Getting My Horse Fix Without a Horse
I still need to arrange shipping, but once I have that squared away we’re going to be on the official countdown until Simon gets here. Though I’ve been on extended breaks from horses before, this is the longest I’ve gone without riding or touching an equine while owning a horse.
Even though I’ve never been the kind of person that feels compelled to go to the barn every day, this is far too long of a horsey break for me. My gas tank is always full without constant trips to the barn! Do you know how clean my fingernails are??? SO CLEAN! Without a horse (and having to paint my nails every other day to fix manicure said horse ruined), what am I supposed to do with my time?
Here’s how I’ve been getting by:
Like all the instagram horse accounts. I’ve always followed a lot of equestrians on instagram, because I like pretty horse pictures and I’ll never be able to afford to show at WEF myself. The change now that I’m completely horse deprived, is I’ll watch all the videos. Every course. Every jump. Usually I think this is somewhat boring, but now I’m so desperate to jump a bay Thoroughbred over piles of sticks that I find myself glued to every video.
Pretend my bike is a horse. I haven’t done this since I was eight years, but now we’re right back. For the record, my bike (named Gina bc why not?) is a lot less spooky in traffic than I think Simon would be. Also better on trails… don’t tell Simon.
Give the dogs extra grooming. It’s been weeks since I’ve curried something. WEEKS! Eliot and Pascale are getting a lot of extra brushing until Simon gets here. Do they appreciate it? No. Do I care? No.
Talk on the phone for long periods of time to my Austin trainer and barn friends. Who’s trying a new horse? Who’s lame? Who fell off recently? Who’s being dramatic? TELL ME EVERYTHING I LIVE FOR THIS PEOPLE!
Cover my apartment with pictures of my horse. I hung Simon’s painting on the wall so it’s the first thing you see when you walk into my apartment, and he’s peeking around the corner of the bedroom over at me while I sleep. Creepy? Maybe. Look a spot in these 400 sq ft that is free of Simon or horse. I challenge you.
Imagine what it’s going to be like to ride again. Right now I’m so excited that my horse is coming in the near future, that I don’t even care if I’m too poor to afford him or take lessons so I can actually jump. Those things will work themselves out, but soon I’ll be able to walk/trot/canter around in manicured rings and try to convince him that the citrus trees on the trail around the property won’t eat him alive. Who knows – I might actually even try some dressage. :: shudders ::
The bulk of my time right now is working on school work and being really excited about writing, but the rest? The rest is waiting for nerd horse!
14 thoughts on “Getting My Horse Fix Without a Horse”
I applaud you for not only following your dreams but also being able to bring Simon along with you. I can’t wait to hear how he braves the SoCal life!
If you ever need horse talk, you know where to find me lol
I’m so excited for you! Clean fingernails are the absolute WORST!
Lol if you want I can be more loquacious! Also 3 weeks of horse shows in San Diego starting the 11th. If you want a place to crash (dogs included) just give me a holler and you can spend a night down here to touch pone pones
I’ve had clean fingernails for five years now. It’s the worst feeling in the universe. I’m so glad you found a place for Simon and you can bring him there with you soon!
I would definitely feel lost without horses, gas is my car and clean nails would blow my mind. I’m glad he’ll be there soon 😀
Yayyyyy does that mean you found a barn that more-or-less ticks all the boxes then?! Double yay!
It ticks a lot of the boxes. I ended up deciding that my idea of turnout just wasn’t feasible, and bumped up other standards in my list.
I went a while without seeing or touching horses. One day driving out in the country one was by the fence, close, and I just got super excited seeing a horse again!!
If you haven’t already lined up a shipper, I’ve used Jimmy Parlier Horse Transport twice now, once to get my mare from Texas to Kansas and again to get her from Kansas to Washington. My mare was well cared for and looked great coming off the truck and he was by far the best rate for shipping. Super happy you and Simon will be reunited soon!
Yay!!! SIMON IS COMING! I’m so excited for you. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be separated from one my boys for that long! I think you’ve selected some quality coping mechanisms.
I’m currently ( and for the foreseeable future) horseless. So I feel you on the Instagram stalking. So excited you found a decent situation for Simon!
If you need a horsie fix before Simon makes his grand entrance you are welcome to join me at my barn in Norco any weekend. 🙂
Haha, I can TOTALLY relate to this post as I’ve been horseless for 5 months! My new boy arrives next week, yay! And I’m so excited you found a barn. Southern Cal barns take some getting used to but there are definitely upsides (the weather is great!) and I’ve met a lot of friendly horse people down here Now that your living here, you should come watch one of the big Grand Prix’s coming up in Del Mar!