Aspen wrap up; career vs. riding

Duke continued to improve for our third (recognized) show.  He got a 31 in dressage, with some very nice scores.  There were a couple movements that the judge didn't like (I probably wouldn't have considered them that different from the others), but Duke was calm, quiet, and obedient.  The night before he was full of spitfire and vinegar, and I had to ride him 40 minutes without a break before he softened at all, so I was glad he was just obedient.  I walked him probably 20 minutes, then did 20 minutes of warm up.  The test two before mine I let Duke take a walk break while I watched the test, then I put him back to work for the test before and worked him all the way into the ring.
For show jumping, they had it set up differently, with only 8 riders in at a time with the warm up fences.  Duke was a little jumpy, so we did a lot of walking, then some trot and canter in the "outer" arena.  When we got to the inner arena, we walked again so he could look around and see the show fences.  John helped us warm up, and he was great over the cross rail, vertical, and oxer.  We took a break because we still had several riders to go, but then a young (?) horse started acting up which got other horses wound up, which got Duke wound up.  And that was right around when we needed to jump again, so we did the oxer once badly, then once terribly (knocking it down) and then it was time to go in.  John said that when I changed the direction I was looking, I also dropped my hip, and that was what caused Duke to hit the fence.
I rode him around the fences so he could see as many of them as possible, and we got lucky that the judge was looking into something with the prior rider, so he got to see a bunch.  He jumped really well, once we got going, he focused on the fences instead of looking around.  We got a rail down, and it was great that John was watching because he said I just got a bit tense in between and if I had stayed relaxed and trusted the ride, it would have worked out ok.  We got the hard line (a vertical that was a half stride to an oxer, two stride, vertical), by riding the line that I thought (and confirmed with John) and it was relatively smooth, especially compared to his first month.
Cross country was a piece of cake.  He wanted to be a bit strong, and we were a little faster than I wanted to, and he conked a couple fences.  The first water he was surprised by the dye (I think) and hesitated, trotted in, trotted through, and then we went on our merry way.  He was great on the roller coaster, and once again, great at the trailer and with his ice boots.
He ended up in 8th out of 25, which is good, but I'm kind of annoyed about the rail because it would have been 2nd!

Duke doing well, F's situation with her horse, and the clusterfuck that has been my job has me thinking a lot about the next few years.  I think that Duke has preliminary potential, especially if I can keep regular lessons with John, but starting to get ready last year with Charlie really was an eye opener for how much time it would take for us both to be in shape.  I feel like I have to factor that in for any job change decisions.  I'm going to have to give up some career opportunities, and I don't want to bite off more than I can chew, so I think I probably want to stay in a division and with cases that are relatively easy compared to the meaty stuff I used to do.
To get ready for Prelim, I think I'd need two lessons a week (12 hours), a conditioning ride (4 hours?), plus three rides (6 hours).  So that's 22 hours.  Then I need to work out at least 6 (if I can run) or 9 (if biking) plus the weights and stretching (4 hours).  That's 42 hours.
With a 45 hour work week, that leaves me 3 hours a week, not counting show weeks, after sleeping and eating.
So yes, I can't be in a position where I have a lot of litigation, at least for the next 10-15 years, and that probably knocks out going back to private.