We’ve had an extremely busy fall. We lost close to a month due to the Covid, Jasper had a birthday, Darling Husband has been super busy with one of the organizations he supports. Work has been crazy for me. I hosted a Halloween party. Darling Husband had a birthday, and then spent the following week away from home with three of our Mustangs at a competition/promotion event. I’ve been working three horses in preparation for a horse show, and getting a pony in fighting shape for one of my favorite family holiday traditions. I’m just glad I did my Halloween decorating on August 1, or I would never have found the time to do it. How is it November next week already!?
Then it hit me. The In Laws will be here, arriving the day after my horse show!
Normally a visit from the In Laws wouldn’t seem like that stressful of a situation, except let me break it down for you… I’m working a full time day job. I’ve been riding two to three horses every night, and then driving a pony after dark to prepare her for a Christmas light ride. My primary focus is show prep and packing. My horses look like wooly mammoths which means lots of clipping/grooming. I only process laundry that includes saddle pads or breeches the week before a show. Dishes, grocery shopping, and basic cleaning of the house usually doesn’t take place in any form during the week before a show. Usually laundry piles up, dishes sit unwashed, or we just order carryout to simplify, it’s a scavenger hunt for snacks/drinks in the pantry, and the house is a complete WRECK!
Per the usual, I need my horses clean on Friday, so it poured the rain down Tuesday night. They’ve spent their Wednesday rolling in the gooiest mud they can find on the property. The extra windy day has ensured it hardens to cement on their bodies that will require soaking off. From a distance, you would think I owned all solid sorrel horses, not loudly colored blanket appaloosas with tons of chrome. Not only does rain equate to filthy horses, it guarantees that there will be mud throughout the entire house. Once upon a time I tried to confine mud to a single utility room, but Offspring hits the door at Mach 3 and catching him usually takes place after he’s zoomed through three rooms. So, I’ve had to find a new dream. If I’m lucky, I can snatch Offspring up and remove the shoes before he hits the couch. Ideally, before anyone visits my home, I will be cleaning all the way up until fifteen minutes prior to guest arrival. That way everyone can enjoy one solid hour of cleanliness/organization, before my tornado of a child spreads every toy he owns across the floor and any available flat surface bringing dirt, rocks, and acorns that he felt needed relocation indoors.
Luckily, I managed to clip Odessa and Comanche Tuesday night before the rain and their legs became caked in mud. It looks like I will be bathing on Friday before I load and head to the show venue. The rain brought a cold front, so all three of us, me, Odessa, and Comanche, will be freezing post bath. As I sit here writing this, I’m hoping to get one more dressage tune-up ride in tomorrow, footing conditions permitting which means there is no point in cleaning or loading tack until Friday. I will vacuum, mop, clean, scour every surface in the house on Thursday evening, and wash all of the blankets on the couch. BUT….Friday will be dedicated to work, loading up, and shipping out. I will spend Friday night in Seguin, show all day Saturday, and then load up and head back.
Darling Husband and the Offspring that is exponentially messier than him, three dogs, and two cats will be home unsupervised for two whole days before the In Laws arrive. Technically, my In Laws are from the country. They are Kentucky natives that currently live in Tennessee, so what else would they be? But, they aren’t true agriculture people that lived a farming lifestyle, caring for livestock. Farm chic is a cute/quaint decorating style to them, not countertops littered with feed samples, Ivermectin syringes, needles, and a refrigerator filled with livestock antibiotics. I’m pretty sure their dryer vents have never been clogged with molasses horse treats when someone (me) forgot to check pockets (weekly occurrence) prior to doing a load. They’ve been to a few ISHA horse shows as spectators, which isn’t even close to the experience of packing up, dragging the animals/tack, and resulting mess to the venue and back home with you. Equestrians you feel me on this. To say my definition of clean versus dirty in my daily life differs from theirs is a bit of an understatement. I try to maintain a semblance of city level clean when we are expecting visitors, but there is only so much you can do on show weekend.
I will return from the show on Saturday night. Depending on spotted dragon behavior at the show, hopefully I’ll have the energy on Sunday morning to swoop through the house again to put it back to rights.
Gardner Hard Luck Horse Farm 