  I'm also tired of doing update posts but I also want to share all of the cool things we've been up to recently!

From this past week. I'm a sweaty mess but she's always gorgeous

First off, no I'm not at a show right now unfortunately. We made the call about two weeks ago that while Katai is making huge improvements in her ground work stuff she still isn't at a point where I can get her attention back on me, at least in show appropriate ways, so we want to get that more solidified first. In that vein, a couple of weeks ago when I had the lesson where we made that decision (on a Saturday) I decided to also sign up for as much training as possible and took lessons on Monday and Tuesday that week (which I had off work) and then another lesson this past Saturday.

S2 has been really complimentary of the training I've done with Katai. She was surprised and impressed that Katai had most of the buttons she needed to do the work that S2 has us doing on the ground and really just needed refinement. I also haven't known when to push, what to push for, and when to take all of the pressure off for some of the minor behaviors that Katai has had so we're working on that. Namely Katai always pushing me around with her shoulders. It's slow because it's a pretty well established habit but we are making headway and it's amazing how helping her to soften and bend her ribcage and move her shoulders around on the ground is helping under saddle.

Katai really loves the new arena except for the side door.
That ear needs to aim in that direction to ensure we stay alive

Then again it should be too surprising because S2 has had HUGE success doing this with her horses and client horses and has her silver medal.

From a dressage perspective I do miss Jane. Her instruction was just so fantastic and her way of teaching really resonated with me. I still don't really think that I'll have a chance to regularly lesson with anyone that amazing again. However, S2 is not only a really solid dressage instructor, she also has the show experience that Jane lacked. She's able to identify in each movement exactly what the judges will want to see and what could lose me points and that is something that's really helpful at this point now that I have a baseline to build on thanks to Jane.

Good side eye
Mare glare was clearly tired of the mirror selfies

I also had the opportunity to go on a trail ride! I was waiting until I could go out with someone way more experience who knew the way and had a solid trail horse and I got that opportunity finally last week. The trail, within riding distance of the property, was very technical with lots of gain and loss of elevation and we did it all at the walk so it was perfect for her busy brain. At first she was just rushing and not listening. She was also tight over her back and trying to trample the (very, very, experienced and patient) trail horse ahead of us. At one point though we headed down a hill that was covered in pine needles and therefore slightly slippery and she realized that maybe listening to me and my half halts was a good idea. After that she was zoned in and while she still wanted to go she was also really listening. It was also an amazing workout for her and she was nicely sweaty and tired by the time we got back. This sort of slow, hill conditioning, outdoor ride is exactly what I was hoping for since trying to build or maintain fitness at our last barn was nearly impossible.

I'm really hoping to find an opportunity to ride along one of the next times that this person trailers out to a trail ride so that Katai can get more off property experience doing something that she enjoys.

Pre-spay happy puppy :)

In other dressage news I also found out that I won't be able to go to the June show. Unfortunately it happens to fall on the weekend that I'll be in NC with my BF at a wedding. Honestly, if I hadn't already bought plane tickets I may have abandoned him haha but with the tickets I was already at the point of no return. It really sucks that a big part of why I moved was to show and now that's not happening but I am looking forward to the opportunity in the future and by the time it happens I should be that much more well prepared.

I also may be able to ride in a dressage clinic at the end of the week next week so fingers crossed for that!

My rides have been cut down to 4 days per week and this past week I only managed three since I ended up coming down with a really bad cold. I have today off and I'm hoping to ride all four days of this four day weekend but Moshy was spayed on Thursday so part of the plan is to make sure I'm mostly around to keep an eye on her and make sure she's not chewing on her stitches at all. She's doing pretty well but is clearly uncomfortable and I feel bad for her.

New Barn Intro

I mentioned a few things about this barn previously but wanted to do a proper barn tour now that Katai has been successfully moved in.

The barn is in Western WI and about 50 minutes from where I live currently which has increased my drive by 15 minutes one way and half an hour round trip. The extra drive time sucks and I'm not looking forward to that piece but for all of the benefits I think it will still be worth it.

