How to cope with no time at all!

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littlen

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Hi,

I am excited and scared at the moment as I am concidering doing my Vet nurse training starting the 10th of September. Its a full time college course (which I have to pay for but hey ho) but I am a little stressed about how I will manage, time wise and financially.

The course is a full time one, college monday to friday 9-6 and also involves a most of the year being in placements within a 3 hour radius of home. As I get no funding I will have to work Saturday and Sunday to afford horse and car/travel/books etc.
I also get no government funding so am finding the £4000 to do the course myself. Thats if I do the course as I have not officially enrolled yet as I have been debating this for weeks (any VNs out there want to offer some advice?) Its a huge life change and I am positive it will be so difficult, I am also taking a rather large paycut to do this!

So, the thing that worrys me most is my horse. He is not an easy ride at all, and I doubt that I would find a sharer willing to ride him! He is not sellable so he has to stay. He has to come in during winter and I am not sure how I will cope ticking him over especially as I will not have any time off at all!

Does anyone have any time saving tips? How do you keep yours going when you all work full time or long hours?
If I was to look at a sharer...where would I start in finding one?

Am I likley to find a sharer willing to take on a horse with... issues?


Thanks :)
 
Full or part livery, at yard with indoor school ideally. Or get up quite early say 6ish and go do him before college?

I have mine on part livery the yo does him in morning - feed and turnout due to me starting work at 6am

I do him in evening muck out groom etc he just a baby so no riding.

Difficult but you can do it :D x
 
Also stuff like being very organised, making up feed night before, filling haynets etc all help.
 
when i was at uni Rosie lived out 24/7 all year. not so much from a time point of view but for money.
I only rode at wknds or half days etc when I wasn't working.

Not ideal but it worked fine for us
 
Thanks all of you.

Honestly I am terrified as I am not even sure this is a good idea... (I work in an awful job and hating it so enrolled at college to see if I would get anywhere and they have offered me a place! I have always wanted to work with animals and heres my chance, its the pay cut thats scaring me most!)

The yard I am on is lovely and I really dont want to move if I can help it. They only do DIY though although a lady on the yard will turn out for £1.50 a day.
Either that or I will have to set my alarm for 5:30 am lol, my other half is never going to see me!

Its more the financial aspect of it as well as I will not be able to do any overtime or extra hours, it would literally be 12 hours on a weekend to survive off. I have thought about taking out a loan for emergencies but the repayments scare me!

I looked at a sharer before but I would need someone dedicated and experienced, I couldnt have someone deciding they are not going to do him that day and dropping me in it. I was concidering turning him away for winter or maybe just riding once a week to keep him ticking over. I am now off to buy lots of haynets and bucket covers!

argh what to do :)
 
Can you find a fellow livery to put him out during the week, if you do the same for them at weekends (when the traffic won't be so heavy and would cut down your travelling time)? This would save the cost of part/full livery. Either that or keep him with a friend - we have a friend's pony here and we just deal with her along with ours - although we refuse to muck out!
Turn away sounds like the best idea - would he be able to live out? You're not really going to have much time to ride anyway!
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Can you find a fellow livery to put him out during the week, if you do the same for them at weekends (when the traffic won't be so heavy and would cut down your travelling time)? This would save the cost of part/full livery. Either that or keep him with a friend - we have a friend's pony here and we just deal with her along with ours - although we refuse to muck out!
Turn away sounds like the best idea - would he be able to live out? You're not really going to have much time to ride anyway!
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My horse shares a field with 2 other ponies, the lady works long hours who owns those two so last year we had the arrangement that I put out and she brought in. I suppose I could still do that just would have to get up extra early!

He is okay not being ridden, although he cant live out as he suffers really bad mud fever and skin allergies and he is also a very poor doer so must come in at night to be stuffed full of haylage! Why didnt I go and buy a native instead ;)
 
I have a friend who has just finished her training and she got sponsered by a vet practice to do it (got a job there as a receptionist and then kept on to do training.) Might take a bit longer to get on the course but she was paid whilst she was training. Not a lot but enough. If you could do this you may have to wait til next year but should get sojme free time at the weekends.

Blitz
 
blitznbobs said:
I have a friend who has just finished her training and she got sponsered by a vet practice to do it (got a job there as a receptionist and then kept on to do training.) Might take a bit longer to get on the course but she was paid whilst she was training. Not a lot but enough. If you could do this you may have to wait til next year but should get sojme free time at the weekends.

