A Day (Weekend) in the Life of a Daddy of a Horseback Rider

This is the first year that Margot is part of the competition team at her stables, Maplewood Equestrian, which means she commits to competing in a number of competitions with the same horse throughout 2022. 

Some of these shows are "in-house", meaning only girls and boys from her stables compete. They are less formal, meaning kids don''t have to dress up in her formal showing clothes, but they are still judged, so Margot still takes them seriously.

Other shows are part of the Challenge series against a rival school, Riverview Stables, which is a few minutes down the road. For the Challenge series, Margot has to dress up in all her regalia and points are kept to see how well you did throughout the year. Having a rival is also kindof fun as it gives Margot extra joy when she or another member of her team beats her "nemesis". 

In total, Margot will probably do about 7 shows this year, whether "in-house" or part of the Challenge series. It may not sound like much but here is a sample schedule from what we did this past weekend to allow Margot to compete.

Saturday:

• Drop off Margot at Maplewood at 5 pm so she can prep her horse for Sunday's show. Glosette Girl and I went for a pub dinner in the area and then a walk until we could pick her up at 8:30 pm (it's too far to drive home).

Sunday:

• Wake up at 5 am so we can get Margot to Maplewood for 6:30 am for more horse prep. Glosette Girl and I went for a run...

Stretch those calves!

• and then breakfast, until we could pick her up at 9:45 am.

I'm HUNGRY. Lil' Eggs Benni will quench that fire.

• 9:45 am - drive Margot over to Riverview Stables after her horse, Elliot, is loaded unto the Horse truck.
  
• Hang out Riverview until 11:30 am, and then watch Margot compete in several rounds of dressage and hunter, which wrapped up around 1:30 pm.

You can tell who is the parent of which competitor depending on when they whip out the cameras

• Chill out at the show as the rest of the competition wraps up. Read, grab a hotdog at the cheap on-site canteen, occasionally watch some horses do some awesome horse things, and give Margot an occasional high-five as she basks in having received another "Reserve champion" (2nd place) designation in dressage.

Horseback riding and sci-fi reading: such a civilized atmosphere!

• 3:00 pm - after Elliott loaded back onto the truck, drive Margot back to Maplewood.
• 3:30-4:00 pm - hang out in the parking lot while Margot helps bring in supplies, makes sure Elliott is back in his stables, safe, clean and sound.
• At 4:00 pm, drive Margot home while she chatterboxes away about the day. Home by 4:30 pm and time to start cooking a celebratory dinner!

I think we all passed out in exhaustion when we went to bed. But that's OK! Now that Margot is fully committed to one one activity, I feel like I'm entering a different phase of parenthood, one where my primary role is just help stoke that passion for as long as possible. So even though there are some long days, I feel really privileged to be a part of this.

And if you are curious about seeing how she did, check it out: