Looks like I'll be riding again!

So, I posted on a local Yahoo group, saying I was looking for a horse to ride if anybody needed their horse worked. I've gotten a TON of responses! What's even crazier, is the number of responses from trainers (that have trained under some really impressive clinicians, by the way) looking for full-time working students. These barns must be somewhat hard up for help, because in my experience, this kind of thing is normally something that's picked up on right away by people that already ride with the trainers. I just don't know if I'm willing to take that kind of step. #1 It has nothing to do with technology (which might be kind of nice, actually, but if it didn't work out, that means I've basically been out of work in the eyes of a potential employer). #2 I'm afraid of getting burned out. I've had this kind of job before, and it's back-breaking, HARD work. And it's very easy to get burned out. #3 I'm not entirely sure if that's what I want to do for the rest of my life. #4 Working students don't usually make squat. I don't think I'd have a lot of freedom to do what I want (in most cases, working students live on the farm). Plus, I have Jaiden, and I'm not giving him up. So, who knows. I've sent a couple of e-mails to get some more information just in case. It's just weird... about 9 years ago, when I graduated high school, I wanted nothing more than to work with horses for a living. And now this is sort of fallen into my lap, at a time when I HATE my current job.

I did call a woman who has a couple of horses she needs ridden. I'll probably be going out to her place this weekend. There are a ton of other people that need help, but many of them are too far away.

I just remember when I started taking lessons at Quail Run in Oct '06, I was completely devastated at how much of my "skill" I'd lost. I felt like a beginner! Granted, I hadn't been taking lessons in a long time, but I really do NOT want to lose my riding fitness, and everything that I learned from Melissa, so I'm really eager to get the ball rolling again and start riding. I won't be taking lessons, but at least I'll still be in good riding shape. One woman asked for my riding background, etc., and I checked out her website. It looks like she has Lusitanos!

Sigh... decisions, decisions... can someone turn a light on to the future and tell me what it looks like? :)