Horse boxes. Again.
14 July 2014 22:22![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glenatronMy horse box needed it's MOT at the start of June, which was fine except that it needed a bit of work so I got a guy to come out and look at it and he was like "oh yes, needs a bit of welding, but certainly doable." I expected it to be expensive and I had budgeted a certain amount of money towards the repairs ( roughly a third more than I paid for my car ) so I wasn't too worried about it. But then he went around and tapped the underside with a tiny hammer and it gently dissolved into a cloud of russet leaves which is apparently not a thing that healthy metal does and probably at that point I should have just said "scrap it" but of course I didn't. I had a budget for repairs and I knew the engine is in a reasonable state and the rear axle should be pretty solid. As long as it was ready by the Steve clinic in mid July it would be fine.
Well, it's mid July. I have burned through all the money I had reserved, all the other money I had and a lot more that I borrowed off Sari. Today we discover that there was another huge area of rust hiding behind one of the back wheels. There is no possible way it will be ready by Wednesday so I now have to do a last minute panic to try and find someone who can take us to the clinic or I am stuck unable to bring Iris, which is the worst possible outcome. Steve has strongly cut back on teaching in Europe- he wasn't here at all last year and he's only going to be around for one clinic in southern England this summer, which is the one we are booked on and that I have paid for. I couldn't get a refund at this point if we can't make it, so although paying someone else to drive us will push the price up over £1000 for the clinic, it's that or lose a very rare chance to learn with my horsemanship mentor riding Iris.
I just hate horseboxes so much. No matter how much I spend on buying one it seems I always get ripped off and end up with a dangerous or unreliable vehicle that costs a vast amount to maintain. In the last year I am pretty sure this box has cost me something in the region of £10000 - if I had scrapped it after the wheel fell off and just paid someone to bring Iris and I home, it would have saved so much money.
It's frustrating and after a while it just makes me want to give up but there's something I really need to do and I absolutely don't want to miss out on it, but it is making me so stressed and unhappy right now and once again, like almost every single time I have attended one of these clinics, the shadow of transport woes will be cast over an otherwise enjoyable weekend.
I have had enough, but at the same time I don't know what else I can do. I'm just stuck and I'm terrified of anything else happening to jeopardise the weekend. It's starting to make me go a little bit crazy. Not to mention the ridiculously hard day of work I have tomorrow in order to get things set up ahead of going on leave. The pressure is just rising and rising and it is very hard to accept it and let it go in the way I normally would. I just want things to work.
Well, it's mid July. I have burned through all the money I had reserved, all the other money I had and a lot more that I borrowed off Sari. Today we discover that there was another huge area of rust hiding behind one of the back wheels. There is no possible way it will be ready by Wednesday so I now have to do a last minute panic to try and find someone who can take us to the clinic or I am stuck unable to bring Iris, which is the worst possible outcome. Steve has strongly cut back on teaching in Europe- he wasn't here at all last year and he's only going to be around for one clinic in southern England this summer, which is the one we are booked on and that I have paid for. I couldn't get a refund at this point if we can't make it, so although paying someone else to drive us will push the price up over £1000 for the clinic, it's that or lose a very rare chance to learn with my horsemanship mentor riding Iris.
I just hate horseboxes so much. No matter how much I spend on buying one it seems I always get ripped off and end up with a dangerous or unreliable vehicle that costs a vast amount to maintain. In the last year I am pretty sure this box has cost me something in the region of £10000 - if I had scrapped it after the wheel fell off and just paid someone to bring Iris and I home, it would have saved so much money.
It's frustrating and after a while it just makes me want to give up but there's something I really need to do and I absolutely don't want to miss out on it, but it is making me so stressed and unhappy right now and once again, like almost every single time I have attended one of these clinics, the shadow of transport woes will be cast over an otherwise enjoyable weekend.
I have had enough, but at the same time I don't know what else I can do. I'm just stuck and I'm terrified of anything else happening to jeopardise the weekend. It's starting to make me go a little bit crazy. Not to mention the ridiculously hard day of work I have tomorrow in order to get things set up ahead of going on leave. The pressure is just rising and rising and it is very hard to accept it and let it go in the way I normally would. I just want things to work.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 16 Jul 2014 15:23 (UTC)