How do you fit in time for exercise?

[overworkedta]

Like most others have said- scheduling. I currently only ride with my trainer so that is scheduled for every week (kill two birds by working in errands on my way home from the barn.) Desire to improve there meant I had to start scheduling mat work (pilates and a lot of stretching) and then finally replacing my marching sneakers with proper running shoes (3 times what I paid with partial sponsorship in undergrad, ugh) and wanting to get my dog back in shape to start training this summer meant I needed to start scheduling trail time with her. It helps that I have mostly evening classes so I have the benefit of daylight.

 

Also, DH made a walking desk last summer, so if the weather's awful I can pull up Hulu or Amazon and run for an episode or part of a movie, or walk and read for class.

SUUUUUPER jealous you have a barn to ride at.

 

Here it's all saddleseat and the like (which I'm not interested in, unfortunately) and there aren't any barns giving lessons in dressage, h/j, or stock type situations for anyone who isn't a rote beginner. It's a big mess.  I wanted to get back into riding post-comps but I ended up just investing in my bikes because it was a non-option.

[GreenePony]

SUUUUUPER jealous you have a barn to ride at.

 

Here it's all saddleseat and the like (which I'm not interested in, unfortunately) and there aren't any barns giving lessons in dressage, h/j, or stock type situations for anyone who isn't a rote beginner. It's a big mess.  I wanted to get back into riding post-comps but I ended up just investing in my bikes because it was a non-option.

That's how it was in undergrad. I had three options- school team, school club, or those all around places. I was never really competitive in hunters so team was out, the club terrified me, and the all around places were like your options. You would think a school sponsored club would have have decent safety but they had one of those by-the-grace-of-God safety records- barbed wire everywhere, people teaching horses to rear, and the kicker was when the "instructors" were terrified that I dropped my stirrups at an AQHA-quality jog, on purpose (it was necessity rather than a desire to show off my eq, I couldn't reach the stirrups on the shortest hole and I was too proud to ask for tagalong stirrups.)

 

I figured I should take advantage of living in horse country (hunters AND dressage) while we're here. My trainer is fantastic, she has a hunter background too so she knows exactly how to fix my hunter princess problems without making me feel like an idiot (anyone who can lengthen my leg 5" in a year deserves a medal.) Also I've gotten to ride horses worth more than my car when it was brand new - the ponies I rode growing up were never that fancy - I'm spoiled

[overworkedta]

Yeah, that's kind of what I miss about taking lessons - if you don't ride at a "riding school", you get to experience far better stock than you could buy.  I showed APHA growing up but also took H/J and dressage lessons at two other barns while I was at it.  I like a bit of everything except for saddle seat.  I worked at a saddleseat barn as a teenager and got to ride quite a few very nice horses there - both 5 and 3-gaited because it was an ASB barn before all else - but it was not my thing.

 

One of the faculty has a wife that is a trainer and I hear she is excellent but her barn is a 45 minute drive one-way.  I just can't bring myself to drive that far regularly because the gas would run me almost as much as the lesson.

[GreenePony]

Yeah, that's kind of what I miss about taking lessons - if you don't ride at a "riding school", you get to experience far better stock than you could buy.  I showed APHA growing up but also took H/J and dressage lessons at two other barns while I was at it.  I like a bit of everything except for saddle seat.  I worked at a saddleseat barn as a teenager and got to ride quite a few very nice horses there - both 5 and 3-gaited because it was an ASB barn before all else - but it was not my thing.

 

One of the faculty has a wife that is a trainer and I hear she is excellent but her barn is a 45 minute drive one-way.  I just can't bring myself to drive that far regularly because the gas would run me almost as much as the lesson.

 We're in too close to the city for most programs so I drive about an hour each way for my trainer. There's a 20 cent drop in gas out there so I fill up on my way home (and we have a hybrid so I only use a gallon each way, thankfully.) No way I could afford it it were just my (non existent) income, but DH realizes it's necessary for my sanity.

[overworkedta]

 We're in too close to the city for most programs so I drive about an hour each way for my trainer. There's a 20 cent drop in gas out there so I fill up on my way home (and we have a hybrid so I only use a gallon each way, thankfully.) No way I could afford it it were just my (non existent) income, but DH realizes it's necessary for my sanity.

That's great.  My car has good mileage but not like a hybrid does.  There is no way it would be feasible from a time/money standpoint, esp. since a group lesson is just badly timed and a private is like $65.00.  Plus the $6.00 in gas, the weekly commitment, it's just insanely expensive for me at this time.