Or so they say!
I hit the ground running as soon as I returned to Australia – I missed the first week of the university semester so was launched back into study mode immediately. It’s now the last week of semester, and with exams looming in the next 2 weeks, I still feel like I’ve barely caught up!
When I arrived back home, I decided I was ready to start looking for my next horse. With my last few horses coming to me through word-of-mouth or just sheer luck, the prospect of heading out to shop for a new superstar was a bit daunting! I found a few promising leads, some of which didn’t turn out to be suitable for one reason or another, and a couple who didn’t pass a vet check well enough. I’m still hoping that the perfect horse will come along, though I’m no longer actively searching – if it happens, it happens š
In the meantime, I’ve been getting plenty of my horsey fix through volunteering at events, riding horses for friends when they’ve been busy, and starting my own little part-time grooming business. What started out as just plaiting a couple of horses for friends at competitions has turned into quite a fun little venture – I now offer plaiting, mane pulling, show prep and other miscellaneous grooming tasks in my local area. I spent a week grooming four show horses at Sydney Royal, which was loads of fun. While my heart will always belong to eventing, I won’t deny that I enjoy all the fussing and preening that goes into preparing horses for the hack ring.
With mid-year university holidays coming up at the end of June, I’m hoping to be able to spend a lot more time in the saddle. I do have some exciting news to share over the next couple of days, so watch this space š
Playing with show ponies at Sydney Royal
More fun at Sydney – trendsetting with new quartermarks
Enjoying the perks of dressage judging!
First person to step foot in the stables at SIEC at 5:30am – the joys of plaiting for early dressage classes!
Nothing beats a bit of no-stirrup work!
One of my “before-and-after” grooming transformations
Across the Ditch 
That quarter mark is beautiful!!! How do
you do those?!?!
I draw them on free-hand with a fine toothed comb. I usually do checkers or bars for competitions, this was just a bit of fun š
It is gorgeous!
Not one of the big dollar ones that comes in red and blue and green and the ends break off, right?
I really love that first picture of the palimino.
I was scrolling through the newsfeed and stopped because I saw nice plaits…haha! If you can survive a week with Hackies at the Royal, you can survive anything.