Motivation

I’m sure I’m not the only one in the horse world who sometimes has a problem finding the motivation to ride.  It seems recently I just don’t feel like doing anything with the horses.  Sure I like to play with them or take pictures but lately I just don’t have the motivation to get out there and groom and tack up and take Blue or Dusty out for a spin.  Has this ever happened to any of you? And if it has how did you fix it?

If I had to guess I’d say the weather has something to do with my lack of interest.  One day the temperature is 50 degrees and the next day it could hit 90.  We’ve been treated to three solid days of torrential rains that stopped this morning. The weather doesn’t usually affect my mood for riding but other than that I can’t figure out why I’m less than enthusiastic about working with the horses.

Now that I’ve put a hold on building the Ark I’m going to do a hard target search for my motivation.  When I find it I’ll be back but in the meantime I’m taking a little mental health break from the farm and the horses and will be heading out for a short seaside vacation.  Hopefully, when I get home my motivation will be with me. 

Until next time

Quote for Today
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
Winston Churchill

Consistency

"Blue"

Recently I was having a discussion with someone concerning being consistent in the training of your horse.  The conversation raised some thought provoking questions such as:

Is it okay to not be consistent?  Let’s face it, winter is not the best time where riding regularly is concerned.  So, is it okay to only ride when weather permits, or would it be better to simply give the horse time off and start training/riding again when we can give their training our full attention?  Is it fair to the horse to drag him out and tack him up once or twice a week or month?  Most horses really don’t maintain a good level of fitness during wintertime’s letup of activity.  So, is it reasonable to expect our horses to be ready to go whenever we have the time or inclination to ride?

Or should we ride whenever we get the chance?  We’re all horse people who like to ride and some of us will ride no matter what Mother Nature throws at us.  I used to be like that.  There was always a reason why I braved the cold, snow, wind, rain or whatever.  I had horses that needed training and horses that went to shows almost every week.  Now, not so much, so I’m a little more lax with my training schedule.  The various herd members all need different degrees of training for different reasons--some more goal oriented, some more fitness related--and in our opinion that’s not going to happen with a few random days of work here and there.  We think they all need consistency to progress.

I’ve decided that if I do ride Blue, who is getting chubbier by the day and is basically unfit for anything strenuous, I’m just going to walk him and work on his steering and relaxation exercises.  Dusty is not fit either and not ready to be ridden so when she does exercise we’re just doing hand walking and light longeing for now.  I take full responsibility for my horses being unfit; the weather this winter has been nicer than it’s been for years, but the truth is I had no motivation this year.  I don’t know if anyone else has ever dealt with the “I don’t feel like its,” but I caught that lazy virus this winter.  I’m sure it will be cured with some Spring sunshine, flowers blooming and green grass.  For now I’m concentrating on getting myself fit for riding again with eating better and exercising more.

In closing, how do you feel about the consistency question?

Until next time

Quote for Today
It is the best of lessons if the horse gets a season of repose whenever he has behaved to his rider's satisfaction.
    - Xenophon - The Art of Horsemanship

Dusty's Strange Behavior

"Dusty"

For the past month or so, Dusty has been exhibiting some very strange behavior that has us baffled.  When she is ridden she acts as if she’s forgotten everything she’s been taught up to now and runs around not listening to rein or aids.  When I say she runs I mean she’s trotting at mach 10 and there’s no slowing her down.  The weather could be a contributing factor, but
I don’t think that’s the case here.

Her other odd behavior is what really has me worried and scratching my head. At night when the herd comes up to the gates to be brought in for the night she turns herself around and heads back out by herself.  She refuses to come into the barn. 

Sometimes Mellon, Donnie or Grady will follow her and spend the night out with her.  Most nights they all want to come in, but not her, she will stay out in the dark by herself. She’ll call to them and they’ll answer her back but she won’t come up and, if on occasion she does, she won’t be caught even with a bucket of feed as a bribe. Normally Dusty loves to eat and lives for treats - who doesn’t right?  This is one of the reasons that I’m worried about her. I might also add here that traipsing out after her does no good because she will mosey just fast enough so it is impossible to catch her.

There is only one new circumstance that I can think of that’s affecting her personality change.  She was tested for thyroid hormones and her blood test came back a bit on the low side so the vet suggested giving her a thyroid medication.  Which we did and she did lose some extra poundage that wasn’t doing her any good.  So that may account for her extra energy when being ridden.  But I don’t think it would change her personality to this degree.

Yesterday I had the vet out to take more tests, her usual Lyme, leptospirosis, thyroid and a CBC/chemistry panel. Her physical exam turned up nothing out of the ordinary.  He seems to think her behavior is unusual too.   Any thoughts on what it could be that maybe I haven’t thought of or had checked?  I’d appreciate any input.

Until next time

Quote for Today

It is the difficult horses that have the most to give you.

Would You Do This?

Would You Do This?

After having recently read this article in the New York Times, I got to thinking about what I would do if presented with these same circumstances. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I would never do this. After many years of interesting adventures and travels, I’m content to stay put where I am now. However, I wondered if I would still want to be here if I were younger; the answer remains unchanged. I’ve considered what it would be like to ride across the country on horseback and, while it may seem a romantic notion, I’m afraid that’s just what it is. How could I justify taking my horses on highways and putting them and myself in danger? Could I subject us all to the perils of the open roadways from the cars and semis and from the people driving these machines? Let’s face it, while most would just look and point, others might not have such good intentions. I’ll also confess to liking my creature comforts; showers, bathrooms, clean clothes etc…

I wish this woman well, and am gratified to see she is getting so much assistance from horse people on her journey. There are so many wonderful people from the horse community who come together to lend a hand to their fellow horse lovers. We meet them every day and I am thankful to be a part of this world.

A Woman on Horseback Finds Friends on the Road

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/13cowgirl.html?_r=1

Now that you have read the article, what do you think? Would you do this if you were in a similar situation?

Until next time

Quote for Today

My other car is a horse.

Thursday's Thought

The Information Highway

Recently, I have noticed that more and more blogs are including a Live Feed feature on their sidebars. My thought processes have been working overtime on this and I finally have concluded that I must ask …why? Why is there a need to know where your readers come from? In the interest of being fair, it is understandable and even fun to know how many people from different parts of the country or world may be reading what you write. I may lose some readers over this, but I find it invasive. If I want to visit a blog, I may not want others who visit the same blog to know exactly what town and state I live in. Don’t get me wrong, I am not running from the law and I am not paranoid, it’s just that I feel it is an invasion of my privacy. Normally, at home, I wear my tin foil hat to keep the government and aliens from reading my mind, but there is no tin foil coverage applicable for the internet.

When I first created my blog, I put my location as New England, because that is all I wanted known about where I lived and where my barn and horses were located. It’s just that I feel there is too much information readily available already via the internet. The truth of the matter is most everyone who reads my posts are all wonderful horse folk, but what about those who are not? There happens to be an awful lot of crazies in the world and I would rather they not have my name, rank and serial number. You will never see pictures of my grandkids on the net; many unscrupulous child abductors frequent the internet.

In conclusion, I am taking a poll on what my fellow bloggers think about this. Please participate in the poll and weigh in on the Live Feed aspect now in the blogosphere.

Until next time

Quote for Today

All I pay my psychiatrist is cost of feed and hay, and he'll listen to me any day!