Blitz
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Blitz I have been on the waiting list for 2 years with not one placemement becoming available, hence this course or nothing :(
 
I wouldnt worry about just turning him away for the winter, cant see that it would do him any harm :)

I remember i looked into going back to college and they told me that because i had been working full time for over 3yrs that i would be entitiled to some kind of bursery so ask about help with money etc
best of luck hun x
 
I think first of all it would be wise to bear in mind if you are working 7 days a week you will become very tired and may not be able to cope with your new studies, real tiredness creeps up slowly and you may only notice things are not right by loss of concentration, being able to absorb information etc.

I would put your horse out for the winter and concentrate on your college course. Also investigate any funding assistance.
 
I have experienced a slightly different scenario - but with similarities to yours! I was pregnant last year and had my little boy in December and was off on maternity leave (and peanuts maternity pay!) until May. I was on a DIY yard but they moved me to a field with lots of shelter. I bought a really good rug and fed adlib haylage with hard feed once a day and my ribby TB came out of winter positively porky! I also took his shoes off over winter and he coped with this surprisingly well - also saved a fortune with the farrier.

I've moved him since to my friend's house and his stable is in the field which is the best of both worlds. This winter I'm buying some really good stable mats and he will have a minimal amount of bedding (less bedding = less mucking out :D ) If you can trade off and get a friend to look after him morning or night then it will make life so much easier.

In terms of exercise it is possible to keep him relatively fit - you just need a routine! Since I went back to work I have had to juggle everything round (FT job, baby and horse = challenge!!) but it is do-able. My weekly routine is:
Monday: lunge 20 mins (if not competed heavily on Sunday)
Tuesday: friend feeds and looks after him (gives me a break)
Wednesday: Lunge or school for about 30 minutes
Thursday: friend does him again
Friday: finish work early - ride PM (usually schooling)
Saturday: hacking
Sunday: Hacking/jumping/event

This keeps him fit enough to do most things (I SJ and event with him with no problems)

My friend also rides about once a fortnight for me during the week. She isn't the most confident and just hacks him (normally with husband walking with her) but it takes pressure off. There are some good riders out there who may well be happy to share a more 'challenging' ride (I would have before buying Baz as I had had a break from owning due to career etc) - maybe advertise in tackshops or ask around at your yard? Even a couple of days a week can make a massive difference.

Hope this helps reassure you that it is possible to juggle money and time - sorry its turned into a mammoth essay! :D
 
LHS said:
I think first of all it would be wise to bear in mind if you are working 7 days a week you will become very tired and may not be able to cope with your new studies, real tiredness creeps up slowly and you may only notice things are not right by loss of concentration, being able to absorb information etc.

I would put your horse out for the winter and concentrate on your college course. Also investigate any funding assistance.
Click to expand...

Ditto this. IME, working 7 days is sustainable short term, but utterly, utterly exhausting long term.

As LHS says, real tiredness creeps up on you and effects every single aspect of your life - memory, concentration, temper, relationships, even sleep - more than I would ever have imagined. I can barely find time to wash my hair at the moment, riding certainly gets pushed to the bottom of the list :o

I really don't mean to be on a downer for you, and I really admire you for taking a risk to do something you'll love. Just please don't under-estimate the effect that dedicating yourself to working 7 days a week & having a horse (esp on DIY) will have on your life :(
 
Thankyou everyone I appreciate all the advice given :)


To be honest I am worried about the exhaustion. I have talked and talked about this with my other half and he has encouraged me as he wants to see me happy, not spending 40 hours a week in a job I hate but I could not afford to pack in my job completley as we would not be able to afford to run anything. He is currently completing his masters degree so cant help me with horse but is willing to offer support in other aspects.

I have spoken to my manager who has dropped my contracted hours to 12, meaning I will work 6 sat and 6 sun which leaves me some time but not much!

With regards to horse, he will be okay turned out over winter but cant stay out overnight. I have no company for him as they all come in, on top of that he gets mud fever and drops weight so easily. I have him on ad lib haylage and feed and he is in during the night. I will try and leave him out as late as possible though! I think my spare time will be spent filling haynets by the sounds of it!
I already have rubber matting but have a straw bed as I think its easier to muck out. I am thinking about deep litter etc though!
If I could find someone to ride once a week even that would help but I cant think of anyone who would a)be willing and b) I could trust to do it at the moment.

OH has suggested getting a 2k loan for emergencies to keep in the bank just incase as govt will pay the interest on my loan for 2 years. This is the only support I can get financially as I dont qualify for anything else as I already have A levels and other qualifications.
I feel as though if I dont do this now I never will.
I am pretty sure its what I want but I dont know what the future brings!

Sorry that turned into a long ramble lol!
 
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