Kasey Perry-Glass made her international team championship debut in 2016 when she was part of the bronze-medal winning team at the Rio Olympics on Goerklintgaards Dublet. They went on to represent the United States at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games (North Carolina) where they earned team silver and finished sixth individually in the Grand Prix Special. They’ve competed at two FEI World Cup Finals and won the USEF Grand Prix Dressage National Championship (New Jersey) in 2017. Perry-Glass is based in Wellington, Florida, during the winter and Orangevale, California, the remainder of the year.

7 a.m. My alarm goes off, and before I’ve opened my eyes, our 1-year-old cattle dog Boone is bouncing around the house. That is not a joke. Boone has more energy and enthusiasm than any dog I’ve ever known. He jumps on the bed, jumps on me, and runs excitedly to the door. He knows that Meghan [Laffin] will be here any minute to start feeding horses, and he knows she’ll throw his beloved ball for him while she works. So while Boone goes out to start patrolling the farm, I make myself a cup of coffee and head outside for the sunrise. Our other heeler, Sage, and I start the day a little slower. I usually spend about 30 minutes meditating or listening to my latest podcast or audiobook. Currently, I’m working my way through “The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle. Loving it so far!

Not a bad morning view.

7:30 a.m.  I head outside to help Meghan with morning chores. It’s just the two of us working on our Florida farm, and we tag-team everything. We muck all the stalls, scrub all the buckets, undo/clean/re-roll all the wraps, and then sweep the floors.

This Olympian still does her own stalls.

8:30 a.m. Meghan starts turning out horses while I give Dublet a bit of morning TLC. He loves the Theraplate and is notorious for flinging hay from the wheelbarrow. Does it make a mess of our freshly cleaned floors? Sure does! Do I mind? Nope! I owe this horse everything! I still look at him every day and wonder how I got so lucky. I will always clean up his mess with a smile on my face!

Hanging with Dublet.

9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Time to ride! On a usual day this time of year, I’d probably be laser focused on an upcoming show. But with the coronavirus pandemic putting that on hold, I’ve tried to be creative in challenging myself and my horses in other ways. That includes more neighborhood hacks, trips around a nearby track, cavaletti and crossrails. Of course, there’s still dressage mixed in, but it’s been fun to diversify and think outside the box.

For example, my mare Hutopia can be a bit spooky and herd-bound. So today we’re practicing our social distancing! Lots of leg-yields and transitions alone on the track.

Hutopia getting some work on the track.

Before work all the horses are groomed and sometimes given some sort of therapy like the Theraplate, magnetic blanket or laser treatment. After work, they get bathed and iced. It’s a lot of work, but Meghan and I coordinate it well.

Today we finish up with me on Mistico and Meghan on our homebred youngster Stina. We warm them up (and burn off some of their energy) in the arena before heading out for a hack.

Watching Meghan ride Stina from Mistico’s back.

2 p.m. – 3 p.m. All the horses have now been worked, iced, fed lunch and returned to turnout. Meghan and I pick stalls again, add shavings, clean tack, start laundry, and put away the various icing and therapy equipment. We’ll also (hopefully) have time for a 20-minute timeout, where we actually sit down, sip on a sparkling water (which we’re addicted to), and eat lunch. Some days we run on popcorn and Cheez-Its. Other days we treat ourselves to burgers or Chipotle. Today (like most days) it’s a salad.

Meghan vacuums the barn.

3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Because of this pandemic, we have no idea when we’ll be able to safely return to California. But when the time comes, we’ll be ready! Today’s afternoon activity is going through all our traveling trunks, cleaning out the storage unit and organizing the trailer.

All packed up for when we can go home.

4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

We bring the horses in one by one and groom them together. They all get filthy in turnout, and with the Florida humidity we have to be really careful about cleaning and drying their coats to prevent any infections or fungus. Once they’re all inside, they’re fed dinner, wrapped and tucked in.

Dinner time for the horses.

5:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Before this pandemic began, I’d usually use this time to go to a class at Orangetheory or Pure Barre here in Wellington. But nowadays I’m either going out for a run, or simply enjoying the evening at home with my husband, Dana. We’re cooking dinner a lot and catching up on lots of great shows! We loved “Vikings” on Amazon and are just about to finish “Ozark” on Netflix. We head out to do a quick night check at 8:30. All the horses get hay and water, and we do a quick pick of the stalls. After that, even Boone is worn out. We’re all in bed by 9:30, and ready to do it all over again!

Finally dinner for the humans, chicken divan.