Thursday, August 26, 2010

Life Without Horses

For the love of all things holy, don't tell Melissa, but I have a confession to make. After having spent the first thirty years of my life in blissful ignorance of horses, I've found that in marrying a horse woman (and running a horse farm for my living), that I actually kind of like horses. Every morning before, during and after feeding, I greet, scratch and play with nearly every horse on the farm, from the newest (Boo), who I great by saying "Hellooooooo Saddlebred" (and his buddy Justin the QH) to the oldest.

My days are often very long and occasionally quite physically tiring. One of the things I do to make long days filled with physical work bearable is to take many short breaks to fool with the critters. It never fails to calm me or to put a smile on my face, no matter how hectic the day.

In truth, I can't really imagine life without horses, but let's just keep this our little secret, eh ?

How do horses (and/or horse care) make you feel ?

*** Editors Note *** We are having trouble posting pictures tonight. Rest assured they will be forthcoming as soon as our technical glitches are rectified !

7 comments:

jane augenstein said...

I LOVE my horse and donkey! My day would not be complete without them. The wonderful smell of my horse, his sweet breath, the touch of the velvety nose (donkey too!)....ahhhh, I'm in heaven, how could I ever again live without that to start my day? ;-)

Lauren said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR6Qk7AdVgE

Need I say more?

sunbake said...

Nothing like hand grazing my horse to make me forget about deadlines, problems, and stress. Time slows. And there's nothing like a great ride to make me feel rejuvenated.

LuLo Designs/Blue Eyed Tango said...

I agree, Jason, that taking time to pet, scratch, groom or hand graze the horses calms and helps revive a tired body. I do the same and cannot imagine not having horses. Most people do not understand this in the ever growing pursuit of success, money and acquiring material "things"
in the world today. Give me a living breathing large or small animal over those things any day!! I even actually enjoy stall cleaning....must be crazy! LOL! To me that's just part of horse ownership. So many kids (and parents) do not fully research all aspects of owning a horse before a purchase and do not realize sadly all that is involved. When they do realize, it's the horse that pays for it and is sold off. Quite frankly, most do not want to put the effort in and just give up too soon.....but that's a whole other topic....maybe one you can do a post about? One thing I just cannot understand is all the yo yo buying and selling that goes on. They buy a horse and sell it the next year because it just isn't what they want. Undefined goals for themselves and the horse I believe is the main culprit but who really knows. I think a person who truly loves horses (or any animal) will always look closely at a situation and do what's best for the animal putting their own impulsive selfish desires aside. I'm sure you see both avenues in your line of business.

IsobelleGoLightly said...

My lady doesn't know what she would do without all her goat, horse, chicken, dog, bird, frog and fish friends. We goats all get hugs and skritches but I've seen her hug Nigel's bum and inhale horse scent while she's doing it!

Vivian Apollo's Mom said...

I am a two time cancer survivor and also have suffered from clinical depression in the past. Horses and being around horses has brought joy to my life. We bought Apollo just after my first cancer surgery to help me heal which he did. I don't know what I would do without horses in my life!

SmartAlex said...

Caring for and training a horse so it shimmers like silk, moves like a well oiled piece of machinery, responds like a tuned instrument, and reacts like a trusted a dance partner... Its the creation of a personal masterpiece, the expression of the things which inspire me most. A celebration of life, nature, discipline and art.