Turbulence

March. It comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. Or sometimes, it's in like a lamb and out like a lion.

But honestly? I couldn't tell you what the trend was this year because my March was turbulent as hell with life changes. Nothing overly amazing or overly horrible, but just a helluva lot of changes all at once. I'm so grateful my time management skills are on point because they really helped me get through it all with [mostly] minimal stress.

Let's review some of the turbulence, shall we?

- Moved out of my apartment of four years to live in Canaan - I love having a house of my own, a yard of my own, a garden of my own, etc. The move by and large went super smoothly, but inevitably there are still unpacked boxes (hello, all my crafting supplies) and the sheer fact that they are creating clutter and remain unpacked irks my liver a wee bit.

- Introduced a daily commute into my life - This is something I've very fortunately never had, but I don't greatly mind now. Waking up at 4:15am isn't the greatest, but it is a necessary evil if I want to enjoy 3-day weekends (which I really, really do). It's made easier by the fact that I get to listen to the BBC for the length of my morning commute. <3

- Worked my ass off day in and day out at my job - I've had 3 consecutive (no doubts about it turning into four...) weeks of every work-day being like a Monday. Dealing with high level management on a certain project weekly, sometimes multiple times a day, sometimes multiple times before 10am! I've also had something like 12 meetings since March 8 on this project when I previously might have one, maybe two, a month. I've had a few nights of work until 9pm, too, and let's recall, I start my work day at 6am...oi vey. My work life has been quite steady until recently - meaning it's always a little bit of a challenge, but it's totally manageable. Lately, however, things have picked up 10-fold. This "new norm" should largely cease by autumn, but there are no guarantees. I'm adapting, but it's definitely going to take some time to fully adjust.

- Balanced my various small jobs with my career - I'm still giving Lauren and her mom lessons. We're trying for once a week for both, but all parties have had quite the turbulent past week or two. I'm definitely looking forward to making things more steady and stable in coming weeks! Lauren is choosing to focus on endurance as much as possible while her mom has fallen head over heels for dressage. It's such a blast working with them both.

I also have continued to build my photography portfolio doing family shoots for close friends. My goal for myself is to open a public portfolio to start advertising my small side photography business by mid-summer. My goal is to let the hobby fund itself through photoshoots and probably some sales of individual prints here and there. I may even open a small Etsy shop with the reclaimed barnwood seasonal transition photo series I've been working on.

- Made a quick day trip to Loch Moy to immerse myself more in the world of eventing with Emma, Brita, and Austen - This trip was so fun and educational, though also a bit turbulent due to some unexpected family emergencies on Austen's part. Emma and Brita totally took me under their wing for the day and taught me all of the ins and outs of a typical schooling show. I got to see first-hand how things are run, gain an appreciation for the turbulent atmosphere of the Loch Moy venue, do a couple course walks, and generally plot and scheme my year ahead with Griffin. (Oh, the XC jumps I plan to build!) I also enjoyed being able to take photos for Brita and Emma (some of my favorites below). I didn't stay quite as long as originally planned at the event as I knew I needed to be with Austen as she dealt with a very unexpected hand of cards that was dealt to her that morning. I'm glad I was close by to be able to lend some very hard hugs.

- Enjoy various shindigs to celebrate the end of a good winter - When you live in a town with three ski resorts (two downhill and one cross country) and a wealth of folks who adore the magic and hygge that snow brings, there are many reasons to celebrate winter. We ring in winter with a party at the beginning of December, we celebrate throughout winter with parties, and when the season winds to a close parties are thrown to celebrate a season well-enjoyed. We throw one of the annual parties at our house, celebrate another at a private community center, and a third at the cross country resort. Free food, alcohol, and music along with some of the best people I know all in one room. These celebrations have been wonderful escapes to balance my turbulent month.

And there you have it, some of the turbulence that ruled my March. There are several more key horse-related things that occupied my month, but until things are final with these developments, I'm not going to share them. 😉 It's looking like three of the five developments should be wrapped up by the end of April though!

I'm very much looking forward to warmer spring temperatures, a more steady schedule, and all of the things I love about spring. There is still much to wrap up in April, but overall, my schedule is much less turbulent this month with hard plans only set for five days (as opposed to, you know, half or more of the month).

With any luck, I'll find more time to write on the blog this month!

Summer Living

Summer is in full swing and my life carries on as busy as ever. 40 hours on the clock for work, 4 horseback riding lessons, and various life responsibilities consume me from Monday - Thursday. I run away to Dave's on the weekends where we enjoy lazy mornings, active afternoons that lapse into the evening hours, and then end the day with a nightcap with or without friends.

