A Rant

Ok, so I am going to make a very very quick detour from my happy me-centric posting style to rant about others.

All week, the kids have had half days at school. No one came out to ride. Sure it got kind of cold... But really? Wear a jacket.

Today it was nearly thirty degrees outside. Sure there was blowing snow, but the barn has an indoor!
No one came out to ride.

I posted an arena clean up announcement for all of the  kids to come out and help rake the arena... And no one showed up. Now I'm tired, sore and crabby from raking (and watering) the entire arena without some much as a "thank you, Alison... the corners look better!"

Next week it's supposed to be in the single digits and dropping... I already have kids whining about having to ride in the cold.
No mercy, I say!

Tack on some inexplicable barn tension (obviously I won't go into detail...), and I've hit my pressure point.

But really... When did it become ok to ignore a horse for a whole week? I can't remember ever taking an entire week off of riding - especially with no school or work interfering and a covered arena to use! This makes me feel ancient, but where exactly did the 'work ethic' of horse owners go? It was never ok in our house growing up to 'just not feel like' going to the barn. Horses need to eat, get groomed and worked.

How is this going to affect the start of the show season? There's a reason that I'm out there riding two or three horses a day. No, I don't just like the punishment when it's zero degrees in the arena.... I want my horses to look more than ready when we make our first trot down the centerline of the season. To be ready, then need to be fit, supple and more advanced in their training. That's how you win! By having the most prepared horse at the show!
At this point, I'm not sure that my students (they are kids after all) really understand the type of horses and riders that they will encounter at a recognized show. Fancy gaits and a nice horses aren't enough... The work has to be done before the show season starts.

I'm appalled at the lack of initiative. Appalled.

Sigh.