Outdoor Spaces First:

It was/is a working farm (corn and beans as well as producing hay and oats) complete with farm outbuildings and lots of property. The pastures are expansive, split between mares and geldings, and nice and hilly.  My only other reservation is how Katai will handle the grass but I'll get a grazing muzzle if I need to and I'm hoping that with the increased work load from last time she was on grass and all of the running up and down hills that she will be doing with her new pasture mates she won't turn into a pony tick.

Out the field road there is a way to get into an expansive trail system through other properties. It sounds like the owners of those pieces of land are more than happy to have horses riding through (around crops of course) and there are trails cut through the woods, around fields, through meadows, etc. These are exactly the type of trails that I grew up riding on and I am SO EXCITED to get to introduce Katai to proper trail riding.

There is also plenty of space to ride around the property itself including a long driveway and field road/paths around the barns. Even this is way more than we've had before and will be a good way for us to safely dip our toes into trail riding along with lots of potentially spooky things to look at which will be great for desensitization.

There is an outdoor sand, regulation sized, arena with white rails that I'm so excited to ride in and it sounds like they set up ground poles around the outdoor in the grass along the tree line and even a couple of jumps when the footing is dry and safe which will be fun to work on with Katai.

Indoor Areas:

There are two barns (upper and lower which is the main barn) and one overflow barn. Right now Katai is in the upper barn that just has stalls but I'm going to hopefully be able to move to the lower barn at some point. At any rate, both barns are ours to use.

The lower barn/main barn, has all of the grooming spaces including four wash stalls with heat lamps, tack lockers, saddle closets, lounge, and indoor arena. I should have my own tack locker (once things shake out) and get to use a saddle closet in this barn. Currently I'm in the fancy tack room so no complaints! Both barns are heated warmer than what we've had which is nice and the lower is kept closer to 40* during the winter which will be AMAZING. Both are bright and extremely well ventilated so that you wouldn't even know that horses live there.

Pretty sure she's punishing me for the move by blinking

The indoor is actually slightly smaller (shorter) than Jane's but has really nice footing that has some rubber in it. I really like it and Katai seems to as well so far.

Other Stuff:

Turnout times are similar to Jane's with the horses possibly staying out slightly longer during winter. They also go out more days including in snow and appropriate rain (unless it's really cold) which I love. Katai being able to have group turnout with grass during the day and friends to run with is going to be amazing for fitness, for her mind, and very likely for her sometimes ulcery tummy.  Hopefully the grass just doesn't cause any issues.

Tons of hay including alfalfa is also fed and it sounds like (and I observed when I was there) that horses eat their hay before their grain which speaks highly to the quality and palatability. There's also enough of it fed that they're eating constantly which will also be good for Katai's ulcery tummy.

The barn feeds a good ration balancer and will feed supplements. They have Barn Buddies which is great since my now more limited SmartPaks were no longer qualifying for free shipping and I hated paying for shipping on them every month.

The barn manager/owner (S2) lives on site and does some natural horsemanship training as well as being an accomplished dressage rider and competitor with her Silver Medal. She's currently showing Prix St. George. She is also able to give IV meds which is great just in case there's ever a colic situation that would call for it. Having met her and the other people who work at the barn I trust them completely with Katai's care. S2 runs a tight ship and has been showing for a long time so she has the infrastructure to do it well.

The large, fancy, show trailer

Blanket are put on and removed each day which is fantastic. They are also willing to mess with neck covers so I'm looking forward to having Katai fully body clipped next year.Also, my friend who rides her pony at 4th level currently boards there and helps with things like full body clips and will help with mane pulling if needed. I'm looking forward to potentially having her clip Katai with her MUCH nicer clipper next year so that Katai doesn't look moth eaten.

There are also a few big name clinicians who clinic there on a fairly regular basis including Ann Cizaldo which will be amazing both for auditing and riding opportunities.

I'm really hoping this is my last move for a long time. Maybe the last time until I'm able to afford my own property!