Riding Journal
Awareness of the outside world. Got pulled out of my comfort zone with a vengeance. Calendar exploded. Have had activities that require in-personal socialization every day this week. Two today. Some good; some less good. That’s a lot for me even in the before times. Now, exhausting. How is everyone else doing?
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For visual interest, unrelated scenery from yesterday’s walk. Odenville City Park.
… and now back to our regularly scheduled programming …
Things we don’t do at home and then expect our horses to cope with at shows.
+ Waiting around forever
+ Warming up and then standing by the ingate before performing
+ Riding multiple times in a day
Which is by way of saying we did two-a-days last week. Not for any sound theoretical reason. We backed into it.
Ride in the am to avoid the worst of the bugs. Mostly laps & trot sets. [Summer Hours]
Quick session of ring work in the evening to take advantage of dry grass, i.e. non-dewy, non-skid footing.
We’ll see if it continues.
While we are on the subject, other things we do at shows but don’t practice at home.
+ Braids for horse
+ Fancy show clothes for rider
+ Eating for **** out of a cooler
No wonder we are all exhausted after a show.
Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 
Being with people is very hard. I fear being inappropriate but long for human contact. The digital visits were so easy. Limited. Scheduled. No dress code. But IRL, they are exhausting. While I think I’d like to be out and about more, I really prefer to stay at home.
Strange, I’m usually a social animal.
Being with people is always hard for me. Bi-polar and other stuff. Did a blog on it. As much as i detest this place, it is home for now, and prefer it to going out.
Some of the activities, such as dance class, had a formal structure that one could rely on/hide behind. Only one was a straight up social engagement, among strangers no less!
Is it weird that I practice many of these things at home? Plus trotting in hand, fake vet checks, taking electrolytes, tying to random objects, hanging out tacked up forever… etc. etc.
“Is it weird …” I think it is excellent.