I start my working day at 7.00 by feeding the horses grain. Gunilla is an early riser and has already fed them hay at 6.00. After that it’s time to let the horses out, either into the field and a few to the walker. Then it’s time to clean the boxes, sweep, put out bags of hay and rake outside of the stables so everything is neat and in order. This is all a team effort and we’re usually done with it around 8, then I start to prep the first horse of the day for Angelica.
We have a big black board planner in the stables so each day we update it with the day’s schedule, if there are any things that differ from any other day, in which order to ride the horses etc. We have fixed routines for how to take care of the horses, for example we always clean the hooves in the box so we don’t make a mess in the aisle of the stables for no reason. We always massage the horses with a rubber scraper before we groom them every day. It’s for their wellbeing and also so we can groom them properly before riding. Most horses enjoy being groomed but you have to pay attention to what kind of a brush they prefer. Bobbo and Dennis for example like a really soft grooming brush while Vectra prefers a hard one. Then we bandage the horses, saddle them and now in the wintertime we put a blanket over them before riding them to help them stay warm while waiting. We always put Bobbo under the solarium, from Stallvärme, before riding to help warm up his muscles. Since he’s such a star he always gets some special treatment. After riding the horses we rinse their legs with cold water, wash and put oil on the hooves, and with a sponge we dry them from any sweat from both the head and the body. If they’re not sweaty we groom them to remove any old sweat, and that’s basically our morning routine.
At 11.30 we give them grain and dress the horses that are going out into the field. Most horses will go out to the field in the morning and then we bring them in during the day for their practice. After the practice they’ll stay inside for a while to dry off and eat their lunch in peace before we bring them outside again. Then all of the riding equipment that we’ve used during the morning needs to be polished and put in their designated spots.
At 12.30 all the horses have gotten their lunch hay in the field and it’s time for the humans to get their lunch break.
At 14.00 I’m back from lunch. The afternoons can vary quite a bit but usually they’re a little bit slower than the mornings. Hay needs to be packed, a few horses go in the walker, some cleaning up in the stables needs to be done and other various tasks taken care of.
Around 15.30 it’s time to bring the horses inside and to muck the field.
At 16.00 we give them more hay and grain, muck the boxes and sweep. We finish by making sure everything is where it’s supposed to be and that it’s clean and neat before we leave the stables.
At 16.30 my workday is over.
This is basically what a normal day looks like, but of course they all differ a bit because you never know what is going to happen. But that’s one of the biggest advantages of this job, it never gets boring!
