Saturday, September 12

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

It was a little overcast and a little rainy, but a nice enough day.

We made a trip to the dump with more leftover garbage wood. I don't even know anymore what this wood was from, but if it's not usable, then to the dump it goes.

A quick chat with the woman who works at the dump. She says that quite a few of the jeans I gave her fit.

A short visit with some friends, we stopped in on our way back from the dump to drop something off.

Going to see River at the barn. We had a very interesting conversation with the woman who is the main trainer at the barn, and she also does some lessons with kids. She isn't likely going to stay at this barn much longer; she wants her own place, whether or not that place has an indoor arena for a while. She is also very upset with the owner for the same reasons I have; the hay has ruined two of her horses with permanent lung issues, and she says the owner is unreasonable and impossible to talk with about problems. It's kind of sad, because this trainer is/was friends with the owner for several years.

I asked her if she would consider moving to this other barn that I am looking into, and she said she was more interested in getting her own place soon, if she can find the right property. I'm thinking that she could be gone as soon as she finds another place.

I would love to ride at a barn if this person owned it. She's much more approachable, and I know she wouldn't feed the horses garbage hay. She has a much stronger work ethic in general, and would think much more in terms of the horse's well-being. I know that her mindset is much more about finding solutions to problems instead of shutting down dialogue.

It's a LONG shot, but the property next to us is likely going to be available soon (this is the neighbor whose wife has cancer, and I found out that they are trying to move closer to their family before winter). It is about the right size (80 acres) of good land suited to pasture, and it would likely be in the price range the trainer was looking at. I know it's not likely to happen, but wouldn't THAT be something, to live right next to a horse property with an arena and a trainer, and someone that I like already? I wouldn't even have to board my horse there, I could just walk over with him. I'm not going to pretend that this has much of a chance of happening, but it would be amazing. I'm going to at least see if there's a way for her to come look at it, and for sure let her know if it's for sale. Something.

It was an oddly reassuring conversation. This person is even a friend of the barn owner, and she thinks the barn owner is unreasonable and is causing damage to the horses with the crappy hay. It makes me feel sane, and less alone. I know that I'm not over reacting. This trainer went as far to say that she feels that in another year or two, this current barn will likely not have any boarders left. Lots of people have left over the years for the same reasons, and they don't intend to come back. A very nice person that I've mentioned here before just took her horse home because she wasn't happy. I will miss her a lot. The trainer figures that as people leave, word will spread, and if this trainer is gone, that is an important part of this barn that is gone too.

I haven't stopped thinking about the other barn as an option, I just need time to see if anyone is available to do lessons there. Still working on it.

I am reeling from all the change that's coming down the chute right now. We will likely have new neighbors by this time next year. Whether or not I change barns, the barn I am at right now will be a very different place the moment this trainer leaves. Our own house will be very different in a year with all the renovations (and it's literally a different house from last year). Our pottery studio, when it reopens, is in a different building in a newly renovated space that I have never seen, and it remains to be seen who will be there when I go back. It might not be the same people from my Tuesday group.

I had a good ride on River. I would say he was more easily winded by our ride than he should be, and though he caught his breath during cool down and didn't have labored breathing after, he had some issues with breathing during work. It might improve with time, as he is out of shape from not being ridden properly for about a month, but it's worth noting. I did think he was well behaved, relaxed, and did well in collection.

A young rider and her Mom were there when I was riding, and we had a good time visiting. Some laugh out loud joking around stuff. This is so important for me to have in my life.

We came home and had a nice supper, and watched "The Super", a scary thriller type movie. Mostly I wanted to see it because it has Val Kilmer in it, and I'm happy he's in a movie after so many challenges. It was decent, with an interesting ending.