I sometimes pick one up and look to see what I did on this day back in whatever year that journal covers. Then end up reading more entries for another ten minutes… 
2 Likes
I’ve never done that and it’s intriguing. Are you saying you pretty much make an entry every day? And how long have you been journaling?
Not who you asked, but I started a journal of my rides on my phone using an app about a year ago. It evolved out of me texting a synopsis of rides to my lease’s owner after every ride. She even went on vacation on one point and I said I wouldn’t text while she was away and she literally said, “But I love getting those updates!” So I sent her updates. And literally I had one lesson where I left the ring thinking it was an absolute waste of time and money for me. But, composing the text to the owner, I realized that we’d gotten every lead, which was not guaranteed at the time. And we’d also gone deep into every corner, which we had been struggling with. So the lesson felt easy because we did things well and it wasn’t until I composed the text to the owner that I realized that the reason why the lesson felt easy was because we had figured so much out…
So, yeah, that was the day I started keeping a journal,
I still text brief descriptions of my rides to my lease horse’s owner, but I now keep more detailed notes of the ride and of rides on other horses on my phone. I do always try to find a good note in the ride, or at least something that I can improve upon.
And I say all of this as someone who has never every kept a diary or a journal in my entire life. But I like keeping note of my rides so I can see how I have changed and improved over time…
2 Likes
I have a friend in the Morgan world who has MS, and reports much the same positive effects of riding and just being with her horse(s). She started with Arabs before she was diagnosed and was an accomplished competitor. Now she’s on her second rescue Morgan. She trail rides at home and has a small indoor for when the weather is bad. She takes an occasional Centered Riding lesson and does a bit of virtual showing.
3 Likes
I love your post. Funny too, because when I got the journals out today I saw a post from 2003 where I was bemoaning my posting trot and still today it plagues me. Video is great because there they are - the flaws.
1 Like
My journaling has varied over the years. I wrote lesson notes, quite detailed, as a once a week teen. When I got my first horse I kept a journal, and have been on and off in various forms over the years. Some quite detailed, others very bare bones. There are long gaps in my journaling, and I wish I’d kept it up.
The form has changed too, from spiral and hard bound notebooks, to Word docs, to the sort of one week per double page spread diary/planner I mentioned, to literally a calendar (very bare bones), to the notes in the Equestic app and Caynax app, to text messages to myself, to email drafts. I liked being able to look back and see exactly when I first noticed an issue and how it evolved, especially when I had to get the vet.
For example I pulled out my 2017 Diary/planner and looked at April 20. The entry for my senior was so sparse I had to read entries before to figure out what was going on. I also randomly grabbed 2004 (printed and put in a duotang) and found a break in April “2004-04-16 ???” with the next entry April 24th which was day one of a clinic with Wayne McClellan (quite detailed). That sort of gap often happened when I didn’t write every day and was trying to remember what I did when. I happen to have 2000 sitting here as well, and April 20th “I rode in the Griffiths saddle” without mentioning which horse. I know it was my QH, I was trying to find a saddle that worked for him, and I was trying some of the school saddles on him.
From March 20, 2022 through last fall I was taking notes on my senior’s heaves, breathing, meds and Bemer usage, and usually added notes of the day’s activity. I wasn’t as diligent after euthanizing my younger horse, so notes for this past winter are sporadic and sparse.
Reading these bring back memories. The Wayne McClellan clinic was about four months after I’d gotten the PSSM (then EPSM) diagnosis on my now senior horse. We’d had a slow crawl back to normalcy that winter, and by the clinic I had a different horse. Without reading further I even remember my horse having a little bump on his nose that later proved to be an abscess, and getting a tiny bit of hay or something out of it with the pus when I hot compressed.
And now I wonder if I can find a journal of my first horse, and what we did on April 20th…
And you have your notes from your teen years? I didn’t start writing until I was 30 or so. It would be so meaningful to have early years. I too have gaps. We built a barn, my dream barn, and I started a Word doc journal (107 pages now) because I’m quick on the keyboard. First entry April 26, 2018 - almost 7 years ago to the day. Holy moly. That journal is also serious therapy because I describe my barn build like being Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. Times you think the spiders are going to take you out and other extremely difficult times to others the most incredibly joyful moments of my life. Our marriage struggled during planning to now being the best it’s ever been. It’s brought us together in a way I would have never predicted. We’ve both become better people through this.
I just opened it to make another entry…because the journey goes on - time to apply field amendments and seed.
3 Likes
I have another thought this morning for all of us on the horseman’s journey. How about the coming vet crisis? How a passion for all things horse means learning nutrition, hoofcare, and education to avoid sickness and injury. They need to be moving, forage and friends and training to continuously be expanding their abilities to cope and going outside their threshhold and look to you for safety. Training to build an athlete strong in body and mind and having tack that fits to aid in that. Having a great relationship with your vet and keeping your horse to avoid and prevent to the best of your abilities sickness and injury.
For me, the coming vet crisis is the next chapter in the journey. Helping to educate other horse owners. Giving back.
1 Like
I’m not sure about the pre first horse notes, but I definitely still have the first horse journal. They’re buried in a box somewhere. I bought him when I was 18? - over 30 years ago anyway.
