Do something every day for which you do not get paid.

hahaha subject line just made me laugh since that's the vast majority of my life :)  Def need to find some more students though or it *won't* be my life as long as I'd like it to.  *sigh*   So if you know anybody who wants to ride... >;-P

Ok end of that.  Today was a comparatively *very* easy day, thanks to Steph being home and taking over the afternoon shift :)

So I got to the barn today and was debating with myself about getting everything done super-fast and getting home (since Wednesdays I don't teach in the evening and my wonderful working student Kirby does night chores for me :) and actually riding my horse and getting some extra stuff done.  The debate of course being I rarely have time to ride, but I also rarely have time to get stuff done either.  So which wins out?

Well I dressed to ride.  So that's always a step in the right direction.  hahaha.  But by the time I got there I was def leaning towards get stuff done and get out.  Except that when I pulled in, the boarders' farrier was there -- which meant there was no way I was going to get stuff done in any reasonable amount of time.  Soooo - ride it is.  Sweet.

Stunningly gorgeous outside BUT - the outside ring is under water.  Tricky.  Hacking it is...  BUT it's *really* slick.  'Sok - Athena needs lots of LSMs (long slow miles) so still all good.   So by the time I had morning feed done I had myself absolutely convinced I was riding and that there was NO way I was riding indoors.

So out we go hacking -- and for the first 20 mins she was perfect.  Forward swinging walk with no hint of silliness.  Then all of a sudden she got very full of herself.  And while I *did* keep it to my plan of LSMs -- mostly walk with only about 10mins of trotting -- she never came back down.  It wasn't till *after* the ride I clued in that I pretty much ALWAYS walk her for about 20 mins -- and then we trot for a little and then we play :)  Almost unheard of for her to go out and just walk *g*   And clearly that's how she feels it should be!

I brought her back home, having dedicatedly stuck to my LSM plan and untacked her outside her paddock.  Now it may have been long and slow, but it was still *work*.  She was sweating and I expect she'll feel it tomorrow.   But sadly she hasn't figured that out yet.  If she doesn't gallop, it doesn't count!  Usually when I turn her out she meanders over for a drink and then heads out for a wander and a roll.  But not today.  Oh no.  She was shorted a gallop and she wanted to gallop!  hahaha  Fortunately unlike at GV where she did essentially the same thing, this time she waited till she was given permission :)   Pretty fun to watch :)   I watched her till she settled and I was sure she wasn't going to injure herself and then went back to work -- when I checked on her later she was *tired*.  Poor girl needs to learn to trust me when I tell her to take a break!  hahaha ah well.  Was still a great start to the day.

Mucking stalls took forever -- partially because I couldn't get motivated, partially because I had a wicked headache (weather!), and mostly because Sasha's feeling better (YEAH) but still not allowed to be active (BOOOOO!)   But she *was* a superstar in grade two yesterday so that was good.   Grade 2 requires a lot more homework than grade 1 *g*   She's in puppy high-school now.  hahaha   Anyways - Stephy showed up and took over.  Woohoo!  So I got to escape early after all :)   Went home and crashed for a bit, which combined with the storm going away made my headache leave and the end result was a reasonably productive evening :)  Well that and a solid 2h of training/playing with my puppy :)

Somehow still have about 6h of stuff that didn't get done.  Ah well - such is life eh?