Kentucky Week 2
June 16, 2014
Wow, this week went so much smoother than last week. Currently, Hayley and I are on the road back to Ashwood. We are both totally exhausted having hit the hundredth brick wall of fatigue in the past couple of days. The only thing keeping me going at this point is the massive amounts of sugar I am putting into my body before I can crash for a couple of days... just kidding! Well kind of, but I am having fun too and even as tired as I am, the two weeks have been completely worth it. I’ll tell you why.
By halfway through Week 2, 4:00 AM was a normal time to wake up and get to work. Stalls, feeding, and hacking done by 8 AM and by the time everyone back home would be getting up and around we were an hour or two into the show! Most of the week my three didn’t show until the afternoon so I usually had an easy morning and did a lot of the evening prep back in the barn. When the afternoon finally rolled around I got pretty busy but I like busy better than idle. Most of the horses went up in the stadium again so I spent A LOT of time up at the stadium holding horses and assisting with the warm up.
The show spoiled us during the week as a lot of the horses were getting days off after the first week of hard jumping. We also wanted to conserve the horses for the weekend classics and big money classes. So coming off an easy week we jumped into the weekend and let me tell you... we all felt like our heads were spinning by the end of Saturday. A huge part of it was that the low and high jr jumper classes were on the schedule to begin at 2 PM but didn’t get started until almost 4:30. We had four jumpers going, then we also had a horse entered into International Derby, beginning at 5 PM. So I am sure you can see the conflicts. Oh, let me add one thing. All five horses were being ridden by Abby. Yes, she running from ring to ring trying to get horses ready to show and we were running from the barn to the rings with horses in tow. I am not sure how we got it all done but through Mary Ann’s quick thinking and some very understanding gatekeepers we got all the horses in the ring on time. And this was just Saturday...
Sunday only saw the hunters showing but it was just as long of a day with the packing added on. I think we ended up at 16 hours on Sunday... We were all about to collapse by the end of it all. We went to a quick dinner then off to bed with us all. This morning brought about loading up the horses in both the semi and the 4-horse, with two new imports on board that flew in the first week of the show.
Hayley and I ended up driving back the Jeep so we didn’t get the luxury of a bed but we made up for it with loud music and some much needed downtime. I drove the first half and now Hayley had taken over, allowing me to get this much needed entry down. The biggest downside to the drive is that it is summer and the Jeep air conditioner is broken... Yes, we are sweating, even with the windows down the entire way.
I think I will be headed home for several days once we get everything unpacked and settled. A few days sleeping and just relaxing sounds wonderful! Also, I am in major need of some poolside fun!
Back to work as soon as I return, however. I am missing Danny and can’t wait to get back on him!
