Volunteering/Working 8/31/11

Tonight was my last night of volunteering. Since school is back in session, I know I won't be able to go to the barn for more than two hours every Wednesday anymore. I wish I could keep coming, but hopefully later this year and definitely next summer I'll be able to help again.

For the first hour, that young girl named Ruth would be riding again. When I arrived at the barn though, someone told me that Ruth and another girl were already up in the ring with Captain. The other girl helping was nine, and her name was Megan. I've seen her around the stable before, so I recognized her. When I got up in the ring she was helping Ruth with the girth, but Captain kept trying to bite them so Megan held Captain's head while I fixed the saddle and girth. Then the instructor came up so Ruth could get on Captain.

It was pretty much the same as last week, except this time I just stood in the middle of the ring because there wasn't really a need for me to walk beside Ruth. So after warming up and doing some trotting (I honestly can't remember if I helped her trot or not... I don't think I did though), the instructor attached Captain to a lunge line. Basically the line is connected to his bridle so that if you stand somewhere the horse will walk, trot, or canter in a circle around you (see picture). The purpose of this was to let Ruth trot without holding on to the rains. She's been trying to get good at posting, and the instructor thought this would be a good exercise because it teaches you to post with your whole body while staying balanced.

I don't really remember what Ruth did after that. It was my second day at my new high school, and I was exhausted, as Megan pointed out to me as soon as I arrived in the ring ("You look tired!"). Anyway, when it was time for the second hour, the instructor told me that I would be leading a pony ride. I can't remember the little girl's name, but she was really small and really adorable. She barely said a word, either. She got to ride Rita, the smallest pony there. So when I brought Rita up from the paddock I showed the little girl and her dad how to groom a little. I showed the dad and he helped the little girl brush a small section of Rita's back while I did the rest. I picked Rita's hooves because that's obviously not a very safe thing for a little girl to do. It was pretty fun getting Rita ready. Since she's so small, everything was even smaller. I used a special saddle that was really small and used for pony rides, and the bridle was also very tiny. It was all so cute!! Up in the ring, when the girl was in the saddle, all I had to do was lead Rita around while the instructor held her leg to make sure she didn't fall off.

Meanwhile, during this pony ride, the instructor also had to teach a lesson (Carlee and Lydeah again - I think the little girl and Lydeah were cousins or something). After a while when Lydeah started trotting, the little girl saw her posting and tried to copy. She kept flopping up and down in her seat - it was really cute. Since she wanted to post so much, we let her trot a little, for small sections at a time while the instructor made sure she stayed in the saddle. That girl was being bounced around so much up there! She even kept posting when we were done trotting. I said to the instructor later how that girl is going to be a great student when she gets older because she's so eager to learn.

That's pretty much how the whole pony ride went. We walked mostly and we let Rita trot occasionally. The only word that girl said throughout the entire ride was "Chachi" - the name of the horse Lydeah rides. We ended the pony ride when the lesson was over, and we all headed down to the barn. I think the parents were very pleased with their daughter, and they thanked me as well. We all just couldn't stop laughing when that girl kept posting!

All-in-all, I'd say it was the best volunteering/working session I've had. Unfortunately it was my last time. The instructor kept saying, "Now I need to find a Greta replacement!" and I felt really bad, but she understood my situation. It's unfortunate though because this was the week we'd finally gotten into a good routine, but of course it was also the last week I would be there. Again, I hope I can come back and volunteer at some point, most likely in the summer. And I do look forward to coming back!!

Volunteering/Working 8/24/11

I have to say, I really did not want to volunteer tonight. I was really tired and my eyes were sore from trying contacts for the first time earlier, but I went anyway. And when I was done, I was really glad that I did.

When I got to the barn, I again wasn't sure what to do. It had been three weeks since I'd last come and I couldn't remember if I should start getting the horses ready or wait for the riders to get there. I ended up waiting, which I now realize I shouldn't have. But I emailed the barn owner today and she told me that I should start grooming and tacking up the horses before the riders get there, so that's what I'll do next week.

Tonight there was only one rider, a young girl named Ruth. I actually went to pony camp with her last summer, so I recognized her. We got Captain ready and we headed up to the ring (a little later than the instructor wanted, but oh well!). For this lesson all I had to do was walk beside Captain and help Ruth if she needed it, like telling her where to go if she forgot. After a long warm-up Ruth was told to trot. For this I had to attach my lead rope to Captain's bridle to help lead Captain and get him to move. And let me tell you, it was really tiring after a while from running alongside Captain. A little later the instructor's daughter set up a small obstacle course, so Ruth did that. That's pretty much all there was to this lesson. When we were done we went on a short trail ride that went alongside the riding ring, down past a pasture, and back onto the gravel driveway that leads to the barn.

