Adult Ammy Life – A Balancing Act

No adult ammy life is the same and I think that’s what makes us a cool “breed.” We have some who are in their equestrian era, some in their professional (career-wise not riding, come on now we’re amateurs) era, some in their parenting era, and some in eras in between. Yes, that was a Taylor Swift reference but I am in fact not a Swiftie, sorry if I got your hopes up. I mention this because each adult amateurs life and journey is unique. Each of us balance our lives differently. This is a warning label – do not read how I balance my life and think you need to do the same. If something I mention or do resonates with you and can help you fulfill your dreams then all by means try it out. On the other hand, if you read this blog and you’re like that does not work for me at all – that’s also totally valid and acceptable. Remember, we learn from things that work for us just as much as we learn from things that don’t work for us.

So, how do I do it all? I’ll tell you the first thing I tell aspiring Physician Assistant candidates on interview day – time management. I have a paper, tangible planner. I write in it every week. I augment that with my Outlook calendar at my teaching job and my Sling calendar for my clinical job and make sure all are cohesive. My students will tell you “if its not on my Outlook calendar it isn’t happening,” and boy if that isn’t the truth. I pencil in horse shows months, I mean like 4-6 months in advance. I request the time off I make arrangements for coverage of my professional careers. Then I goal set with the horses – what am I planning to show in, etc..

I’ve mentioned two jobs. My full-time career is as the director of didactic education at a Physician Assistant program where I’ve been on faculty since 2019. I love teaching. I knew from the second I went to PA school I wanted to teach at the graduate level eventually. So much so that I got my Masters of Public Health while enrolled in my Masters of Medical Sciences for my PA license at Nova Southeastern in Orlando, FL. Initially out of school I worked for a surgical oncology group. Within 3 years I was ready for a change of scenery and that’s another blog post in itself. In 2017, I decided I didn’t want to loose my “primary care” based PA skills and started moonlighting at a local urgent care. That urgent care is what I refer to as my clinical job, I am there part-time now. Having an academic job and a clinical job at the same time I believe makes me a better educator and provider all at once. It makes me better for my students and better for my patients. The level of multitasking you need for this kind of professional career is something I started to learn at a young age thanks to horses.

So, there’s my professional/career life. What about the horses. I have Ocelot and Enzo. Enzo is 5 years old so he does get 1-2 training rides a week, which helps a girl’s schedule. Ocelot gets usually 1 training ride a week and then plays IEA once a week. I jump Ocelot no more than 1 time a week. Enzo is 1-2 times a week. Now when I say jump that doesn’t mean 3’+, that can be poles or 18″ too. There are lots of rides in between that I have on Ocelot that are under 10 minutes. We will do hill days when the stars align – we do 5-10 walk hills at that’s it. If Ocelot is feeling up to it maybe a couple of trot hills and that’s it. As a young horse, yes, some of Enzo’s rides are longer. But just as many of them are under 15 minutes. The biggest take away from being a busy adult ammy I’ve learned is not every ride has to be “hard work.” Ocelot I swear gets a harder “workout” from doing the walk diamond on the hill than jumping around a course – being outside of the arena focusing on not falling through his shoulder is way more mentally taxing for him than a 3′ handy course. There are times I get to the barn and I’m not feeling it on one or sometimes both horses. It turns into a grooming day or even a “hi here’s a cookie and bye”-kind-of-day.

Cross-training. If you had talked to me in 2017 I would’ve told you I would never have time for cross training – ask my barn-mates. I remember telling Haley that every time she brought up fitness. Well, I figured it out and now its an integral part of my routine and mental health. I notice a distinct difference in my psyche when I don’t get to the gym. The changes in the saddle are enough motivation alone – add in the mental health benefits and I am a firm believer. Sure, do I fall off the fitness wagon from time to time, of course. I take a beat, reset and get back to it better than I did before I hit the pause button. On average I usually workout 4-6 days a week depending on the program I’m doing – right now its Jamie’s Haybales and Barbells Intermediate 12-week program.

Now, those of you who know me don’t act surprised but I’m an introvert unless you know me or I can talk about horses or cats. So the social scene isn’t huge for me. I don’t like going out a lot or fancy dinners. So this is an area of my life that I “compromise” (if you can even call it that when you prefer to binge watch Netflix at home with your cats) on. Full transparency my husband and I both have very consuming hobbies which is convenient when you’re into something like horses. Despite this we try to eat dinner with each other every night. Luckily, he loves to cook. I on the other hand, do not.

So what does my weekly schedule look like?

Monday:

• Workout
• Academic job
• Hack Ocelot and Enzo

Tuesday:

• Workout
• Clinical job
• Ocelot and Enzo – Training rides

Wednesday:

• Workout
• Academic job
• Enzo – Training ride
• Ocelot – IEA
• Try to get some chores done at home

Thursday:

• Academic job
• Lesson Ocelot and/or Enzo

Friday:

• Workout
• Academic job
• Hack Ocelot
• Possibly Lesson Enzo

Saturday & Sunday:

• Clinical job every other weekend
• Off weekends I’ll hack and/or lesson Enzo and Ocelot. I’ll try to catch up on chores at home – forever sweeping due to Husky-mixes (#iykyk).

Rinse and repeat! Every week might look a little different, but generally the same components are what I prioritize – working out, work, the barn and some time with my husband. Remember, everyone’s path and journey is different, don’t let the comparison be the thief of joy.