A Little Slice of Heaven
I have been a TRI for a little over a year now and I feel like I have gotten the “hang” of it pretty much. I understand how my organization runs, the staff all fits into their own groove and I have now worked at every special event that we have throughout the year.
Last year I blogged about my first time at the annual Ride-A-Thon. It was such a fun day, but I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off – not really knowing exactly what I should be doing, and therefore, unable to really enjoy the day.
This year was so different. first of all, as a staff we talked about how much better organized it needed to be and my amazing co-workers who work a more full schedule there, spent a lot of time getting things pre-packed and organized really well before that morning.
I arrived at the barn at 6:15 a.m. and we all checked over the list to make sure we had everything. When you move horses and an entire program to another location for an event – there is a lot to pack and remember. We were taking 8 of our 11 horses – and that’s a lot of tack, hay, fly wraps, fly spray, water buckets, muck buckets to remember! This along with goody bags, participant files, first aid kits (horses and humans!), t-shirts, volunteer info, signage, tents, chairs, tables… the list goes on and on.
And we want our horses to look their best of course. So that means baths (if we can – it was too cold this week), bridal paths clipped, extra grooming stuff and not to mention getting all the tack cleaned and our best blankets out!
For all you mom’s packing to go somewhere with babies… you know what its like – yeah, its just like that.
It was a very smooth morning, and our wonderful horses all tailored very well. We got them loaded onto the 4 trailers in no time. We then headed to Danada Equestrian Center where we park our trailers, organize our tack and unload our horses.
It seems to me like they all just breathe a big sigh of relief when they get there. They have green grass, wide open fields and fresh air. Everything a horse dreams of.
This mare, Cherry (one of my favorites and the “queen” of our herd), especially enjoys being out for ride-a-thon. She was in a near comatose state of relaxation most of the day (and I promise you this is not how it normally is).
You know what? I felt the same way. It was so relaxing, the weather was great, the horses behaved so perfectly and the riders all had such a great time.
We laughed, we hung out, there was a great BBQ lunch where all the volunteers and participants could chat and get to know each other – just over all a wonderful day. There were so many times throughout the day where I just once again said to myself, “Am I really doing this?”
Being around horses, helping others, and putting those two together – its a little piece of heaven for me.
And meeting this big boy (Gus) really topped it off for me. What a beautiful creature! 
I mean look at his FEET! His very own Ugg boots.