When we got to the barn the next lesson's riders, Carlee and Lydeah (I think that's how she spelled it...) were already mostly tacked up. Well, Lydeah was completely ready and Carlee was almost done. Carlee was again riding Fresca and Lydeah was riding Chachi after returning from a month long break. Much like three weeks ago, I didn't really have to do anything during this lesson, except for the occasional poop clean up. I also was told to tell Carlee if she needed to look ahead or fix her feet on the stirrups. Lydeah was more independent of the two of them, so she didn't really need help at all. So they warmed up their horses with lots of circles, and then they took turns trotting around the ring to catch up to the other horse. Eventually, towards the end of the lesson, Carlee and Lydeah moved into the small ring so Lydeah could canter a little. She's just started to though, so she didn't canter for long. Both Carlee and Lydeah had family watching, so I guess they wanted to show off the canter a little. The instructor even asked me to go down to the barn to get Lydeah's grandmother so she could watch her canter.

Anyway, all in all, I'd say it was a pretty relaxing night, and I again earned a whopping five dollars!! It's better than nothing I guess. Every little bit counts towards paying for my lessons, so in the end I think it's worth it. Unfortunately, next week is my last week of volunteering, because school starts on Monday (nooo!) and I'm not sure I can juggle volunteering and homework in the same night. Maybe I'll be able to help again in October, but I've decided to not help in September. So you can at least look forward to one more blog post about it next week! :)

Working on Sundays

I recently received a comment from someone (you know who you are!) that they would like to see a blog post on what I do on Sundays at the stable. So since I have nothing else to do right now, I will walk through everything I do at my job. Keep in mind that this is the most recent way I've done my job - the way I do it and the horses I feed change a lot. And yes, it is a job, because I get paid. Though I don't get paid directly, the money goes towards my lessons, so I only have to pay half price. In my opinion it's a very generous deal and I'm happy to have the job (I got it because I'm the only available person who doesn't go to church on Sundays).

The first thing I do when I get to the stable at 10:30 is check the barn floor for any papers. The barn owner usually sets out a cup of grain that I have to give to Captain, and if there's anything I need to know or do differently she'll tell me in a short note. When I get there there's normally one lady who rides her horse, but often times there won't be anyone on the property. I'm glad for the quiet time, just me and the horses.

After checking the barn I go get the horse Chief. He's usually in the Grandma Paddock (across from the Esbin Pasture), so I put on his halter and lead him to his stall in the barn. Then I go down to the hay shed. I get a wheelbarrow and haul a bale of hay into it, and then I stick some scissors into it so I can cut the strings. I wheel the hay back up to the Esbin Pasture and give three or four flakes of hay to Lucky and Dixie. A flake is one portion of hay - it is pre-separated into them when it's bought. This makes my job a lot easier. I then check the barrel of water and refill it if necessary (there are water pumps placed all over the property with hoses to connect to them).

Next I wheel the hay down to the Pony Paddock (next to the Grandma Paddock), where I give two flakes each to Rita and Rosie. Next to the Pony Paddock is another paddock which I cannot remember the name of. Anyway, I feed the two horses there, Dusty and Lionel, and check both this paddock and the Pony Paddock's water.

Next to the paddock I can't remember is the Middle Paddock, which has a gate that leads to a pasture. I give Annie, Janie, and Fresca only one flake of hay each and open the gate so they can go down to pasture. They only get one flake each because they get to eat all that grass too. I open the gate halfway and prop it open with a rock so the horses can come back up for water. I then climb through the fence leading to Ashlea's Paddock, and prop open Teddy and Mia's gate to a different pasture. I walk back up through the paddock and climb through the fence to go check Ashlea's Paddock and the Middle Paddock's water, filling it if it's less than maybe three quarters full. Usually by the time I get to feeding the Middle Paddock's horses I run out of hay, so a lot of the times I'll have to go back up to the hay shed and get a new bale (which is something I'd rather not do since it means more walking and heavy lifting).

Once all the horse's are fed on this side of the property, I take the wheelbarrow up to the barn and give two flakes to Captain and Chief, and only one to Tuffy since he's sick and I'm not sure he can eat that much hay. I check their water buckets and fill them if they need it, and I sweep the fallen hay on the floor into a stall. Then I abandon my wheelbarrow (yay!) and head down a big hill to what is called the Bair's Area, since that family owns two horses that stay down there. Often when I come down the hill Moo will see me and start neighing. I head into the hay shed that is attached to the side of two stalls (the stalls are open to the paddock) and I give one flake each to Moo and the other horse named Skye. Moo usually ignores the hay and heads over to the gate, waiting for me to open it, which is what I do next. He often canters down the hill and into the pasture, which is a fun sight to see.

Unfortunately I then have to head back up the huge hill which makes me really tired and out of breath. And once I'm up the hill I have to head up another one to the upper pasture. There I feed Doc, Magnum, and Chachi two flakes of hay each from the hay pile that is set near the fence.