On top of the world with my favorites

I feel so rushed about lately, jam packing my schedule as I have, but I feel fulfilled with such a busy life, so I really can't complain too much. At first, the thought of giving lessons on top of my job seemed a daunting task - I had interest from 6 or 7 people! I'm grateful for the interest and I love sharing my passion with others, but I am only one person with two horses and a whole other life outside of them, so my time is limited. I capped my students to 3 (one girl comes 2x/week) and life is wonderful. Each is eager to learn and passionate about learning more and being better. It makes me so happy to watch them learn and fall in love with horses all over again each lesson.

Her first time jumping something more than a tiny crossrail and her second jumping lesson ever! She LOVES it.

Between lessons and my training rides, Griffin is getting his fair share of work lately. I'm riding him in the LD at RBTR in 2½ weeks, so I need to polish him up and into shape quickly. He's coming right along and doing very well; he absolutely loves having a job. Most of his workouts have been restricted to the farm of late - dressage-focused flatting (with quite a bit of emphasis on walk-canter transitions as I really want him to work that booty!), some hill sprints, jumping, and of course his patient lessoning with the girls.

Blurry still from a video, but we've still got it.

Last night I got him out on his first significant trail ride in a few months - 8 miles with 1,300' climbing and an average ride pace of 4.8 mph. He's significantly spookier on the trails than he once was, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on that for a time as he hasn't done as much trail work since 2014. Time and miles cure most things, so I'm sure he'll move out a little better with more trail work. He gets shoes on Sunday (his first!), and I'm sure they'll increase his confidence just like they've done for Q.

July 5 on top and July 20 below. Sunset lighting for the win.

Q is doing well. The 8 mile trail ride was her first real ride back (I rode her for a brief 5 minute bareback jaunt on Monday and that was followed by a bareback lesson which consisted of almost exclusively ring work on the lunge line) since the 100. My lesson student was on her and followed me most of the time, but for the moments I did watch the little mare, she seemed content. Or as content as she gets - she's such a stoic little creature. Her footfalls sounded confident and relaxed throughout the ride.

Treats?

Post-ride, we untacked and sponged the horses. Griffin pulsed in at 57, which I'll totally take considering his non-Arab status, and Q was at 47. Clearly the ride didn't do much to challenge her; I love the level of fitness she's at right now! She'll also be doing the LD at RBTR (with a non-endurance blogger aboard!) which will play perfectly into maintaining her fitness levels. (A quick aside, but I want to note this for the record: I observed Q roll all the way over last night For The First Time. She is so focused on scratching certain parts of her shoulder and bum and usually rolls on an incline that I've never actually seen her roll over. I've never worried she was physically unable to, but moreso just never witnessed her rolling on a truly flat patch of ground.)

Dave and I picked a gallon of blueberries last weekend. Each of these jars is a quart.

Biking and climbing are helping me push my fitness into another dimension during the summer months. My legs especially are more fit than they have been since my competitive swimming days. It's fabulous. My bike handling skills are so much improved from last year, too, and I'm really enjoying the trails anew; it's so satisfying to only dab a foot once or only walk a short section of a trail I was hike-a-biking for much greater distances last year! Long uphill sections are also increasingly easier as time goes on. Cardio for the win.

Ride at Five'rs heading through ferns on Hellbender trail.

I'm excited for a lot of upcoming opportunities in coming weeks for riding, biking, and climbing. Summer is sweet and it is my every intent to soak up as much of it as I can being as active as I am able.

'Cause when the blueberries are in, you stop and enjoy! Ride at Five, Forage at Five. Bikes and Blueberries.

Whirling

Firstly: Thank you for all of the compliments on my new header! I have been plotting and scheming and photoshopping for a long while. Each of the silhouettes (except for WV and the Siberian) are directly from photos of me. Some are a combination of two photos as a true side profile shot is not often taken when you're participating in faster-moving sports! This blog has a central focus on the horses, but I also share a lot about my adventures, so I wanted the header to represent those, too. I'm really pleased with how it turned out for the most part. =)

Life is whirling around me lately. I'm stupid busy (shocking, I know). Monday through Thursday I wake up around 4:45a and my head doesn't usually hit the pillow again until 10:30p. During that time period, I'm only HOME about 3 hours, maybe. It's kind of crazy. And I kind of need to slow it down just a titch. But probably not for another week.

Currently I am:

• Working my typical 10-hour day (I always have 3-day weekends).
• Giving an absolute wealth of riding lessons this week (and probably next) for girls who are prepping to take a horse they just met (he's a VERY good boy) to 4-H horse camps. All are doing very well.
• Squeezing in short workouts with Q that are either HIIT hill sprints, dressage, or nighttime riding.

