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Yes it’s winter and yes we all complain about how cold the weather is/it’s too dark to ride before or after work/the arena is under water. I am finding ‘admin in bed’ to be a new activity I’ve previously had little interest in, but with the electric blanket on 3, a coffee, & two snoring furkids, doing emails is far more appealing at 6:30am than the dark cold fog outside!
One part of the cold I hate is plaiting. My fingers literally freeze, hurt, & cannot feel a thing (a lovely condition called Reynaud’s disorder), so I’ve been developing a plan to combat this. It consists of shoving my hands up Ringo’s jacket & holding a hot coffee to thaw out between each plait! Competing in Scotland is never going to be on my radar, as dressage doesn’t look the same in a pair of Gortex gloves & a scarf!
Fitness is a challenge & my early morning runs have not held their usual appeal! Running on the treadmill has given me a new insight to how boring it must be to be lunged… at first its fun, but after the initial excitement, its just the same scenery over and over…and over! The only difference being, that instead of being kept on the circle by a person wielding a long whip (or your personal trainer!), you can either choose to get off, or if you don’t keep up, you fall off!! Boxing, challenging oneself by kneeling on a fitball whilst throwing a med ball against the wall, as well as various attempts at balancing can be very entertaining… for everyone else as I hit the deck!
One of winters inside activities has been the formidable task of deciphering a budget for the horses running costs. Oh. My. God! I must say it has been extremely educational to peel back the layers & see where the biggest costs come from. I whinge about Pentosan being expensive, when given once a month it only amounts to $600 a year.
Here is a little snapshot of my annual breakdown (for one horse), which you may find useful/terrifying/best hidden from your husband:
• Grain & chaff: $3000-$6000
• FEI entry fees: $2890
• Hay: $1600-$2200
• Farrier: $1478
• Event stabling/yards/bedding: $1095
• Post XC ice: $156
After looking at the numbers I’ve decided on the following:
- All horses must be crossbred good doers – the thoroughbreds cost the most to feed!
- A steel portable yard with float hanging brackets & postage freight costs around $876. Within a year you’ve paid for the yards, which you can use except at a CCI.
- If you have somewhere to store bedding, then a truckload of sawdust will last you ages for a fraction of the cost. Bag it in chaff sacks and take it to events, it’ll save your clean pony lying down & emerging pre-dressage with a green poo stain on his face!
- Hay will be fed on a ‘per strand’ basis, where the ponies will be told to chew slowly, taste their food, & savour every mouthful! Small square/fat kid hay bags are a neat way to feed hay, & slow down those boombas who stuff their chops in a hurry!
The Commonwealth Games is on TV, & it’s such a pity they don’t include Equestrian. It would be an awesome competition between England, Australia & New Zealand! Not sure how the Kenyan’s would fair, however the track & field should be pretty good! And best of luck to our Team for the WEG, very exciting, I think its FEI TV subscription time again!
Stay warm & mind the mud!
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