(for the daughter's perspective, click here)

Mid December to mid February, we take off. The horse,
the trainer, and the rider all need a break from a tough
show schedule. We all get slightly crabby those first two
shows in December and need this time to regroup and
maybe even celebrate the holidays. It is also a great time
to regroup and reorganize. In late January, we start sorting,
cleaning, and reorganizing our
show items. We take a complete break for two weeks
with almost no riding or at least jumping. Our horses get
to go out to the pasture, roll, get dirty, and be horses.

We sleep late—no 4:30 mornings, homework gets done,
and we just take a rest going to movies, the mall, or
catching up with the boyfriend. We even start to feel like
normal people with a life.
Then the trainer starts talking about the winter circuit
being only 6 weeks away and we go into training mode.
Riding daily—6 days a week, 2 lessons a week, and
planning for our trips. We do not clip our horses—between
the extra stall lights for five hours a night and blankets
(and more blankets) they do not get fuzzy. Living in the
southeast, means winter blankets one day and sheets the
 next. My job is to keep the show blankets separate from the barn
blankets as the teenagers whizzes through.

In late January, we start organizing lists and beginning planning
for what has to be done.

Since I am working with a teenager, my first step is to
engage her in a discussion of what we need to do to
prepare for a show. Her plan is to take a break with
friends, TV, and at the computer. At this point, we can
develop joint lists and spread out the work. As a
younger teen, I did more organizing and gave her tasks as she
to perform them.
Each year, she has taken more responsibility.

Here is our getting organized checklist.  Click Here