[Sunday Fun] 8 Things You Gave Up During Summer Because Of Horse Shows

With now weeks in between the last and the next two shows, I woke up today and though to myself: wow, no horse show, no stress, no drama. Additionally, our best equipment manager is on a business trip across the pond - meaning: plenty of time! Time, that we would normally have when not going to shows all summer long while normal people do fun stuff. Here is a list that normal people could do during summer:

1. Sleeping in
Yes, there is people who spend half their Sunday in bed or on the couch while we are driving hundreds of kilometers through the country in the hunt for a ribbon.

Okay, you can sleep at the show... there is plenty of time!

2. Going abroad for short/let alone longer trips
Summer is the ideal season to go on fancy weekend trips - let alone a two week holiday. When we are not at a horse show, we do have some holidays, but most of the time horses are involved (like last year when we went to the European Championships in Aachen). And more than one week is pretty difficult as there might be another horse show. Have I told you yet that living in Carinthia, we are in driving distance from many beautiful places in Italy, Slovenia and Croatia?! DRIVING DISTANCE!

Hell yeah, we are on holiday...watching the European Championships!



3. Meeting with others at the lake for some drinks
Evenings are reserved for training as flies are too nasty and sun is too hot during the day. While others celebrate summer with cocktails and dancing, we put on some fly spray as we NEED to train before our next show.

At least, it is close to a river...
4. Having a beautiful, healthy summer tan
We do have a tan. We are outside a lot, we see the sun a lot. But the sun does not see all the parts of our body. While training or showing, breeches make sure that our legs are whiter than the whitest pair of breeches and with our glove hands we are the real Mickey Mouse.

Tanning, next to the arena...
5. Enjoying a house and a garden
How can you have a house and garden when you are away so many weekends? Would there even be enough time to water the flowers? To enjoy the pool? To relax in the hammock? As long as there are no pools or hammocks at horse shows, chances are low that you would find a show enthusiast there during summer.

My parent's garden is just being used as another training arena
6. Fruits, salads and other fresh summer food
Meals at horse shows come in fatty, wishy-washy and far from fresh. Most of the weekends, even time for breakfast is limited as horses come first and it is not a problem to get up and feed at 7 and not having time for a proper bread roll and coffee breakfast. I haven't seen a show offering fresh and healthy fruits or salads have you?

Trying to eat healthy at a pre-barn picknick


When this is your place to be, a five star breakfast seems rather unlikely
7. Partying on Saturday's
Living next to one of the most beautiful and exclusive lakes of Austria, hundreds of parties and events take place on Saturdays. Usually, I only "hear" them when laying on the couch with the windows open once there is a show free weekend. Watching the fireworks on my balcony and wondering how much people can party and being happy that I can go to bed early and do not have to get up at 6 to feed Hafl in his stable tent.

A show enthusiast's definition of party on a Saturday
8. Cruising around with your convertible/sports car
No convertibles/sports cars/fancy cars for horse owners! Seriously, how should you haul a horse trailer with a car like that? Since I decided to become a horse show participant, choosing a car purely depends on maximum towing weight. Period.

Where would you be with your fancy convertible or sports car in THESE surroundings?


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