The above is my snapchat story from a night-ride last Thursday. After the first 10 seconds it's all video. We did 5½ miles in an hour. Went out for more of a mental ride than a physical feat. Q was a demon on the return home and I spent a lot of time yelling, "WALK DAMNIT! WALK." She did better with the dark than I did. ;-) The only spooking moment was when she stepped over a stick in a funny way and it moved in a manner that touched both of her hind legs. OMG MONSTER, PANIC! *rolls eyes* So that was a fun 5 seconds of manic waltz-leaping to deal with. Overall, a very nice ride and definitely good practice for me. (I do believe I may need Dramamine for the nighttime loops of the 100 as it is kind of vertigo-inducing, something I haven't really experienced before! Funny how simple things bring about that kind of reaction.)

And the above is a clip of our hill sprints. It doesn't quite do the pitch of the climb as much justice as it could, but it's a good representative of how long our sprints are. She's going about 20 mph here and this isn't even the entire hill! There's about 200 feet more at the top that we didn't do and I started the video about ¼ of the way up from the bottom of the hill. She did 5 reps last night. I plan to taper her down to only 3 reps next week. 5 reps last night with a micro dressage warmup (read: Q blowing through all aids in an effort to try to go back to the barn) and the total ride was about 40 minutes (I hand walked her down the hill and half way to the barn on the way back). At most, she has done 10 reps on this climb and she had to trot the last ones. We did 7 last weekish and she was spent after those. She really gives them her all. And I always dismount after the last one, loosen her girth, and handwalk her down the hill and partway to the barn, stopping to snatch small handfuls of grass and feed her along the way. Even when she is absolutely huffing and puffing like a steam engine, she has an appetite which makes me happy to see because I know she feels good even though she's out of breath from the sprint.

• Squeezing in some workouts with Griffin, also, though not so much my focus as I know I'll have time to ride him more after the 100 is over.
• Going over all of my logistics for the 100. I spent a summer running logistics for wilderness trips (and I'm naturally a list maker and an anal planner), so I know a thing or two. I spend a lot of my daydreaming thinking about what is going to make the experience easier. I totally accept that I cannot control a lot of how it will go, and I'm not planning for that kind of thing much at all. But I absolutely CAN plan out gear and food and supplements and maps. 
• MAPS! I love maps. I have taken the 100 and mapped it out by hand with my spatial analysis programs so I have a better idea of how the course unfolds. I can't preride it all, but I don't have to go in totally blind! (Through past OD rides and No Frills I've physically ridden 50-60% of the course.) I have a very good idea of where the worst climbs and descents are, how long I'll be climbing or descending, and over how many vertical feet. I know where I'll be on fire roads/Forest Service roads and where I'll be on singletrack trails. (Fun fact: over half of the OD 100 is on trail that qualifies as "road" meaning it is wide enough for a 4-wheel vehicle to traverse. It could be dirt or gravel, but it's definitely wide. Why is this important?  Because it correlates to easy footing in the grand scheme of things!)
• Crafting! I've been crafting a lot lately. Mostly gifts for friends, but it's an idea I've wanted to implement so badly for so long. I have also crafted a handtruck saddle/tack rack for endurance rides (the carts are so expensive and this thing has only cost me about $50 to create). And the other horse-related craft I've accomplished is sewing pockets onto my Kerrits Flow Rise tights to make them more similar to the Kerrits Ice Fil tights that everyone loves so much. Yeah, I don't have the sticky seat that the Ice Fil have, but that isn't the biggest selling point on those breeches for me. The POCKETS are. And I couldn't justify spending another $70 right now on something I really don't need. I have 5 pairs of breeches (1 fleece winter pair and 4 summer pairs, two of which are Kerrits Flow Rise) that are all in great condition. So, instead of spending money, I recycled some old tech fabrics to sew pockets onto what I had! My sewing skills are mediocre at best, but I'm really pleased with how it all turned out. (And if I ever decided I absolutely hated them, I could easily use a seam ripper and pluck the pockets off without compromising the tights.)

Khaki fabric is from retired pair of breeches that were janky as hell. Black/blue fabric is an old swimsuit.
I have about 20 of these from my competitive swimming days, the elastic is shot, and various other areas
are worn and stretched out, but I kept them because they made great drag suits (worn over a fitted suit)
for workouts. And when you're in the water 5 days a week, you need to have the option of multiple suits!
Add 5 days a week to 10 years of swimming (yes, I have suits reaching back to the very first days -
they became drag suits), and that's a lot of suits!

