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5 Minutes Here, 5 Minutes There
(Ways to make time for other things)
Most
non-horse partners get a terrific shock when they realize just how much time
a horse requires. They aren't expecting it, and
sometimes the horse owner isn't
either.
Time and
money are the two things that most horse people are usually short of -
and the two things that horses need a lot of. Many new
owners don’t realize
themselves what they’re getting into until they’ve fallen
deeply in love with their
new equine partner and it’s too late to do anything about it.
Many new
horse owners remember the great times they had as a kid with horses,
but have forgotten (or never knew) the financial
contributions of parents. They
dream of riding the wind with Morning Star (known as Starry,
for short), never
imagining that riding time will be cut to a minimum by the
sheer number of required
horse-keeping tasks. In order to find time to ride,
something else in life has to go.
Often it’s time spent with a non-horse partner, and conflict
develops.
It’s
possible to juggle a job, family, social life and horses without any of them
suffering; you just have to have the right attitude and
approach. Here are some
ideas:
*Don’t
let the phone rule your life. If it rings just when you’re leaving to play
with
your horse, let the answering machine take the call. Leave
your cell phone where
time “thieves” can’t disturb you.
*Write
down the learning tasks you want to accomplish with your horse each
month in the order in which they need to be done—as if you
have to give the
assignment to someone else. Making a list will help
crystallize how best to move
toward your goals. The list will also provide lots of
self-satisfaction when you
smugly cross off items as you get them accomplished.
*The
key to keeping your horse priorities straight is to make still another
list.
Write down every thing you do with your horse—large and
small. Include jobs like
cleaning stalls, feeding, cleaning up the tack room, brushing
your horse, cleaning
his feet, scrubbing brushes and saddle blankets (you get the
idea). Now divide
the list into A and B. A is the list of things you feel you
“should” do, like keep
the tack room tidy. B is the list of what your horse thinks
you should do. ..like
getting together to play or go for a trail ride. From that,
develop your C list—which
is the priority list of things that are very important
because they directly affect
your horse. When you look at things from your horse’s point
of view, somehow
having a dusty tack room doesn’t seem to matter much.
*A
horse can easily take up your whole day if you let it—but with a job, kids
or
grandkids, and a home to keep up, working a little quicker is
a definite asset. If
mucking out usually takes a half hour, see if you can cut it
down by 5 minutes. If
brushing your horse takes 15 minutes, try doing it in 10.
That will give you an
extra 10 minutes to ride. Also, beware of the chatty folks
in your barn who want
to let you in on the latest gossip. They can easily steal
the 10 minutes you just
saved. Listen, but keep working!
*Learn to say no. Sometimes the impulse to help out is very strong,
especially
when the other person obviously hasn't got a clue. But if
you don't watch it,
teaching others how to ride or take care of their horse can
easily take up most of
your available horse time.