Preparations – Part 1

So less than a week until I make the trek down to Aiken.  I’m generally a very organized individual, but I feel a bit overwhelmed trying to get everything prepared for myself and the horses, plus getting things in order to be off work for a week.  I’m still trying to figure out how I thought driving 9 hours south with 2 horses to spend the week is going to be a vacation for me.  I guess I had a moment of insanity when deciding to go. 

Despite all my planning there of course have been hiccups, like the vet putting Catty as a gelding on the health certificate even though she has known her since birth.   The big hiccup was of course with the 8 year old trailer and the much older truck.  I planned ahead and took the trailer to the shop for maintenance to make sure it is road ready for the trip.  Upon picking up the trailer the repair shop noticed the truck hitch was rusty.  The rust was so bad you could poke your finger through the hitch.  Is that a big problem?  Good thing we found that before I left, so today the truck went in to have the hitch replaced.   

During one of my long commutes in the car I decided to try and mentally figure out what gas is going to cost me for this trip.  So about 530 miles one way, the truck gets about 7 miles to the gallon when hauling, at an average of $3.60 a gallon that would be?  OMG, never mind, ignorance is bliss think about something else, yikes.  I make a mental note to ask the techs at work if there is a magical potion to double MPG, there has to be, right?  

The horses seem to be coming along well, despite the arctic temps, whistling winds and deplorable ground conditions, however thankfully there hasn’t been a snowmageddon this year.  I had a dressage lesson Friday evening, where thanks to a cold front coming through the wind was howling.  This made for a nice lesson on how to ride Catty when she is going like a freight train.  On Saturday I participated in a jumping clinic, where I got told Catty is a big-time horse, so I need to step up my game to match her talent.   What did I selectively choose to hear?  My mare is awesome!  Yesterday I had a jumping lesson with Ianto, where once he discovered the fire pit for the spectators wasn’t going to eat him he was wonderful.   I got a very nice compliment from the farm owner where my lesson was.  She said all of my homebreds are so pretty, and whenever she needs to get her next horse she will come see me.  That definitely put a smile on my face.

Now with it being crunch time I have to get tons of laundry done for me and the horses, clean and clip them so they don’t look like ragamuffins, make sure I have everything packed that I need, and try not to freak out too much!