And basically, that's my life in a nutshell lately. Whirling chaos that is spinning about in a fairly controlled fashion. But that's [mostly] okay. I know I'll slow down after the 100 (and these 4H camps) is over. For now though?

Cost of the Horse Critters

Alright, Lauren, you've inspired me to suck it up and think about this and post my own.

Griffin and Q, telling & showing you how it is.

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The Basics
Board: $100/month/horse - this is 24/7 turnout on anywhere from 20 to 40 acres; stalls are available as is a small round pen and a paddock area. This cost includes winter hay, as well. ($200/month, $2400/year)
Hoof care: free - I do it myself
Vet care: $200/year for annual vaccines and check up etc. per horse. Now, factor in if something else happens - let's tack on an additional $400 just because (~$800 a year if nothing CRAZY happens)
Grain: ~$20/bag and I go through one every month and a half or so (~$40/three months, ~$160/year)
Training: I have no trainer. I take no lessons. Should I? Yes. But the travel that would be associated to GET to someone to gain a lesson from would be triple the lesson price - at a minimum. Training and time spent with my horses is all done by moi.
Basics Total for the Year: $3,360 (if non-crazy year with vet then $2,960)

The "Extras"
Tack: I'd estimate I drop ~$400 a year on basic things (boots, reins, etc.) Barring out purchasing a saddle or a new saddle pad, that's about all the more I'll spend. However, because I so recently purchased both a new saddle and pad, I'll add those costs $900 & $125. (typical year ~$400; big year ~$1425)
Supplements: a new edition to life. ~$30/month, $360/year
Treats: $7/2 months, $42/year
Insurance: Q is the only one insured currently because she's the only one in full work $350/year
Events: each endurance ride entry is ~$100 with the OD being $150. With only one horse in competition my costs are currently - for the event entry only - $450. Next year with two horses it will be more like $900. As is, Griffin may do up to two events this year. So for this year our total will be roughly $650
Gas: For events. For play. For traveling to and from the barn on a weekly basis. It's a huge factor when you sit and think about it. Weekly to and from the barn: ~$27 ($324/year). Add in the current events: ~$85/event ($340/year). Now add those other local-ish rides that cost me no entry but do cost gas: average ~$35/event if I stay in state ($140/year). And the couple out of state: ~$120/event ($240/year). Gas sum for year: $1044
"Extras" Total for Year: $3,871 (if not buying extra big ticket tack items $2,846)

Total cost spent on horses per year:  $7,231

(if there weren't big vet calls or tack purchases: $5,806)

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And THAT is doing it CHEAP. Roughly $7,250 a year right now for me to own and play pretty hard with two horses?! I'm only competing Q right now, but even with Griffin in competition next year my total yearly cost will be roughly $8,000. Seriously not bad all things considered. I am incredibly fortunate. 

Yes, eventually I will purchase a truck and trailer and costs will go up. And with harder play comes more risk for injury and vet costs - but that is why I insure my beasts. So if the unfortunate occurs, I don't have to worry so much about money to fix up my equine partner. I can do what is right without fretting about whether or not I'll have money to eat and live.

But money is only HALF of the equation in horse ownership. TIME is the other half.

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I have inquiring new horse owners ask me what I paid for my horses often. Q was $600. Griffin was free. I've then had numerous people say to me, "Oh. Great! I hope we can find a good horse that cheap and be as lucky as you were."

No.

I did not "get lucky" with my horses. I "got dedicated" if you have to put a label on it. I spend money (above) and time (below) and lots of sweat to have good horses. I'm flattered people think they're so good, and I'm flattered folks think I "got lucky" with them. But the truth of the matter is that luck is FAR outweighed by dedication, diligence, time, and patience.

Based on items included above in the money estimates, here is a rough estimation of my TIME spent with horses/doing horse-related things:

Hoof care: I spend about 30 minutes/horse every 2 weeks. (26 hours/year)

Vet care: Because you're present when the vet is there, not to mention you need to catch the horses and then inevitably WAIT on said vet to arrive which is always so hard to predict when they're super busy. With the frequency that I have used the vet the past two years with two horses the total is  ~8 hours/year

Errands to pick up food etc.: 35 minutes/month (7 hours/year)

Training: I'm out at the barn a minimum of 4 days a week year round. Less in the winter, but sometimes more in the summer, so saying 4 days/week/year makes it even out pretty well. The length of visits varies, but an average per week I'd say is about 7 hours. (364 hours/year)

Research on tack, supplements, training, etc.: Because you should be knowledgeable! Probably about 45 hours/year. (Wow. Thinking about how much time I do that and calculating it is kind of astounding. I think it may be higher, but I'd rather under estimate at this point.)

