CEGA


Discover your ideal relationship with your horse

CEGA creates an atmosphere of openness and trust in which to explore your own special horse-human bond. We want to help you remove blocks, deepen your awareness of the power within, and help you achieve your goals.


Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Spring "house cleaning"

As we enter spring, with hope and excitement for the upcoming riding season, it's important to remember that we need to get back into shape gently. As the weather gets better, it's easy to get carried away and start in too vigorously, when both our horses and ourselves need time to get back into shape. Even if we ride all winter, the level of intensity is not the same, and it can be easy to overdo it. Take schooling sessions easy at first, gradually building back strength and stamina.

So how can we channel our energy so that we don't over do it on our horses? Spring cleaning!

Pour some of that energy into emptying out your tack trunk, and reorganizing it for the new season. Replenish supplies, clean stored items so they are fresh, and make sure it is packed neatly so that everything is in easy reach as the season gets busier.
Go through your medicine cabinet--make a shopping list. Throw away outdated meds, including wound dressings. Get a full complement of bandages and other items like vetrap, gauzes, duct tape. Make sure your thermometer has survived.
Get your clippers cleaned and sharpened, pull your horse's mane, and clip his goat whiskers, if not all of him.
Clean the barn and tack room--move things and sweep from underneath and behind; get the cobwebs and wash the windows and mirrors.
As the temps go up, get those winter blankets washed, repaired and stored, and make sure your coolers and sheets are ready to go and in good repair.
Check all your tack--daily used items and stored tack. Make sure everything is clean and well-oiled. Make a pile to sell at your local tack store or eBay, and create a list of things that need replacing and repair.
Look ahead in your calendar. What events do you want to attend? What do you need and level of fitness is required to get there? Then organize your training time backwards to set a systematic approach to get ready. Do you still need to get shots, teeth floated, tests done? Now is the time to get all your ducks in a row.
Include making sure your truck and trailer are ready--make appointments for them, too, to get brakes, wheels, floors, and engines checked and running well.

Focusing on being prepared will help us spread our energy around, and prevent us from jumping into riding too hard too soon.
Once the season gets into full swing, there will never be time to do these things--and any time spent on "house keeping" then is taking away from riding!

Happy Riding!

No comments:

Post a Comment