Lockdown 2.0

Well folks, here we are again. Country wide lockdown. Pubs are closed, shops are closed and competitions are off........Unless you're under 18 there is no training, no competitions and no fun ( at least that can be what it feels like!!)

Heading out to the field 

How are you? It's harder this time, it's dark in the mornings and it's dark again by 5pm. The weather is S-H-I-T-E..........you don't even want to go outside half the time. I get to see my horses for 5 mins in the morning before I throw them out, or feed them if they're staying in, which they've had to do a few days already because the weather was so bad. Then 5mins again in the evening, when I bring them in and feed them again.

This is my life on repeat during the week. 

The boys in the stable

Having said that, selfishly, I am glad we're in lockdown. Why you ask? Well, having been more than a decade (and that's all I'll own up to!) out of education, I decided that this was the year to make a return. I had meant to last year, but I didn't get my ducks in a row, and boy am I glad, because this is FULL ON!!

The boys ready to come in from the field 

I am doing a postgraduate diploma (sounds fancy, feels overwhelming!) for my sins. It started off and I was really enjoying the whole thing of using my brain for the first time in ages. It was all so interesting. Then came the assignments. I am knee deep in them at the minute. My alarm is going off at 5.50am some mornings - nothing to a lot of you I'm sure, but frankly ungodly to me!! I am trying to do a bit most mornings and the evenings that I have the brain capacity, because I do still have a full time job. The weekends are written off. Morning till evening sat at my computer. As well as actual lecturers two nights a week and some Saturdays.....

Just a beautiful sunset... 

Oh, and I also signed up to do a professional Irish course in work....I went to a Gaelscoil when I was very young, although I only liked Irish once I left school! That was probably more to do with being in school than anything else really-I was not a lover of school . There has been so much new language since I was a kid with the advent of the Internet and social media and all that has come with it. Although I can understand (mostly) what people are saying, my writing wouldn't be anywhere near what it should be. My comhrá (I just had to double check that on Mr. Google) wouldn't be too bad, but there is definitely room for improvement. That has been nice, but now it's gotten to the stage of obair bhaile too. It seems I am a glutton for punishment at the minute.....

Silhouette hacking 

When I did my degree, many moons ago, I found it tough going. I wasn't overly interested in my course, but the actual academic side of it I found really tough. It was hard to put down on paper what I had learned or to try and find it in the part of my brain it was hiding. Continuous assessment wasn't really a thing back then either. A few years later whilst doing coaching training , I realised why. I learned that I was a kinesthetic learner. Any idea what that is? Well, it's someone who learns by doing. A natural learner, that tends to do best by physical actions. Some people learn visualising: charts & diagrams. They tend to be holistic learners, that everything is connected. Then there are auditory learners, they like to hear information orally and may take notes. They also like discussion based learning and might like reading their written work out loud. Then there are the reading/writing learners. They like presentations and written assignments, and also like note taking. Kinesthethic learners have the most difficult time in mainstream education............again, what do I do to myself?! I do take tit bits from the others, but I am mainly kinesthetic.

So yeah, that is exactly why I'm delighted we're in lockdown and I am missing out on nothing!! No one is going anywhere, no one is training or competing. Even if I was just to go to my local show, as I had been doing, I couldn't commit the time. At the minute I'm averaging riding once a week, on a hack. I am hoping I'll have holidays at Christmas where I can really enjoy the boys again, rather than just the work element of it all......I have been lucky so far this year that I can still turn them out during the day and long may it last!

I don't like to say it out loud, but it's looking like that is it in the competitions for me for this year. Unless the local league manages to get running again. There may be Cavan shows but honestly, being so out of practice, I'm not going to drag our arses up there to have it all go pear shaped. Even though I got a new (to me)  jacket in the charity shop that will most definitely keep me warm at all future shows!! I've been testing it out and I'm snug as a bug , although it hasn't had much rain, so have yet to see if it will keep that away. 

I hope to write a bit more frequently, to help with the ould brain flow and doing assignments. The trick will be to write something interesting about nothing!! Any tips???

So that's what I've been up to, a whole lot of nothing, or nothing exciting I guess ☺