| Yikes! The price of being addicted to horses has | | | | corrals down, I'll have a huge arena in which to lope. I |
| suddenly gotten higher than ever! Have you noticed | | | | can also put 1 or 2 jumps in that space. I can't take |
| that while no one has any money, the price of horses | | | | down all that wood by myself, but I can with the help |
| hasn't really dropped much? The price of keeping, | | | | of a friend. So I'm bartering with my buddy Bill. He's |
| feeding, caring for, and showing horses hasn't gotten | | | | going to help me take down the corral wood and I'm |
| any cheaper, either. | | | | going to do chores for him later in the month, when he |
| In fact, it's gotten more expensive. Our local "come | | | | and his wife are going on safari. Barter is cheap and |
| learn how to do penning and sorting" has just become | | | | only requires a little gas money and some elbow |
| a jackpot penning, driving the price up by 3 times. The | | | | grease on my part. |
| local shows now have added surcharges for fuel and | | | | Once I have my loping arena, I'm going to put 1 or 2 |
| office administration. Does that make any sense in a | | | | jumps in the area (a friend is going to loan me her |
| depressed economy? | | | | jumps). Once that's set up, I am going to become the |
| Regardless, it's resulting in the zen cowgirl blues. This | | | | one-jump wonder. That means I'm going to school my |
| zen cowgirl has money but has bigger dreams. I want | | | | hunter/jumper mares to jump full courses by using only |
| to invest in an enhanced watering system for the back | | | | 1 or 2 jumps. This is modeled after a chap with whom I |
| pasture, not to mention some raw land. So that means | | | | took one jumping lesson. Like me, this man only had |
| less showing and more work and investment in my | | | | land for one jump, so he taught every one of his |
| business. Yikes! Unfortunately, I do better when there's | | | | horses and riders to jump entire courses by schooling |
| a competitive event on the horizon to shoot for ... a | | | | over a single jump. Given that this man was once the |
| horse show or a practice penning. So what's a zen | | | | high-jump champion in the state, I think he might have |
| cowgirl to do? | | | | something there. I'm going to give it a whirl this coming |
| 3 Ways to Find Cheap Horse Activities in This | | | | fall and spring, and see whether I can use his |
| Economy | | | | techniques to teach my mares. |
| Below I'm going to highlight one of the ideas I'm | | | | The benefits of this idea are: |
| pursuing as a cheap horse activity. The three basic | | | | 1. Allows me to school my horses without hauling, thus |
| concepts of that idea are: | | | | saving on gas. |
| 1. Retrofit what you have | | | | 2. Keeps my intrigued because the idea is so crazy it's |
| 2. Barter services with someone else to save money | | | | fun (if I get bored, I go out and collect more horses). |
| 3. Borrow equipment or gear from others | | | | 3. Enables me to keep my horses in jumping shape |
| These three concepts really don't require money, or at | | | | without buying a bunch of jumps or taking expensive |
| least not a lot of it. Now, read through the idea below | | | | lessons. |
| and see if this gives you some ideas on what you | | | | The downsides to this idea are: |
| might be able to do for a cheap horse activity. | | | | 1. I will be proving once again that I am crazy (but hey, |
| What To Do About the Zen Cowgirl Blues | | | | what is a zen cowgirl anyway?). |
| What do zen cowgirls do when the wallet gets tight | | | | 2. I'm not sure if I remember everything the dude |
| but the competitive spirit is still burning strong? We get | | | | taught me about schooling over just a single jump. |
| creative, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I've | | | | 3. There are probably pitfalls to this approach that I |
| come up with 3 horse activities that I plan to do in the | | | | have yet to discover. |
| next 6 months which are aimed at competitive goals | | | | Oh well, as with most activities related to my horses, |
| but won't break the bank. In this article I'll cover the first | | | | everything is an open experiment, a work in progress. |
| one: | | | | Without a doubt, this one-jump wonder idea will be |
| ... to be a one-jump wonder ... | | | | interesting to implement, and I will probably learn some |
| How to Be a One-Jump Wonder | | | | new tricks. It is, in any case, a fitting activity for a zen |
| I live on five acres of heaven with lush pastures for | | | | cowgirl who is addicted to mustangs. Stay tuned for |
| horses to graze and for making hay. One thing I have | | | | more progress on this INSANE idea! |
| not had, though, is a flat area large enough in which to | | | | What About You? |
| lope my horses. Thus far, I've only had enough room to | | | | What crazy but cheap ideas can you come up with to |
| walk and trot. That is all about to change. At the back | | | | do with horses? Here's one from my local paper: |
| of the property I have an large area that is currently | | | | "Will pay someone to ride my fat draft gelding." |
| divided into three corrals. The corral wood is old and | | | | Hmmm ... does this sound like you? It's not just cheap, |
| nasty, not to mention chewed-up by the horses. | | | | you get paid! |
| I was recently struck with the idea that if I take the | | | | |