After more than a year looking for a job I finally have two good (really possible that I'll actually get a job offer) interviews next week. One is near where I'm currently living with my family but is the less desirable (to me) of the two. The other is far enough away that it would mean a move but I'd be making enough to make that possible. If I get that job, knock on wood-crossed fingers-no walking under ladders, it will mean not only a move for me but a move for Sora.
I am so completely ready to move her that I can't even express it =) It's been WONDERFUL being able to keep her at my parents. It means that I have only to pay for hay and grain and I get to see her everyday and care for her myself. Those are things that I will really miss once I am eventually boarding her (whether or not it happens now). However, it also means that I'll actually be able to start working her again because I'll have access to an arena or round pen of some kind. It may seem silly that it's impossible to work her in our current set up but it truly is impossible.
If you were to cut out a sample of our snow you would find that it varies by where you get it from 1" to about 2.5'. There is glare ice underneath most of it and at least three different layers of hard, sharp crust at various depths. Add to that the fact that you can't even get into our arena and, even if you got in, can't close the gate because it's stuck. The only place that my family can even walk is on our driveway and road and guess what, that's slippery glare ice and it's also just rock hard. Not a good combination to work a hot, green, four year old on even for ground stuff.
The dry lots, winter pens, that the horses are in would be the best place but they are on a slant and fairly slippery which completely rules out lunging or anything faster than a walk/halt. I've done some work with her yielding etc but there's only so much we can do on that topic.
Because of the above I dream of an arena, or something, to work in. I really don't care much about the cold (although I wouldn't work Sora with the recent temps of 10) and would be happy even if it was outdoors as long as the footing was reasonable. So, although I've got the cost of keeping a horse at an amazing low, the absolute impossibility of being able to work with her is soooooooooo hard.
While I'm excited about a move for her I'm also nervous =3 In my 12 years of horse keeping I've never kept a horse at a boarding stable. Yeah, the math means that I've been keeping them since I was 12 years old and that includes fixing and setting up fences, first aid, training, and feeding each morning and night even when it's 40 below and in blizzards. Although it will be a nice break to leave some of this to someone else I'm really going to miss the control. I'm hoping to keep Sora somewhere with stall board, mostly because of dietary reasons, but where the horses are out all day. This makes me nervous because I've never kept horses in stalls, ever =S. Sora has however spent a fair amount of time in one when she was younger and I would suspect she will be a "stall baby" and love it just from what I know of her behavior around here.
There are certain things I just can't imagine, like having someone else worm her, or even lead her to and from her stall. I'm just sooo used to being the one who does everything with her and will really miss that. In my mind though the opportunity to work with her, spend time with other horse people, have access to trails and an arena outweigh the worries I do have.
These are some of the facilities I'd like to look into/visit.
http://triple-sranch.com/default.aspx
http://www.sunsetridgeranch.com/index.htm
http://kadlerfarm.com/default.aspx
http://www.ridesportstables.com/home
http://www.windyslopesstables.com/
http://lonerockranch.net/
No comments:
Post a Comment