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.
![Janet with two of her students.](https://horseandriderbooks.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/janet-with-students.jpg?w=1006&h=1024)
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.)
![Janet's dog Britta likes her walks!](https://horseandriderbooks.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/img_2754.jpg?w=769&h=1024)
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.
![CLICK IMAGE TO ORDER](https://horseandriderbooks.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/dressage-for-not-so-perfect.jpg?w=119&h=150)
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.