I’m one of those type-A folks who really, REALLY loves to plan ahead, in sort of a sickening way. I’m learning to be able to roll with the punches – I’m good with the horse stuff, the life stuff not so much – but I like having a goal, an end result to strive for, and I like having a plan to get there.
Since the many variations of The 2011 Plan, depending on which horses are ready for what level, all include competing in several CDIs. And that means that The 2011 Plan involves at least a short stay in Wellington, Florida.
I’ve done the Florida thing once, and it was an incredible opportunity. I worked for Carol Lavell, trained with Roz Kinstler, and watched some AMAZING riding every day. I also spent every cent I had, got eaten alive by bugs and blasted with sun, and spent way too much of my time dedicated to killing The Creeping Crud leg fungus of doom. So you’ll have to excuse my not-completely enthusiastic response to the idea of spending a winter in Florida.
Admittedly, the winter we had up North has been a major motivating factor. And since the good barns go quick, and since I’ll be in Wellington today and tomorrow to see some horses for my mom, I figured I’d have a look at some barns for rent, too.
But there’s so much to consider. Two of my best trainer friends and I were talking about going down together, so we can help each other out and always have an eye on the ground. Sounds like great fun, right? Except that if all three of us go, and take as many horses as we think we’ll have, we’ll need stabling for 15-25 horses – a HUGE undertaking. Most places just aren’t that big. But that’s Plan A, and I’d LOVE for it to work. I love these other folks, and the idea of getting consistant ground help is very appealing.
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Plan B is to go it alone. I’m planning on having 8-10 horses with me, between my own and my students, and that’s a reasonable size barn. It would mean that I’d have to either trailer to help or bring help to me, which is no different than life here, but in Florida, trailering to help usually takes about 10 minutes, if you can’t HACK to your help – everyone is there, and so close. As a result, location is key – I want to be close to the people I train with, and that means I’m shooting for close to White Fences, one of the big dressage subdivisions, located in Loxahatchee, nextdoor to Welly-world.
Plan C is a little insane, but it’s possible. I could rent stalls along with another trainer, someone I’ve worked with before. It would enable me to get the regular help I’m so desperate for, but it’d also be more expensive. Plan C is on the back burner for that reason, but I’m ok with that. I’m sure I can get the help I need on Plan B. But gosh, it sure does sound nice…
Plan D, of course, is to curl up in the fetal position and suck my thumb, which after all this planning is sounding very appealing. And since I’m looking at tomorrow’s weather report and seeing major thunderstorms in South Florida, I think I’m going to go find a little section of couch and execute Plan D for a moment.
