Routines...or "Is this the new normal? Doesn't feel quite right..."

Since we've moved, Joe and I established a routine when it was just he and I at home on weeknights.

Now that Kaylee is back home with us all the time, that routine was shifted and altered.

Now that we have Zurkh, I am making sure Kaylee is more engaged with her pony.  I both need and WANT her to learn the daily ins and outs of taking care of her pony.  To understand that ownership is more than brushing and riding our horses.  That they need to eat.  To be cared for.  Work AND play, that's something horses seem to be excellent at teaching.

The pony is a saint, the child is a goof!

Fixed her helmet.  Zurkh just wanted to eat.

This is how she "smiles".  And grass is Zurkh's favorite thing.

However, while trying to get her engaged with the horses, I have had the slowly dawning realization that my own riding time is badly curtailed.  It's making me 'itch' internally.  I need and want to do groundwork with all 4 of them.  I looked at Socks' feet last night and saw they very badly need to be trimmed.  I am sure I need to work some on Strider's.  Tilly's needed done before she stepped on the trailer.  And Zurkh is a little more upright than I like to see.

So, let's add trimming to my list of things that I need to be doing.

And we haven't yet added the cow or chickens to our property yet.

I relish the time outside in the evenings.  This morning I realized that once I get off the bus and go to get Kaylee, I don't watch anything.  It's all about being outside with her.  That's a blessing.

Kaylee and Chantilly at ease

My daughter is so silly!  Caught her mid-blink and smiling.

"Come here Tilly!" She says. 

Except that the time change will be coming too soon.  A month from today.  So, my personal riding time will have to happen on weekends. 

And somehow I will have to start squeezing in ground work on week nights.  Joe and I discussed getting power so I can have a light on a pole we have in the front yard.  It's near where I desire to put a round pen (ground is fairly level there), so that would work well for me.  Granted, I could set up a round pen right now and just buy some lights I can run off a cord to the house as a temporary fix, but I need to do something, because I'm fixing to lose a LOT of time with the darkness falling before I even get home.  I can't afford to lose that time.  And I don't want Kaylee to lose that time to practice her riding either. 

Let me circle back though.  Because I badly want my daughter to be interested in horses, my own interests and time is being sacrificed for her.  I do not begrudge it of her.  I am investing in her now in the hopes it pays off in the long run.  But it is hard for me to give up my horse time.  So I am struggling some. 

Except this, this right here...a book in one hand, the other on the horse...what a blessing.

Sacrifices are worth it for moments like this.

At this point, if he wasn't hurt, Strider should be ready for a 50.  Knowing he already has the foundation, I have about 6 weeks to leg him back up for the 50. 

I am currently kicking around going to Armadillo Run.  I am undecided what distance to do.  It is a flat ride, and if the weather is nice, I may attempt a very slow 50.  If it's too hot and humid, we'll drop to a 30.

Closest they've been together since Zurkh arrived. Here's hoping for more peaceful evenings!

It may be that 50's are off the plate for the next 2 years except for our Decade Team attempts.  But I love them so.  And, once a horse is legged up for them, it's just a matter of keeping them there.  We'll see how life balances out. 

No matter what happens though, I will try and remember that I am raising the next generation of riders.  She is a part of that.  And I don't want to screw that up.