Finding a Balance

I wish I could tell you I have it all figured out. That perfect balance between work, family time, house work and horse time. But I don’t. Not even close! As a “backyard” horse owner, most people assume that I have an endless amount of time with my horse – to ride, groom, feed, etc… Well, that all sounds wonderful and perfect, but there’s a little thing called a full time job that’s getting in my way. How else am I gonna pay for this expensive hobby…and the other bills? I look back fondly on the days before college when both my horse and I lived with my parents and I was able to ride every day and take full care of him. Now, I’m lucky if I can squeeze in one or two good rides per week.

“How could that be?”, you might ask. OK, I’ll break it down for you. I get up around 6am to feed Dancer, haul hay, fill water, turn him out, clean his stall, take out the dog and then I’m able to shower, grab a quick breakfast and take my coffee to go. Then there’s work. All day. At the desk, dreaming of my next ride! After I pick my husband up from work, we make the trek out to our country home and start feeding the animals and then feeding ourselves. Usually about the time we sit down for dinner, it’s well past 7pm. When it’s still light in the summer and I have the extra energy, I can go out and ride or lunge Dancer. In the winter, with my un-lit outdoor arena, I’m pretty much out of luck! Well, there’s still the weekend right? Yes. The weekend. When I cram in as much as I can before Monday. I work at a dressage barn all day Saturdays, but Sunday is my time with the boys (husband, horse, husky). I’m sure a lot of other riders can relate!

So, what’s the answer? Well, I haven’t quite figured that out yet. One of my goals for 2014 is to ride at least 3 days per week NO MATTER WHAT! I think that when you don’t have much time to ride, you tend to place pretty high expectations on what you should accomplish in that 30-45mins in the saddle. This can be problematic for both you and the horse because you always end up feeling like you could have accomplished more and he senses your frustration. So you tell yourself that you’ll do it the next time. And then you dwell on it and create lesson plans in your head and get really freaked out because you’re SO behind! No? Just me? Something I’ve finally learned is that it’s OK to have a plan and create goals, but it’s also OK to just spend quality time with your horse and not accomplish great feats in horsemanship. This is especially helpful to keep in mind if you have limited riding time. I’ve been trying to take at least some time during the week to just hang out with my horse. Hand grazing. Grooming. Just going out in the pasture and giving him treats and a good scratch. It’s not quite the same as riding every day, but I still get in some horse time and that makes everyone (especially my husband) very happy!

How do you find a balance? I’d love to hear your tips so be sure to comment below! Happy trails!