Looking Ahead & What To Do Next

Wow, I can't believe it's been over month since I last posted anything about riding. I guess it goes to show you how I've been feeling lately. May was seriously a hard month for me being newly pregnant and all. I'm now 10 weeks along and the nausea is dissipating, but my energy level is still pretty low. I honestly think that if it wasn't for my horse and the guilt that I feel for him not being ridden at least 3 times a week, that I'd probably not be riding at all. But I have to say on the days that I do go over to the island to ride I immediately feel better and get a little energy surge. Maybe it's just having a change of scenery and fresh air to breathe, but whatever the case for now it seems to be doing wonders for me.

My goal is to at least be able to ride through the summer and then hopefully starting in September I will be able to find someone to lease and ride Ben for me starting in the fall through next spring. Ideally I'd be able to find someone that can devote a lot of time to riding Ben so that he'd be able to continue to live at my parent's house. That way I wouldn't have to worry about Jena being alone or trying to find her a new companion. I would also like to charge someone at least $250/month to lease him. That would help me to pay for his feed, shoes and make sure that the rider was in some sort of consistent lesson program.

However, I know that walking a mile and a half to Barnabee and taking an extra hour out of your schedule isn't every one's cup of tea. So my next option would be to find someone from the area that would like to lease and board him at Barnabee. Instead of making money off the lease I would just require that they pay for the full boarding costs which is $425/month. In exchange I would still have to pay for Ben's shoes, supplements and vet bills. But that would give them the accessibility of having a covered arena through the rainy months and save them time in riding.

Jamie has mentioned that she'd help to spread the word about Ben and help me find a suitable rider for him, so hopefully it all works out. I'd really hate for all of the work that we are doing with him to get him to be more relaxed and engaged isn't wasted by the next rider not being "with the program" so to speak. By keeping him at Barnabee, Jamie would still be able to oversee his training or even teach the new rider lessons on Ben. So I'm praying that we'll be able to find a suitable match for him and that the time I have off from riding will be productive for him.

I'd just hate to see him sit around in the pasture for 6+ months. I just know he'd be super bored and then when the time comes to start riding him again he'd be a huge handful. He's not even fun if he gets more than 3 days off in a row, so I don't even want to imagine that scenario!!