This is where my feeding duties end. Now it's time for me to muck out some sheds. They're basically stalls inside a paddock that are open to the rest of the paddock so the horses can enter them at will. First I head down the hill to the barn to get a pitchfork and to retrieve my wheelbarrow, which I empty of any excess hay. Then I walk down to the Pony Paddock and head over to the sheds (there are only two). All I have to do is scoop out the horse poop and spread around the dirt to make it even. It's normally pretty easy when there's not that much poop, but on a day like yesterday when there's a ton I often have to make multiple trips to dump it out and I end up hurting my back. Not too mention all the flies in there and the sweltering heat when it's summer. Luckily it's not a very physically demanding job, other than bending over a little.

When I've mucked out both stalls I open a small gate near the sheds and wheel the wheelbarrow of poop into the woods where I dump it on the many piles of manure back there. Some are so old they have mushrooms growing out of them! Anyway, when I'm done I grab my pitchfork and head up to the barn to put that and the wheelbarrow away.

That's all there is to my job on Sundays. I don't have too much work and the job only lasts about an hour, so I'm happy to do it every Sunday. Especially if it helps pay for my lessons!!

Volunteering/Working 8/3/11

A couple months ago, the stable owner emailed me asking if I would like to help with lessons on Wednesday. I couldn't do it because I was still in school. She asked me again a couple of weeks ago, and I finally said I would do it, but only for the month of August, at least for now. I'd like to try and do it again when school starts, but I want to figure out my schedule first before I agree to do it. So anyway, the deal was I would come for two different lessons (so about two hours - 5:30 to 7:30). The first hour would be volunteer work, but I would get paid for the second hour (only five dollars though). Yesterday was my first day of working there. I came fifteen minutes early, as I was told to do, but I ended up waiting in the barn for the riders up in the ring to come down.

Once they were down, we went right back up again. For this lesson there were two riders: a young boy named Jack and an older boy named Matt (who I later learned was 18). Matt was the rider I would be working with. He would be riding Chachi, and Jack would be riding Lionel. We were allowed to choose whoever we wanted to work with, but the other volunteer (named Ada) and I just agreed to stay with who we were already with.

Since Jack is not yet off the lead rope, Ada had to lead Lionel around. Matt is off the lead rope, so all he needed was a sidewalker - basically I had to walk beside him and tell him where to go and stuff. It was very awkward for me at first. Matt obviously had some communication problems, and he often refused to talk. It took a while for the lesson instructor to convince him to get on Chachi, and it took even longer for her to get him to actually tell Chachi to move. And once we were moving, I wasn't sure what to say at all. I would occasionally tell him where to go and what to do, but I wasn't sure how to speak to him. He was 18, so I didn't want to treat him like he was 4, but it was hard to tell when he never answered me. I got more comfortable as the lesson went on, and by the end I wasn't feeling as awkward. It's difficult to talk to someone who won't respond. I felt really satisfied at the end of the lesson though. I was happy I had said yes to coming on Wednesdays. I'm hoping after a while I'll get more comfortable talking to the riders.

The second lesson was a complete turn-around from the first. It was only one girl named Karlee (I think that's how she spelled it). She was pretty old, maybe 10 or 11, so she knew how to do almost everything. After putting Chachi in his stall, I was supposed to help her get her horse, Fresca, groomed and tacked up. I occasionally had to help her with something, but she was pretty independent. Once up in the ring I helped her tighten her girth, but after that the lesson instructor told me I wouldn't really be needed to do anything in this lesson. Karlee didn't need a sidewalker or anything, so I could just sit and watch. I helped only when I was needed, which wasn't very often.

The lesson instructor also explained to me that the next time I would be here there would be different kids. There would be two girls in the first lesson instead of Matt and Jack, and there would be three independent girls in the second. For the first hour I would be doing what I did in the first lesson, sidewalking or leading, and I would be used as "crowd control" for the second hour (her words, not mine). All I would have to do was keep an eye on the other girls if the instructor was helping one individually, and things like that. I'm okay with that though, because I think it means it will be a relatively laid back lesson (hopefully).

After the lesson was over, we headed back down to the barn, where I stood around while Karlee put away her stuff. I helped her take Fresca back to her paddock and then we were done. Before I left the barn owner came down from her house and explained some more things to me. So from now on when I come on Wednesdays I get to take the horses out and start grooming and tacking them up for the riders. She also said something about where I could find what saddles to use, but I got a little confused, so I'll have to ask her for clarification. When we were done talking I went to the barn to retrieve my envelope of five dollars and went home. I got home at around 8, so you can see why I might not be able to do this on a school night. I can't wait for next Wednesday though. As I've mentioned before, I won't be here next week so I'll be working/volunteering the week after. Hopefully it will go smoother than this week's lessons did!