Riding and barn chores: the balance
There’s a meme currently circulating on social media among equestrians. It’s got a photo of a guy who just oozes “horse guru” — clean cut, crisp polo shirt and hat, freshly groomed horse in the background. He’s facing the camera with tented hands, and the quote says something like, “One doesn’t simply ‘go to the barn real quick.’”
And that, folks, is the story of my life. At the end of the day after settling everyone for dinner and then clearing the dishes away, I’ll often tell my husband I have to step outside “for a minute” to feed horses. Both he and I know “minute” is a massive understatement and that I am going to use this time to recharge my batteries.
After mixing and pouring feed to my impatient charges, I’ll be pitching hay, refilling water troughs, applying hoof treatment, addressing any minor injuries and making decisions on blanketing options for the night.
The whole process takes 30 minutes to an hour, and that variation usually depends on what kind of day I’ve had. If I taught or rode earlier in the day, it’s a cursory visit, and everyone is put to bed inside a half hour. If I’ve been inside or on the road for the majority of the day, however, I need time to just stand and watch horses swish the dregs of their feed around in their buckets and then turn to their hay bales and begin pulling the long, stiff strands out.
The process of hooking packed dirt out of hooves and painting on a nourishing treatment or picking my way through the mud to check fence lines is oddly calming. Putting a horse back out in the pasture after covering them in a warm turnout blanket brings me a sense of satisfaction — I know they will be comfortable and that I’ve done my job well. I call my daily barn chores my
“zen garden.” There’s something reassuring and soothing about setting things to rights in my outdoor workspace just before the day ends.
I caution new horse owners who choose to keep their equines at home that riding will be about 10% of the situation. There have been times in my life when that fact was very frustrating. If you’re trying to accomplish a competition goal and you can’t ride very much because you’re performing constant stall and pasture maintenance, it’s easy to become impatient and chafe at the bindings that make at-home horse life possible.
It’s also easy to look around your property from the back of your horse and realize that if you don’t stay active with upkeep, grass and small trees will begin to reclaim your riding area, barn and pastures.
Over my years of self-care horse ownership, whether I was leasing a barn I needed to maintain or overseeing my own facility, I’ve learned compartmentalization is key. My time for riding grows ever more limited, and I have to prioritize it if it’s going to happen. It’s far too easy to step out to the barn and begin working on something that can probably wait instead of saddling a horse. At this point, I’ve given in to the fact that my saddle time is going to be limited, and I try to maximize what I have by setting aside one hour one morning a week and having a friend instruct me.
This structure allows for several things. First, I am obligated to ride if I know my friend is going to be here waiting for me. Second, it allows me to optimize my time on the horse with good instruction. I believe that no matter how long we’ve been doing something, a little constructive criticism goes a long way. Since I don’t get to practice every day, having eyes on the ground every time I ride helps reinforce good habits. And finally, as stated above, I’ve commandeered the chores as part of my mental health routine. I tell myself that someday I’ll be able to ride every day again, and I hope I will, but I also hope that I can hang on to the balance that I’ve developed in my mentality toward horse ownership. I have always needed a certain amount of variation in my life to stave off boredom, but at this point, I’m also seeing that the ordinary and routine aspects can bring quite a bit of satisfaction when I embrace them.
Elizabeth Crumbly is a newspaper veteran and freelance writer. She lives in rural Northwest Georgia where she teaches riding lessons, writes and raises her family. She is a former editor of The Catoosa County News. You can correspond with her at www.collectiveink.com.
One year ago this week, I was living a normal life, and you probably were too. There were no masks, no social distancing, and no fear.
We dined inside at restaurants, we shopped, and we attended ball games, movies, live concerts, and church.
We heard on the news about an odd-sounding virus on a cruise ship somewhere. I was one those news anchors who shared that information, but I wasn’t concerned.
My wife, who is, how do I say this — much smarter than me — had purchased several rolls of toilet paper for some reason. I made fun of her for doing that, at least once. Spoiler alert: it came in handy.
