Buried Alive in Crap: An event rider cleans out her horse trailer

HN contributor and self-professed “obsessive hoarder” Katy Groesbeck gets a jump start on spring cleaning.

From Katy:

So here I am at my first event of the season in SUNNY Southern California at Galway Downs. I emphasize the sunny part only because our last few outings at Galway have been a wee bit… damp, shall I say? Although Robert (Kellerhouse, though I’m pretty sure he’s on the official list of “I’m infamous enough, I don’t need a last name” people) might be grumbling as he orders the water trucks to make another round, my tack, show clothes, boots, tack trunks, “waterproof” (Hah!) blankets, and numerous other miscellany items are thankful that they get to spend the weekend H20 free. I’ve even promised my boots and breeches that I will try to remain well above the surface of the water on cross country.

But speaking of miscellany items, I had to chuckle as I cleaned out and repacked my trunks for this weekend’s event. For instance, do I REALLY need to save every Velcro strap I’ve ever cut off my saddle pads? Well of course, because I might use them to hang something up or strap something down! Have I ever used them for that, ever? Well… no. I finally negotiated myself down to saving one or two. OK, I saved four. You just never know.

Then there were the dozens of black shoe laces that I’ve acquired over the years of going to local H/J shows for schooling rounds. Those I actually find incredibly useful–if I save enough, not only can I rescue some poor girl who doesn’t have one to strap her number on with, but as a bonus I might be able to make a noose to hang myself with the next time I have to wait three hours at the back gate for my next jumper round.

The three mostly-used bottles of Showsheen I had combined nicely into one good bottle. But of course now I have two more empty bottles to add to my collection of Perfectly Good Bottles and Sprayers that I Can’t Bear to Toss.

Cleaning out the drawers on the door of the horse trailer tackroom was much more lucrative. You know what drawers I mean, the ones that are usually overflowing with last season’s bridle numbers, dressage tests you may or may not have read, a couple sticky bottles of QuikBraid or Nunn Finer Tack Up Grip Spray that have mysteriously emptied their contents onto everything else, a few granola bars from the last show (or decade), a bunch of dead camera batteries hastily tossed out of sight for failing to capture your one perfect dressage test on film, and on occasion you can also find a well-positioned (and uncapped) seam ripper. Ask me how I know….

Anyhow, as I was saying, OUR trailer door was pretty generously stashed as it turns out. Not only did I find half a dozen relatively unmelted chapsticks (never around when you need them most!), I also found two sets of sharp clipper blades. One of them was apparently relocated to my mother’s pants’ pocket once we got to the show. It fell out as she was digging for cash at Wal Mart: “What, I used them to open the shavings!”

But better yet, I found about $3 in sticky, QuikBraid/sunscreen/chapstick-covered change once I got to the bottom of the drawers. As a reward for all my hard efforts, I went to Starbucks later to get an iced double-sugar, half-fat mochalatteccino something-or-other. As I pulled up to the window of the drive-through and handed the poor man my money: “Sorry, it’s sticky.”

Photo credit: Indigenous Horse Society of India

About Katy: My name is Katherine (Katy) Groesbeck and I’m a 22-year-old 3-day rider from California. I compete my mother’s homebred horses at the Int./2** and Prelim levels, and our fingers are crossed for some move-ups this year.

Originally published on Horse Nation on Feb. 3, 2012.