I'm So Excited (And I Just Can't Hide It, Obviously)

Last night I dreamed I was going eventing. Sometimes dreams have meanings that are obscure and hard to find the reasoning behind. Sometimes there is no reason behind them except eating cheese right before bed- trust me, I speak from experience.  However, there was no great mystery behind this dream, I was undoubtedly excited to be riding that day after a three-month hiatus.

All day at work, however, I felt completely crappy: nausea, headache, chills, etc.  When I texted this to my fiance, he very sweetly replied, “You sound miserable.  You should take some sick leave and just go home and rest.”

Go home? If I left work then that would mean I wasn’t well enough to make my lesson that evening.

“I have a lesson tonight.  I took some naproxen and now my head feels much better,” I texted back.  Suddenly, in the face of not having my lesson, I wasn’t sick at all!

As you can tell, I was so ready to ride, nothing was going to stop me.  As I drove to the barn after work I felt such a sense of anticipation, of - as corny as it sounds- joy at the thought of being around the horses. Riding, grooming, just listening to them as they shifted in their stalls eating hay… I couldn’t wait. While it wasn’t exactly the same feeling I get when I visit my family halfway across the country, it was pretty close.

The intense, almost childlike excitement I was feeling served to remind me that horses and riding are what I love.  They make me feel whole.  Or, if you prefer modern cliches: I know that I’m living my best life when horses are involved.

So, even though when I got to my lesson, my fingers froze, my half-chaps wouldn’t zip all the way (But I’ve been working out regularly! waaaaaah!), my muscles didn’t work the way I wanted or I had to listen to my fellow students talk about the horses they’re leasing (don’t cry for me Argentina, I’m sure the decorations at my wedding will be well worth cutting back on lessons…..*sobs*)…. Even despite all these frustrating things, I couldn’t help but think:

at least I get to ride again.

It’s good to be back in the saddle (yet again).

I Love My Barn, But.... (WARNING: a bit medically gag-inducing)

I love my new barn a lot.  Great trainer, beautiful facility, close to where I live/work.... I mean, it's pretty much the tops.  There is one thing (sparkly pink unicorn saddle pads aside), however, that really gets my goat.  (Also, this place has goats.  Like I said, it's the tops).

The interesting thing is that I've never had this problem at any of the other barns I've been at, which makes me wonder.  Now, contrary to other barns I've belonged to, my typical riding outfit of jeans and an old t-shirt I don't mind getting sweat, horse snot and dirt on, stands out from the rest of the crowd.  What was normal at my previous places now makes me look like some kind token wrong-side-of-the-tracks kid.

So, I feel like it might have something to do with the fact that the clientele is a little different than what I'm used to, but it could be something completely different that has nothing to do with the stereotype I'm about to make. You see, there are a lot of young'uns at the barn and their moms all tend to arrive to pick them up wearing the same outfit: yoga pants and flip flops.

I've no problems with the yoga pants, I don't blame you for wanting to be comfortable, but flip flops? Flip flops for crying out loud!

Am I the only one who was taught never to wear open-toed shoes to a barn? Was that just a midwest thing because we only get three months out of the year to wear sandals and our pedicure game is just not up to par?

Every place I've ridden, you come to the barn you wear closed-toe shoes.  Every place.  Sure, if you weren't born into a horsey family you might not know that off the bat, but in my experience, parents and riders alike learned really quickly. 

Just a couple weeks ago, a gross photo of the mangled foot and toenail (I'm trying not to gag right now) of a horse person I know popped up in my facebook feed without warning (another pet peeve of mine-  I was eating lunch at the time btw) who had been caught in her wellies.  If you're a horse person, you've probably also seen the oft-shared photo of that foot that was practically all scraped  off (I can feel the bile rising in my throat) that I'm NOT going to share here (not even if you paid me in Ryan Goslings.).  NOBODY wants that to happen to them, nobody.

So, what gives? To make matters worse, these women often stand in high traffic areas talking to each other.  People who are inexperienced with unpredictable creatures + standing in a high-traffic area + flip flops just seems to = painful disaster waiting to happen.

 So far, I've never witnessed anyone say anything to these women to educate them.  I sort of feel like that's my trainer's position (and maybe she has spoken to them and they just don't care, to be fair I don't know) to educate them and I don't want to be that person, that nosy know-it-all with unasked for advice.  Still, the whole situation just makes me nervous.  

What do you think, is there a polite and non-bossy way to suggest they wear real shoes, or do I just shut up and mind my own dang business?  

P.S. I did try to avoid being too graphic, but I'm sorry if this post grossed you out.  I'll try not to do it again.