Then came March 12, 2020. The school district in my area announced it would be shutting down for two weeks, because the county had reported its first case of COVID-19. Wow, I thought. Two weeks is a long time. I thought, I’m glad this is happening now. Imagine if things were shut down during football season. Like most of us, I had no idea.
Back then, if someone was putting on a mask before they entered a retail store or a bank, the police were alerted. Now, if someone enters without a mask, it is a rare sight indeed.
Recently, I posed two questions to my readers: What have you learned since the beginning of the pandemic? And, how will your life change when things are back to normal? This week,
I’ll focus on the first question.
By far, the most common response was “I will never again take anything for granted.” Many readers talked about “hugging my grandparents (or grandchildren) tighter, and visiting with them longer and more frequently. We always assume we’ll have a next visit, another hug or kiss, but tomorrow isn’t promised.”
Understandably, hugs of all sorts are missed. “We didn’t have a family reunion for the first time in my life,” one friend wrote. “And what’s a reunion without hugs?” Another added, “Even an introvert like me needs social interaction. I miss the handshakes and hugs more than I ever thought I would.”
Although children have gradually returned to their classrooms, many lamented the long breaks without inschool learning. One teacher wrote, “I missed seeing the smiles on their faces and feeling the joy from within their hearts. Their education has been challenged like never before. I rejoice knowing the hallways are now filled with happy faces, and knowing they are learning and socializing again.”
The inability to be with ailing relatives, some of whom passed away, will always be a part of our pandemic remembrances. As one woman wrote, “I’m ready for the day for hospitals to open up to visitors again. Losing my dad the way we did ... I don’t think I’ll ever get over that.”
Others have missed the joys of travel and restaurant dining, although one friend cheerfully recalled “a recent increase in good conversation, a more economical way of eating, and even a few pounds lost.”
One mother found an unexpected silver lining during the pandemic. She said, “As difficult as it has been, I have absolutely loved spending time with my 15-year-old daughter! We really enjoy each other’s company, and she’s got a terrific sense of humor. For me, that’s been the best thing to come out of quarantine. We are both looking forward to life getting back to normal, but the time we’ve spent together has been a once-in-alifetime gift.”
Another woman summed it up this way. “I’ve learned to appreciate life more. Sure we’ve had other deadly viruses, but this one changed everything. We may never have our old normal, but I now know I can live with the new normal,” she said.
Many readers pointed out how the virus became a political tool, rather than a scientific reality. One man wrote, “I’ve learned there are people who would take a chance on infecting themselves, their loved ones or complete strangers just to prove a political point. That makes me sad.”
Perhaps the most surprising lesson has been coming to grips with our fears, our vulnerabilities, and our weaknesses. In America, we had become comfortable with the false reality that nothing could stop our way of life. Sure, there was a pandemic before, but that was more than a hundred years ago. Science, medicine, and technology had advanced to the point that we could fend off anything, or so we believed.
As one reader said, “Just because you could never imagine it happening, and even though the politicians said it could never happen, it most certainly can happen. “
State Sen. Jeff Mullis, R–Chickamauga, has signed on as a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 241, a bill that proposes substantial changes to Georgia’s elections and voting procedures.
“Voters all across the state have reached out, urging members of the General Assembly to take action to address the issues they witnessed on and after the November election,” Mullis said. “These concerns deserve to be treated seriously, and the Senate has already acted swiftly and passed numerus bills that directly impact several of the improprieties brought to our attention.
“S.B. 241 offers a comprehensive approach that addresses many of the key areas that citizens have requested we act on including absentee ballots, transparency in the tabulation process, streamlining the fraud reporting process and more,” he said. “I am proud to be a co-sponsor of this bill and will do all I can to advance the bill through the legislative process.”
S.B. 241 passed the Senate Ethics Committee March 1. The next step for the bill will be the Senate Rules Committee, followed by a vote before the full Senate.
The full text of S.B. 241 is available at https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/60009.
Mullis serves as chairman of the Rules Committee. He represents the 53rd Senate District, which includes Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties and portions of Chattooga County.