Ever wonder what it’s like to be a top rider, trainer, judge, or clinician? Trafalgar Square Books (www.horseandriderbooks.com) is tracking down its top authors and asking them to pull back the curtains and let us take a quick peek into their lives. In our second installment in our “24 Hours in the Life of…” series, we caught up with FEI/USEF dressage judge Janet Foy (author of the bestselling DRESSAGE FOR THE NOT-SO-PERFECT HORSE). In case you’re wondering what Janet will be doing tomorrow, here’s a glimpse at her typical Tuesday when not on the road officiating at a competition or teaching a clinic.
A TYPICAL TUESDAY
5:00 a.m. Still sleeping!
6:30 a.m. Britta, my dog, wakes me up for breakfast! First, I start the coffee pot and watch Britta go out the doggie door, then I head out to the front driveway for two papers: USA Today and the local Gazette Telegraph. I immediately feed Britta and give her insulin. The day has begun!
7:00 a.m. I finish my first cup of coffee and have skimmed the newspapers. Off to the computer to check e-mails and wish every one of my FB friends a Happy Birthday!
7:30 a.m. Head to the shower, being careful not to wake up my husband, who is retired and has the luxury of sleeping late everyday.
8:00 a.m. Out to the garden to water all the veggies and flowers in pots, front and back.
8:30 a.m. By this time I’m usually on my way to Denver, to teach lessons at Julie Forman’s house. Have a great group of gals who come from all over Denver, and two sisters, Natalie and Nicole, who come from Tomora Training Center in Greeley, Colorado.
1:30 p.m. I finish teaching and pack up my lunch, dog, headsets (etc) and head to the car.
2:00 p.m. I call in for the USEF High Performance Working Group Conference Call. Luckily, I am not the Chair of this group , so can drive home (45 minutes) while talking on the call.
3:00 p.m. Arrive home, and my conference call is over. I drop Britta off at the house and run off to finish the errands I did not get done Monday: Go to the cleaners, grocery store, bank, and today also to the Apple store because my computer is broken. Turns out the hard drive needs replacing, so I buy a system to back things up, run home to do a back up on what hopefully still remains on the computer, then take another trip to Apple to drop the computer off for them to fix.
4:00 p.m. Whew, think I will sit down. No, wait, I need to buy four plane tickets for next month’s trips (meetings, shows, and clinics). Rats, no computer. No problem, I have the iPad! Start to buy four plane tickets. Wow, prices are going up: Nothing under $750.00 and a few over $1,000. Gads. My husband doesn’t open my credit card statement anymore…too stressful!
4:30 p.m. I put away all the clean laundry that I did on Monday.
5:00 p.m. My husband just walked in from the golf course, and he wonders what is for dinner. Good thing I took something out of the freezer. Did I mention I love to cook? So, we have stuffed acorn squash. I cook the squash first, then clean out the insides and mix with: white raisins, almonds, dried cherries, maple syrup, butter, white wine, and leeks. Also use a lot of fresh herbs from the garden. Re-stuff the squash and voila, dinner!
6:00 p.m. Sit down to eat dinner: A glass of wine and relaxing!
6:30 p.m. Rule in Foy house: She who cooks does not do dishes. So, my honey cleans up the kitchen. I feed Britta her dinner and give her another insulin shot. Time for a 30-minute Britta walk. (On non-Denver-teaching days she gets two, one in the morning and one at night.)
7:30 p.m. By now I am pooped. I check e-mail one more time and turn off the computer or iPad. In the winter I like to watch some recorded TV, but summer is all reruns, so I usually retire to the Jacuzzi tub with a good book.
9:30 p.m. Good night!
You can read the first post in this series, “24 Hours in the Life of Horseman Clinton Anderson,” by CLICKING HERE.
Janet Foy’s fabulous book DRESSAGE FOR THE NOT-SO-PERFECT HORSE is available from the TSB online bookstore, where shipping in the US is FREE.