Tips for Keeping a Horse and a Full-time Job

1. Board your horse. Boarding ensures that your horse will be fed and her stall cleaned on a nice regular schedule (horses love that) regardless of your schedule.

2. Board at trainer's barn. Saves on travel for lessons plus your trainer or her designee can be there to oversee farrier & vet visits, or to work with the horse while you are at work or away.

3. Form a blanket co-op with other boarders. It's easier to schedule time to blanket 14 horses once per week than 1 horse fourteen times per week (assuming you blanket & unblanket daily).

4. Lit arena. If you ride after work, chances are it will be dark by the time you get ther much of hte year. If you don't have a lit arena, you don't ride during those months. A covered (and lit) arena is even better because you can ride even on rainy days.

5. Share your horse with your spouse or a friend. Schedule days for each of you. Gives you more time while maintaining care level for your horse.

6. Horse sitter. There is bound to be someone at your barn who would like to earn extra csh trunignout horses during the day or horsesitting while you are on vacation. Find out who she is and keep her number handy. Services in kind arrangements are great too!

7. Cell phone. A cell phone ensures that your family can reach you while you are at the barn and the barn manager can reach you in case of an emergency when you are elsewhere.

8. Keep clothes and boots at the barn. (or in your car) saves travel time if you don't have to go home to change after work.

9. Schedule your horse-time. block out hours and ays on your calendar forr horse activities. Keeps schedule conflicts to a minimum and makes sure that you always have time for your horse.

10. Share trailer space. Paying the occassional hauling fee to a show or clinic is cheaper than buying, maintaining and storing your own truck and trailer unless you travel a lot (in which cse get your own rig and charge others the hauling fee).

11. Coordinate for routine vet and farrier visits.Split the house-call fee with others to save money.

12. Duplication of things that need cleaning. Like saddle-pads. Leave 1 in the tack box in case you forget the other at home in the washing machine.

13. Clean tack a little at a time. Keeps gunk from building up and ultimately saves time.

14. Carpool. if you are luck enough to live near a fellow boarder, carpool to the barn, to shows, to clinics, etc. Also consider a dinner co-op where different people cook or otherwise provide dinner on different nights. Releaves some of the pressure you might be under to somehow manage horse time and dinner planning every night.