Not-So-Speedy Dressage
From Endurance to Dressage
Along with fixing what I break, I find that it's important to keep things tidy. Since it was only marginally hot this week, I decided to give the horse-mobile its annual once over. It's a job I love to hate, but I force myself to do it every summer. If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you've seen tons of pictures of my horse trailer. I have a gooseneck, three-horse slant load that sports a rear tack and living quarters. It's a nice trailer, and I love it, but it is a bear to clean. I always start by emptying the tack compartment and sweeping out old manure and shavings. Once the tack compartment is empty and the space is free of loose bits, I tackle the poop wall. Even though I have three stalls, I rarely use the front one. Instead, I've removed the rear divider which creates a double stall in the center of the trailer. If I do haul both horses at the same time, Speedy goes in the front stall. The horses like the jumbo stall, but it means that they both poop smack dab in the center of the trailer. Scrubbing that wall is just gross. I use a high pressure hose nozzle, but it only helps to loosen the caked-on poop. The only way to really get it clean is to roll up my sleeves and dive in with a scrub brush. Once the walls and the top of the mats are clean, I scrub the floor. That's the hardest part of the job. The mats are heavy and very unwieldy. I drag them outside onto pallets, scrub the undersides, and let them dry in the sun. As they dry, I tackle the aluminum floor, scrubbing away the gunk that seeps under the mats while also checking for any corrosion or floor damage. Before I put everything back, I took a scrub brush and worked on the outside of the trailer too. Since I don't tie the horses to the trailer very often, it wasn't that dirty. I mostly just scrubbed away some road grime and plenty of dust. It was only about 11:30 a.m. when I finished, so I decided to go for broke. I grabbed my purse from my car and drove the truck and trailer home so that I could clean out the camper area too. I took all of the bedding into the house and washed the dust out of the comforter, shams, and sheets. While the bedding washed and dried, I cleaned my "kitchen" and used Pledge on all of the cabinetry and trim. I also washed the towels and cleaned the bathroom. After sweeping up all of the hay and pebbles off the floor, I also vacuumed and mopped. I am not sure why I bother with the mop, but it always smells nice the first time I use it.
My bestie and I are going to Simi Valley on Saturday afternoon for a lesson with my trainer, and then we're staying the night so that Izzy and I can do a schooling show the next morning. I hope they both appreciate the clean digs!
Val
7/23/2016 10:16:07 am
Agree with others. Vicarious cleaning is the way to go. Great work! Everything looks amazing.
Carly
7/25/2016 02:25:42 pm
I give mine its deep clean after our last show of the year so I can snuggle it into bed for winter and not have to think about it again. Such a satisfying job once it's done! Comments are closed.
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About the Writer and RiderI am a lifelong rider.
I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010. Welcome to my dressage journey. About Speedy GSpeedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
About IzzyIzzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
National Rider AwardsState Rider Awards
State Horse Awards
Working Towards:
CDS Sapphire Rider Award Third Level: 63.514% Third Level: 62.105% Fourth Level: Fourth Level: 2023 Show Season
Show Rating (***) CDS/USDF/USEF (*) CDS (s) Schooling (c) Clinic (r) Ride-a-Test Clinic 2023 Show Schedule
TBD 2023 Completed … Pending 2023 Qualifying Scores
Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC) Qualifying Training Level 3 Scores/2 Judges/60%: Score 1: Score 2: Score 3: Archives
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