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Post by busybusy on Jun 8, 2007 9:23:42 GMT
You are more up to date with the equine laundry than the household stuff!!
The stable windows gleam outside and in...whilst looking out from inside the house you think it is foggy outside!!
The loo in your lorry is more modern and luxurious than the one in the house.
The tack room is tidy and everything in its place.....in the kitchen you struggle to find the table/cooker/dog etc!
You can sew plaits to perfection, put elastic on jods and make quick, professional looking repairs to rugs....but struggle to turn a hem on husband's new trousers.
You have to resort to scrubbing your nails with bleach before work each day.
Your non horsey friends don't even bother to invite you for dinner from May to August as they know you will either have to leave early as you are up in an hour....or will be late as you have been to a show for a day further away than they would consider driving for a week's holiday! . Then they know there is a brief window until the opening meet when you are free on a Friday night - but can't get drunk as you will be on the road at 9....and if it is a Saturday it will have to be a late dinner as you need 3 hours to scrape mud of selves and equines!!!
Please tell me I'm not alone!!!
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Post by cotswold1 on Jun 8, 2007 11:37:56 GMT
Hubby says I need a bomb underneath me to get me out of bed, but show days Im like lightning jumping out of bed, non horsey friends think Im off my rocker to go to a show at 2.00am and might not get back until 10.00pm. Theyll never understand when your on your way home with a little red rosette to show your acheivement
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Post by good feeling on Jun 8, 2007 12:38:11 GMT
After all the heated discussions that we all have and we all have diffrent opinions etc about most things the one thing we all have in common is the love of showing and this getting up at 2.00am and driving through the night is truely maddness but we love it and i get a good feeling knowing that there are hundreds of people who feel just like we do, because like you say non horsesy freinds will never understand IT. I also love the fact that we have this wonderful life that most people do not know exists how lucky are we having something to look forward to all week as as weekend aproaches i am so exited, now can you imagine spending your weekend walking round the new DIY shop or garden centre and saving up all year for 2 weeks in the sun, i thank god every day for living in OUR WORLD
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Post by dl on Jun 8, 2007 14:07:42 GMT
busy busy you know me to a t!!!!!!! just come back from yard got an hour til everyones in the house is a tip but stuff it i will have a brew before going back to ride
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Post by Scotland nli on Jun 8, 2007 14:32:10 GMT
After all the heated discussions that we all have and we all have diffrent opinions etc about most things the one thing we all have in common is the love of showing and this getting up at 2.00am and driving through the night is truely maddness but we love it and i get a good feeling knowing that there are hundreds of people who feel just like we do, because like you say non horsesy freinds will never understand IT. I also love the fact that we have this wonderful life that most people do not know exists how lucky are we having something to look forward to all week as as weekend aproaches i am so exited, now can you imagine spending your weekend walking round the new DIY shop or garden centre and saving up all year for 2 weeks in the sun, i thank god every day for living in OUR WORLD ohh........I think I'm going to cry only joking couldn't have said it better myself, I'm convinced we are the normal ones and all those saddo's or slipper people as we like to call them live really boring lives. I agree! I have friend who think I'm extremly sad, as I spend my weekends at shows! The highlight of these peoples lifes are going to the pub! At least we have something to show for all our hard work and don't end up p*ssing it all up a wall
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Post by love them on Jun 8, 2007 14:37:11 GMT
but after all we all no and love stinking of horses than the latest expensive perfum.
and going on hols with our ponies to P(UK) or the other champs, than flying to a hot country to get the tan which we already have from being outside with our ponies.
and yet a horse will listern to every problem we have and yet never talk back to you / stab you in the back / or two face you.
and their always there for a cuddle and kiss.
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Post by haylage on Jun 8, 2007 14:46:21 GMT
OH once asked me "if I stand ast the fridge and weave, please will you feed me?" the answer was no I'll sell you!!! my first husband said to me "Its me or the bl**dy horses" I am now onto my second husband. My boss thinks that the straw in my hair is a fashion statement!!! (I told him that) but the best thing is standing in the que at ASDA on a wet day, steam rising from your wet clothes that smell of a mixture of horse poo, rotting haylage and wet horse, boy do people move out of the way, ace way to get to the front of the que.
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Post by skint on Jun 8, 2007 15:49:42 GMT
I pay £40 for a set of alloy front shoes for my boy every six weeks, but wear Johnathon James £6.99 specials for myself which last over year before literally dropping to pieces.
Eating beans on Toast, egg on Toast and the leftover tins from PUK last year cos we are skint, but the ponies get £10 quid a bag food without batting an eyelid
The ponies rugs get washed and aired on a regular basis, my quilt is looking decidedly grimy but well it will last another week.
