By Amanda Ross

As the middle of the week rolls in, the washing from Albury CIC is finally done! Done, as in washed, but still hanging around the house & stables like the typical Chinese laundry. It doesn’t help that it’s raining, so I shall continue to live amongst the style of interior decorating that adorns most horse people’s homes post-event, till at least the end of the week!

My version of a chinese laundry © Amanda Ross

Those friends of mine who have human kids often tell me how much washing/cooking/driving around after their kids they do. I would like to raise the point that, although I did not physically give birth to my ‘kids’, I feel like the typical housewife in terms of tidying up after them all!

The pro’s & con’s of human vs furkids:

1. Human kids can clean their own rooms/dress themselves/feed themselves eventually; furkids never will!
2. Human kids wear lots of small clothes that can hang on a clotheshorse; furkids wear large sheets that take up the entire washing line/kitchen chairs.
3. Both potentially go roll in the mud just after being dressed in clean cottons/clothes.
4. Human kids do not require a trailer to be transported to playgroup/school… although sometimes I imagine this would be preferable?!
5. Human kids go to school, where someone else trains them & deals with their issues for the day. My furkids are home-schooled…?!
6. Furkids can be tied up & hobbled when they’re annoying, without a sideways glance from onlookers... I don’t see the issue here for real kids, however everyone tells me that’s frowned upon?!
7. Furkids don’t have peanut allergies, & can share their lunch at comps. William especially loves to sample the contents of everyone else’s lunchbox!
8. Furkids don’t come home whining about being beaten up at school, bullied on Facebook or picked on because they have red hair! (J)

It became apparent (a long time ago!) that eventers have to lug around A LOT of gear. Packing for three days away can transform even the most organised person into an anxious mess, especially when space is at a premium, & the float really needs to be a gooseneck/truck. Passengers on my recent trip to Albury included Caitlin (my super groom), Mum, the dogs Ringo (who insists on sleeping upside down & taking up all the room), & Pika (who gets travel anxiety & pants with death-breath for three of the five hour drive), plus the three horses, William, Forest & Riddick. Add to this, my case of laryngitis and delegating phone call duties to Mum as no one could hear a word I said!

Packing therefor becomes a Tetris-like art form. Bunnings & Howards Storage World catalogues offer a world of organizational excitement. Hooks, baskets, permanent markers in various colours, a system for arranging each horse’s equipment, & the Whiteboard are micro-managed to the last minute/centimetre.

Some of my OCD methods include:

• One boot storage bag with three separate compartments for dressage/showjumping/cross country boots (Anaconda).
• Another for towels, skinny hoods/spare cotton sets, & paddock boots.
• A bridle rack for each horse, named.
• A plastic bucket (also named) below the bridle rack, for each horses boots/post XC electrolyte paste, plus a bandage/wrap bag per horse.
• The Whiteboard – different coloured markers for each horse. Times for beginning pre-comp prep, getting on to warm up, & the actual test/round are listed, plus other things to be done (secretaries office, course walking, horse walking, injury care, gear to be cleaned…)
• Hay bags, water & feed buckets are all named, each horse’s individual feeds made up in plastic bags & labelled in chaff sacks.
• Each horses tack is cleaned both before & after use, so it’s ready for the next comp.
• Rug rolling – no rugs thrown untidily over doors/on the floor… fold neatly, or roll when put away! And there’s a specific method…!
• My new brush kit (the last one broke into smitherines) which is a tradies tool carryall with a million pockets, a handle, & zippy bits. Do not get hay in the brush kit, leave hair in the mane brush, or put the brushes in the wrong order… if the hoof oil brush comes in contact with the body brush there’ll be hell to pay!
• Stable bandages must be knitted, not fleece, & pale blue… this has caused much angst & googling, finally locating them on the net from the UK…shavings stick to fleece & it shrinks in the wash!

 And then there’s the list of replacement items, which crop up after each event…

• Ringo became bored & chewed two sponges & a hoof oil brush & lid.
• My white jumping saddlecloths have been declared ‘used’, so I’ve ordered replacements from the UK… a specific shape that’s slightly higher at the back to allow more airflow.
• Studs… don’t start me! They get lost when the boys throw a shoe that we can’t find! Again, with Badminton coming up & many an Aussie heading over, its tungsten cored pointy studs to cut into our hard ground, in small & medium length x 16.
• I’d like a new, softish but firm-packed bristled body brush to do quarter markers, & another packet of pointy (but not pointy enough to pierce my finger) plaiting needles. Losing your favourite needle is just depressing!
• Remember to put more elastic bands around the handle of my jumping whip, so I can put one round my finger to prevent dropping my whip in the event of a baton twirling fail!
• Need more XC leg grease…
• KER Restore electrolyte pastes, paw paw for the boys mouths, Epsom salts for post XC leg poulticing.
• Forest’s jumping saddle needs refitting so I don’t end up on his butt.
• WORLD FIRST – William needs a smaller stud girth!!! 

OK, so you can see these furkids take up a lot of my organizational brain space. Tonight, whilst others are out buying frocks, wining & dining, I might just be doing the Friday night shopping trip for furkid competition accessories! Who knew buying sponges & paw paw could bring so much joy…?!

It’s just over a week until our next start at Camperdown CIC over Easter, so it’s action stations! Catch you after the next event!!

Amanda

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