Something a little different...

A typical early morning start for me begins with a succession of five alarms, this is'nt because I am not a morning person, neither is it that I am trying desperately to delay the start of my day at the thought of going to work, (quite the contrary in fact), it is simply because I have an innate fear of sleeping in, and with my journey being what I can only refer to as a 'hefty trek' (around forty minutes) I cannot risk the possibility of snoozing through the first four and waking up ten minutes behind schedule. 

 

Today I am at Arlary.  As we are into the summer months, things have quietened down somewhat and with fewer horses at Kilduff being exercised before breakfast, I will quite often be positioned here first thing.  Though there may be less horses to ride, the yard can sometimes seem busier than usual.  We like to turn out as many horses as possible to enjoy the summer weather and get a good munch of grass and with an entire yard to paint, and all fencing around the perimeter to varnish, a surprising amount of man power is still required. 

 

This morning I have one horse to hack before breakfast, a relaxed start in comparison to what I would have been faced with at Kilduff up until only a few weeks ago.  He is a gelding coming back in from a much deserved holiday.  Often when they first come back, we like to incorporate a bit of flat work into the early stages of their training to improve their strength and get them using themselves correctly.  This is usually done whilst hacking where we can take full advantage of the quiet roads and tracks, and that is the plan with my boy today.

  

My second lot, after a quick breakfast break, is a new project, a green youngster in need of some steady conditioning work.  Although she is up the gallops as frequently as the others, for the majority of her work she will be on her own at a slow pace in order to settle her and start building up the muscle along her topline.  Today she did two canters, her second upsides a school master who happily lobbed up beside her while she adjusted to the change in her usual routine.  It is one of the many rewarding aspects of this job, feeling the horses you ride improving each day.

 

For the rest of this particular morning I will be stationed in the office while the remaining horses are exercised and painting duties commence.  In an attempt to broaden my skills I have requested some secretarial work with a view to being able to cover if our full time secretary is away.  A few things to get through today, mainly regarding the website updates.

 

The afternoon yard routine is not dissimilar to that of the morning, a few horses to pop on the walker, some fields to swap and another for me to ride on the sand gallop.  Of course all the horses then need to be brushed, rugged up and tucked in for the night and any time left is filled with odd jobs or weekly tasks, today it is water drinkers.  In the last five minutes I manage to sneak my daily ride, Momkinzain, an apple in hope that this form of reward may coax another win out of him on his next public appearance.  He is still feeling rather pleased with himself...  While the assigned people are left to feed, the rest of us head home.  I have two of my own to ride now, one of which is a 4yo I am hoping to take pointing next year.

So this is where I sign off, at the end of my working day.

 

Lucy