But would we have it any other way NO
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Post by skint on Jun 8, 2007 15:53:40 GMT
Just been thinking as well - I sat and realised how many good friends I have got, aquaintences I have made just though having horses and ponies
This life is full of ups and downs but isnt it a nice life
I always think that my daughter could have a coversation with anyone just thro mixing with all difference classes of people with ponies, I always smile when I hear her talking posh to people she has a mouth like a sewer most of the time .
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Post by cotswold1 on Jun 8, 2007 17:06:10 GMT
I second and third that, what brilliant friends I have since going into the horsey world, only been in this world for 6 years but wouldnt go back to the "What can I do today to pass my time away" The biggest thrill I get is seeing my daughter and her pony win, most of my non-horsey friends dont even see their kids let alone watch them achieve something, Whats more thrilling /heart wrenching than hearing the number of your pony shouted out/ pointed out in championships and supremes, eyes fill up heart thumping and friends sharing same experience wether its their pony or yours. What more could you ask for (a lottery win)
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Post by cracker on Jun 8, 2007 17:15:27 GMT
This has got me thinking aswell. I would much rather poo pick, muck out, clean out the lorry, try to get moulting ponies looking smart and creosote miles of fencing... what I am in the middle of now, go to show at some ungodly hour with a hyper youngster on its first outing, than have a lie-in.
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Post by proudwilliam on Jun 8, 2007 17:56:08 GMT
We call it silly oclock when we get up during the night!!! Husband knows that the pecking order is 1st Horse 2nd Dog and finally 3rd Husband. He now shoots every weekend so we only occassionally meet late evenings and on work days. If I did not compete and "do the shows" then I would be off my rocker. I hate to estimate how much money I hae spent on horses but nothing can be better than watching your horse win especially the championships at Royal Welsh and the RIHS.
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Post by armada on Jun 8, 2007 18:58:20 GMT
The house gets cleaned if I remember, but they are in spotless beds every day with me getting up at 4.30am to make sure everything is ok and the mares and foals get at least an hour and a half in the field before I go to work. Needless to say, I dont get out much, I have ball gowns that have'nt seen the light of day for years and are soon to be put on ebay as I doubt I'll ever have need of them again and some of them, I am now well past the age of being 'able to get away with wearing THAT'. I sold some property I owned in London purely to finance new stabels a horse walker and a newer wagon all for them. I spent an absolute fortune, and bought myself a flat screen telly which I hardly have time to watch and some bed linen. I would never dream of spending a 10th of what the lorry cost on a car for myself and when I occasionally buy clothes they come courtesy of the red cross. My hair needs cutting and my roots need doing, my car needs a new radiator and it'll all have to wait as I've just done the entries for malvern and now have £4 left in the bank. Would I pack it all in for shopping centre culture and a holiday in Ibiza? NEVER EVER EVER!!!! They give me everything I need to make my life completely worthwhile and after for the first time in my life having no horses due to a bad eventing accident found life a complete bore, and against medical advice started to ride again after 5 years and have never looked back. And as for stinking like nothing on earth in Asda, they are used to me now, and I do get to the front of the queue and get the best bargains on the trog shelf (can I afford to eat any other way?). The 'normals' can keep their life, its a living death to me, and I'm sure it would be to you as well.
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Post by ferretNLI on Jun 8, 2007 20:06:14 GMT
Just been thinking as well - I sat and realised how many good friends I have got, aquaintences I have made just though having horses and ponies]
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Post by johnwayne on Jun 8, 2007 20:12:04 GMT
I was 'out of horses' for 2 whole decades (!) and would avoid all things equine, cos I couldn't bear to be close to them, yet with no real contact. When I was newly widowed, my then 10yo daughter gave me £10 for a riding lesson . I was in the local saddler's,(no reason to be, must have been fate) and saw an ad for a half share of a big gelding, and dared to enquire about it. . . . I've never looked back, and now have everything I ever wanted (except a rich husband ). Natural talent would be a bonus too. Asda? Try M&S in a posh suburb - mud falling off wellies, hay sticking out of hair, muddy kisses all over the face. OH! The dirty looks! Big gelding gave way to youngster, then M&Ms, which were always my first love. So if my posts sometimes seem a bit dated, it's because times changed while I wasn't looking. So. You Know Horses Run Your Life When. . . .you have the chance to do it all again, and you still want to!
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Post by proudwilliam on Jun 8, 2007 20:14:41 GMT
Had a thought I think we should get a tax allowance for having horses because we are saving the NHS psychiatric services a fortune by not needing treatment and medication the smell of horse is as good as a valium!!!!!
