 |
Re: [RC] [RC] Time and Money to Do This Sport... getting philosophical - Dawn CarrieWell, first of all, it depends on how you define "successful" in the sport. If you mean "racing" at the top levels, well, that leaves me out, simply because I have no interest in doing so. But if you mean being able to attend lots of rides, and usually completing, then I'm successful. My husband and I do most of the rides in our state (Texas, so large geographicl area and lots of rides), and have done a few in other states and regions as well. We haven't found the money tree yet, so we have to plan for the expenses of going to rides. We have 7 horses, 5 of which we ride. We both work full time. We ration our vacation time, jealously saving it for rides. My boss is good about letting me take time off to drive to rides on Fridays.
Being able to attend lots of rides, as well as find time to condition horses, is all about organizing your time and making sure you get it all done. Conditioning my horses is my number one priority, and I just make sure it gets done. It might mean we do our grocery shopping at Walmart at 9 pm, that we eat a lot of simple meals, that the house doesn't get cleaned all that often, laundry is being folded at 10 pm, etc. But it can be done. It helps (in a way) that my husband rides too. I say "in a way" since the fact that he rides means that he understands the need to condition and that other things often go by the wayside. But it also means double the entry fees, two more horses to shoe, etc.
Dawn in East Texas
On 2/12/07, Mike Lewis <mlewis73@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I've been riding endurance for about 9 years now, including a 4 year break
|