Travel: 40 minutes round trip to see the horses. x4 days/week. (2h:40m/week, 138h:40m/year) Travel to events this year is going to be 35 hours/year. So average total for travel is 173 hours/year.

Events: I'm currently attending 4 endurance rides/year and about 6 other "fun" rides. Time spent at these events (both riding and non) is somewhere around 332 hours/year.
 Total time spent with my horses or horse-related activities per year: 947 hours! or about 39½ DAYS nonstop.

So, you know someone who wants a horse who has spent little to no time around them? Do you think they truly understand the costs related with a horse? My approach is one of the cheapest money-wise (if you're going to actually RIDE and take your horse to fun events) and probably about average time-wise.

HORSES ARE MORE THAN "JUST" A HOBBY. Few people spend nigh on 950 hours a year on a hobby. HORSES ARE A LIFESTYLE.

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Don't forget to enter my Dublin Dog GIVEAWAY! 

 It closes on July 4th!

So, I live in a barn

Backstory: I'm currently working in the town I grew up in. I was fortunate enough to score a job in my field immediately after college. I wasn't thrilled to be moving back home,  a much smaller and quieter town than where WVU is (yes, yes, party school, blah blah blah), but I couldn't turn down the amazing opportunity present to me. The first two years of my position, which constantly evolved, was completed in short spurts. I wasn't guaranteed a job past so many months. Fortunately, as things evolved I was able to stay again and again. In the spring of 2013, the job became more permanent, guaranteeing me a position a year at a time for 4 years. And thus, I was able to begin apartment searching.

It became evident immediately that the listings available in local papers and real estate flyers weren't going to work for me. Having pets made things significantly more difficult. So, instead of relying on those modes of discovery, I reached out to friends who are VERY well-connected within the community to keep an eye out for me.

Within a week of this request, my vet (and friend) had an idea.

Her practice is one that involves a lot of travel around the area. She specializes in equine and large animal, but also supplements that with small animal work two days a week. (She's seriously super woman! She's also the one who performed Kenai's surgery.) She sees a lot of properties and knows a ton of people as a result!

She mentioned a barn apartment just outside of town. Its on a road I didn't even know existed until a few years back, despite growing up here! The location makes it seem like its way out in the boonies, but really its only a 7 minute drive from just about anywhere in town - and only a 15 minute drive to my horses.

She cautioned that the place would need renovated, that the landowners would do that, but not until I confirmed my interest and saw it first.

I was ecstatic.

In no time at all, I'd check it out, approved of the renovations they'd planned and we set a tentative move-in for July.

The apartment is linear. Front door leads into the kitchen/living room area and then a central hallway/doorways connect each of the rooms. It flows as such: kitchen/living, bathroom/gear storage space, spare bedroom/office space, laundry area and closet, bedroom.

An odd layout, for sure, bu perfect for a single person.

And, of course, I was allowed to bring the animals! Bonus? Kenai would have SO much room to run around the property!

So, without further ado, here is a photo tour through the months of my place. I absolutely adore it - minus the two gates I have to open/close to get from my residence to the road because of the horse field. (I have a moat of horses/fields, haha.)

The area painted red is the apartment. The rest is the barn. Their horses are on 24/7 turnout, so its not stinky or noisy.

The view as I drive in. The barn is on the right.

Better view of barn to right. Apartment is the red painted area on the far side from the point-of-view.

A baby Atticus enjoying a crisp summer day from the front door.

The view from my front porch. Autumn colors surround me. This view is to the west.

The view to the south. I come through that gate to enter my yard. I love watching the storms roll in during the summer.

The view to the east at sunrise. The bottom land area in this photo is an oxbow wetland.

I sometimes let the boys into the yard to mow it for me. L-R, Major, Cooper, Chester, Something. Magic is outside the fence behind them and Hammer isn't pictured. All of the boys except Hammer are TWH. Hammer is a QH.

Chester, one of their 6 horses, greeting me one misty morning.

Rain rolling off the tin roof during a summer deluge. Its so loud when you're inside the apartment. I love the sound of the rain on the tin roof.

A panorama of the southeastern view one frosty morning.

The living room from the front door.

The kitchen/living area as viewed from the doorway that connects to the rest of the apartment.

The office/extra bed space looking toward my bedroom. My bedroom was originally a garage.

My bedroom. The back wall used to be a garage door.

Not a bad place to hang out. We have big plans for summer "beach" parties in this yard. Complete with cornhole, croquet, a slip-n-slide, baby pool, mini sandbox, chairs, and shade umbrellas.