As far as the vet crisis, I don’t remember where I got it from, but I put my equine service professionals first. In every vet visit the vet’s safety is first, then mine (so I can keep the vet safe), then the horse. I dislike working around horses with poor manners, and actively train for good manners. This makes the professionals’ jobs easier, faster, and safer.
Even little things like saying “my horse needs sedation for that” helps the vet. They have so many clients and can’t remember every detail for every horse. Flexibility for scheduling appointments, having horses ready, being able to clearly articulate the timeline of the issue, asking questions about prognosis and timeline all seem obvious, but it’s all the little things that can make a vet’s job easier. Building a relationship with the vet helps them too as they learn about your ability to observe symptoms and articulate those observations, they will be able to incorporate your explanations into their evaluation. Sometimes they’ll be willing to advise over the phone.
Equine vets (and most equine service professionals) have to spend a lot of time traveling, between the paying jobs. It’s no wonder many choose to switch to small animals and have a waiting room full of clients coming to them.
I wish I’d become a vet. If I had known I could specialize in equines maybe I would have. I remember deciding when I was quite young (maybe 8-10) that I didn’t think I could cut into an animal, even to save their life, so vet was not something I could do. And I never revisited the idea. But I probably would have missed out on the horses I did have had I gone to vet school.
1 Like
I found this topic at a very interesting time in my life and am hoping the collective wisdom here is willing to chime in (kindly because this feels BIG to me). Here goes:
I was bit by the horse bug when I was three, started taking hunter lessons at 5. At 7, changed barns and vaulted (competitively up to the national level), eventing (schooling up to training level movements/obstacles), rode everything in anyway possible (Roman riding, bareback/trails, gymkhana, rodeo queen stuff, cattle/dude ranch stuff). My trainer was a stickler for horsemanship. The kids at my barn were expected to be witness foaling & vet visits, training green beans and foal handling. I even learned how to milk a goat. We kept horses on our home property for a few years as well.
This dream of a horse world ended at 14/15 when I had a massive falling out with my trainer. Some boundaries were crossed and I was having a tough time in high school. My parents were not horsey, and going through their own stuff, and they did not know how to support me in finding a new barn. They also did not support a career in horses, off to college I went.
I rode for a year in college showing a little in hunters, this was interrupted by a few factors and I sadly tucked horses away in a small corner of my heart.
Fast forward to my mid 30’s, I’m now making adult money and decide to open the horse girl box again. I’ve since been taking lessons, owned and retired/rehomed a horse, leased a horse that had had a career ending injury (came to me with this injury already underway due to poor management at a sales barn), and as of this year have committed to a career in horses. My trainer and friend group have been very encouraging of my riding and passions. I’m now thinking of moving to Europe to ride for a show barn, I don’t have a show record to point to in anything but vaulting and that’s not recent, just honest work and videos of me schooling horses that I’m catch riding these days. I’m often thrown on the little ones that need an adult, or am conditioning horses coming back from an injury prior to them entering full work. I have yet to be offered a position, but if I am, and I take it, am I stupidly upending my entire life to chase a little girl’s dream? In case it wasn’t obvious, I’m the little girl here haha.
Working with horses, riding, caring for them, etc. is the only thing that has ever felt “right”. I’ve done my fair share of career exploration, moving around the country, schooling of various kinds, hobbies here and there. I’m approaching my later 30’s and without anything tangible to keep me rooted, it seems like the time to go chase a dream. Live my one life in the biggest way possible while my body is still young. I tend towards the impulsive side (hello adhd), so this is me taking a step back for unbiased feedback.
Thank you all for taking the time to read/respond to my small novel.
3 Likes
me too! It’s a labor of love for me.
In my old age, i’m still living-my-dream. I’ve loved horses all my life. I’ve had and ridden most of my life too. Right now, i’m most content caring for them and providing a safe and expansive environment for a herd of occasionally feral/occasionally riding horses. All of mine are either from a rescue or straight from the wild herds via BLM. The mustangs have taught me how to speak horse in a way i never knew …all these years with horses, and there were SO MANY things i have learned.
also have learned a new ‘dialect’ of speaking Horse…Dressage.
I take two horses for a 2 hr lesson 2 hours away from me once a week. And except for tiny up and off …or a few steps and off on one of the mustangs, i only ride at those lessons, with my coach in an arena.
I decided that dressage (in the classical rather than the competitive sense) is a perfect fit for me. I can bring up my greenies in a controlled and carefully coached way. No more riding off into the hillside checking my fences. If i get broken, there is NO ONE to take care of all the cows sheep and horses. Taking care of my body is paramount at this point in my life.
For me, the best part of my life is caring for my horses and interacting with them with me on the ground. I have two horses with the sheep flock. Three in the front yard (10 acres). Two mares and their foals in a pasture and 24/7 access in and out into my ‘training barn’. Three wild geldings in a corral/barn. And a free roaming herd in 24/7 barn and 125 acres.
My plan: Bring my best dressage mare back into training and one day enter a show. Take my other dressage horse into western tack for a try in a Western Dressage show. Bring two new mustangs into my lessons w/coach and get them started. Bring up the foals with once per week private sessions while they are free-rangeing with the herd. And get two of my skittish, but athletic and beautiful youngish but now mature geldings gentled and ready to start under saddle.
Long term goal, to stay healthy and limber and brave enough to keep this farm running and live my best life as long as i can.
7 Likes