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Post by marymarynli on Jun 8, 2007 20:54:16 GMT
I had 6yrs out of showing as was diagnosed with m.e. Concentrated on my career and turned into a super blonde size 6 , sun bed tanned fashion victim....all my salary went on me, my hair, my tan and the latest model car etc....was very sad looking back. Anyway got stronger was missing the ponies parents bought me a saint of a Sec D to show again. 5 years later we have 5 ponies to show and will be back at the Rihs for the first time since '97 this year ....I insist that its my equine friends who have helped me be so well, my OH and I call non-horsey people 'the normals' and quite often comment on what we would do at the weekend if we werent at a show ....no way I would be happy on a trip round the nearest garden centre or a walk round a lake etc I am sadly no longer super blonde or a size 6 , have no tan apart from what comes out of a bottle when I remember....my sporty little car is now a knackered little car which wasnt really designed for carrying 6 bales of shavings .....amazing what you get in a corsa I cant remember last time I bought new clothes in fact my clothes would prob be worn by Katie off The Apprentice circa the 80's ....got some Kool Koats for the ponies as they were on offer the other week though! Farrier next week at nearly £300 and RIHS entries so OH and I surviving on the eggs my chickens lay, baked beans, bread, cheese and lettuce which I grow myself and whatever else lurks at the bottom of the freezer....but my sec D worker will have the hugely expensive stud guard girth he needs as he keeps studding himself and the new pessoa saddle. OH went to work the other day without a clean shirt ....I was washing stuff from a show ....horse stuff comes first !!! July will mean the dreaded lorry plate so already warned OH to get used to having eggs for tea as dont think the bill will be a small one...wagon not been the same since it went to Scotland and back in one day earlier this year!! Bsps entries Close early July so decisions over which ponies to take as dont think bank mgr will be happy if I enter them all. Have booked a haircut for me before Rihs so we dont look totally like the Clampets when we arrive I run the horse clippers over the OH's hair so that nice and cheap .....my mother not quite forgiven me for calling her Ma Clampet the other week. Hoping to lose bit more weight so can squeeze into last years Joules T shirt....pony needs new rugs at £80 a shot so I cant have a £20 T shirt. My former sporty corsa due for taxing too so thinking of Utilising OH's bike but not sure how I manage the shavings on that! My house also too a disaster area where even mice would fear to tread my OH washed the bedlinen last time as I well..... kept forgetting, we have a dishwasher but forget to fill it up only remembering when we run out of cups and plates! Totally forgot we needed bread & milk today but I remebered the horse, dog and chicken feed so not sure why OH got quite so upset as he can always drink water My OH and I have made so many friends through showing , some of them I competed with back in the 80's & 90's others we have met since but we enjoy every show we go to its our day out whether we win or lose as long as we have enjoyed our day and my OH been able to buy a quality burger then we are all happy!!! Ps Burgers very important as I dont cook or take food with me unless OH pointedly reminds me...one show last year the OH asked whats for lunch? I pointed to a carrier bag containg a Pot Noodle , a Packet of crisps and a Can of Coke I honestly did not understand why OH got so upset and stalked off in direction of the van selling burgers !!
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Post by Andrea Dymott on Jun 8, 2007 21:15:32 GMT
Oh, Thank God, I'm not the only one feeling a total inadequate at housekeeping while I have immaculate stables! 21 years ago when my OH proposed ( or I forced him into it), I did say "Love me love my horses, my mother and her victorian wardrobe" God Bless Him, he did and now we have his 70 strong flock of sheep and three gundogs as well. Swings and roundabouts but thank God for an understanding man. (I promise to clean up the living room tomorrow.....)
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Post by papahotchie on Jun 8, 2007 22:06:13 GMT
you know horses run your life when.......whenever you sit down to have your supper the 10 o'clock news has already finished.....you have to go to your lorry to get food out of the cupboards, as the kitchen ones are empty......every t-shirt you own has a fashional black sabelene mark somewhere on it.....the most expensive pair of footwear you own, can only be worn when mounted.......your mobile phone is 85% straw & shavings, you have to take it apart every week to remove the gunk so that you can see the screen......non-horsey friends no longer call you for a chat, they simply send a text asking for your next available time and date to phone.........you find pieces of hay in your bed!........the callouses on your hands cannot be softened even with industrial hand cream........you start wearing socks, t-sh1ts & pants inside out cos they will do for another day and you haven't had time to wash any..........you send cheques to the gas & electicity company second class, whilst show entries go recorded delivery........you can comfortably sleep leant against your pony whilst stripped in the line up.......
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Post by mara on Jun 10, 2007 10:28:53 GMT
I think I'm going to have to print this thread off to show to my not overly positive hubby My mum reckons she's still skint from over 20 years ago having 1 pony who we only did pony club stuff with. I think even worse is the web now where there are so many horsey forums that I get even less done as I'm too busy keeping up with whos' done/doing what. Like Oldie, I've had a break of over 15 years from horses so I too may sound a tad old fashioned - synthetic turnout rugs were only just breaking onto the market when I had to have my horse PTS & bling constituted those padded bridles with white behind that the dressage horses wore.
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