Food for thought

I read the following poem on the blog "Saving Argus," which tells the amazing story of a big-hearted woman in California who rescued a horse who had been confined to a stall for many years, and how he ultimately found his "forever home" at her place with all her other equine "kids." I highly recommend the blog. I think this poem gets to the root of why I can't let Dude and Bestie go. I feel like taking good care of them now and enjoying them is my way of honoring their contributions to my kids' childhoods. It's a pretty simple pleasure for me.

To The Owner Of This Horse
~ author unknown

Alone I stand in this dark stall - staring into space
Wondering how this came to be my final resting place.

I think back on all I did for you and try to understand,
Why you would let me fade away beneath your very hand.

I gave you all I had to give, and still you wanted more,
I pushed myself so you'd receive the very highest score.

I forgave you when you were too quick to punish or to scold,
I just remembered you were young, and wished that you were old.

I always carried you safely through each trial and each course,
And all I wanted in return was for you to love this horse.

Yet here I am - alone and cold - a mere shadow of myself,
With our pictures and Blue Ribbons still displayed upon your shelf.

I do not feel selfish, in this, my final plea,
I just want to understand why you did this to me.

I know that as time passes, people will change their ways,
And children will grow up and forget their younger days.

But how does one forget a friend - someone they once adored,
And start looking at their old champion as nothing but a bore?

Now I know my coat has faded and my eyes, they aren't so bright,
But I assure you that within my heart still burns a quiet light.

Yet, here I stand alone and scared of what may lay ahead,
Will I ever know another kindness or have a warm dry bed?

So people, when you buy a horse, just please remember me,
And what sadness I endured despite the life I tried to lead.

Love your horse with all your heart - give him all you can,
Do not forget to rub him with a calm and soothing hand.

No matter what life brings your way - remember till the end.
When you break your horse's heart, you betray your truest friend.

Happy thoughts

Last night it was really cold so consequently it was pretty quiet at the barn in the late afternoon. For a while it was just me and Kara, who was feeding last night, and the quiet sound of horses munching hay and grain (love that!). I was finishing up with Dude and Bestie, just about ready to get ready for yoga when Jen came in. She has been serving as the birth coach for a friend, and her friend had her water break yesterday morning, so they were at the barn kind of killing time before having to head back to the hospital a bit later in the evening.

As Jen took care of her horse Ariele, Jen's pregnant friend and another friend that had been in the car came into the barn to walk the aisle, since the doctor had told the expectant mom to walk. The whole situation was just so amusing to me and it made me feel so happy ... Jen running around doing Ariel's water and cleaning her stall, her friend walking around the aisles and talking to the horses, who were all placidly chewing their hay. I was imagining what her friend would say to her child years from now, "Yes, I spent the night you were born in a horse barn, talking to horses." The whole thing seemed so funny and yet so right.

Then I went to yoga and our opening chant was something like, "May all beings find happiness and well being." As we started the chant, my thoughts flew immediately to the baby, wishing he or she a good life. It might sound kind of crazy, but to me, the peaceful scene at the barn seemed to flow right into the same peace at yoga, and it felt like a good omen for Jen's friend's baby. I didn't see Jen at the barn today, so can't wait to hear how it all turned out.

Good intentions fall by the wayside

A few days ago I vowed to myself that I'd start spending more time at the barn and actually get back into working the horses. The couple of frigid cold snaps we had in January had really sapped my barn energy. The horses were getting turned out most days so it was easy to talk myself out of taking their blankets off and doing much with them.

Now, a new month. I find that I usually feel reenergized in February. It seems brighter out and less wintry, the days are getting longer, and I just feel perkier! I rode Dude on Friday and lunged Bestie on Saturday, but by the time I got to the barn Sunday it was just after haying time and I was beat from cross country skiing in Stowe all day. Then today I didn't get out of work until later, so arrived at the barn just after haying time AGAIN. When that happens on a weekday I start feeling kind of crunched with no time to do anything RIGHT ... work horses, make dinner, get some work done at home in prep for tomorrow, laundry, blah blah blah. So I gave them both a good brushing and departed. They were perfectly happy, and certainly don't seem to care that my vow seems to be, hmmn, not very long-lived!

I did talk to the owner at our new barn and got their feed squared away and shared a few laughs about their personalities and my opinion on how their personalities will affect the new stall and turnout arrangements. Summary: Dude, hey man, no sweat. Bestie, This stall is MINE and this field is MINE and you'd best recognize that I'm in charge here if you know what's good for you. Heeeee.

I still need to call the vet later in the month and give them the change of address. I feel a list in the making :). Item #1: Clean out tack trunk. There's a lot of stuff in there that doesn't need to be transported to a new home. It's similar to all the old gunk that accumulates in a medicine cabinet; stuff that you see and think, "Geez, when did I use THAT?" It'll be like an archeological dig. Can't wait.

BIg changes coming for the ponies (and Horse Mom)

On February 28, Dude and Bestie will move to a new home. I've been casting about for an alternative to our current barn for quite a while, mainly because it is fairly pricey and because the horses aren't doing much (meaning I'M not doing much with THEM!)--it was beginning to seem a little fiscally irresponsible. But, and it's a big BUT, I didn't want to just switch them ANYWHERE. They get excellent care in our current barn and we've all been very happy there. So my wish list consisted of 1) same level of care; 2) cheaper price; 3)closer to home and 4) more flexible turnout.

Did pretty well on the wish list. I heard about the new barn from a boarder at the current barn who is going there. It turned out that it's the same barn that a former 4H member had called and told me about maybe a month or two ago. I went and looked at it last Friday, went back on Sunday, and made my decision Sunday night. That is simply amazing for me, because I tend to think and think and think...

But after I visited the barn twice, I just had this overwhelming feeling of happiness and relief. I think I didn't realize how worried I actually was about the horses and keeping them in a nice barn without breaking the bank. As the economy worsens, and we see it hitting more and more very close to home (with friends getting laid off), I felt I needed to do something. So this is the best of all worlds ... cheaper, closer to my current employment, more laid-back atmosphere for both horses and humans, and more turnout. SIGH OF RELIEF. And three of the people whom I talk to MOST at the current barn are also going. And our farrier will go there. All the stars aligned!

Beautiful huge snowstorm yesterday! I'm at work, but am mentally picturing the horses enjoying the fresh snow.

You know it's cold when ...

-you arrive at the barn to find the horse's water bucket frozen solid; a six inches thick cylinder of ice. (Thanks goodness for the automatic waterers still functioning.)
-the farrier calls to say, "umm, I think I need to reschedule, maybe for next week?"
-everyone gets a bran mash at night, two nights--maybe three--in a row.
-mucking the stalls yields lots of poop frozen hard as rocks that "thunk" as you throw them into the wheelbarrow.
-you have to stomp on the bedding to break it down from large chunks into something that remotely resembles shavings.
-you arrive at the barn and keep on your clothes from work (long underwear, pants, turtleneck and wool sweater), adding another pair of socks, your wonderful quilted insulated winter riding pants, a sweatshirt, a heavy fleece, a hat, a down vest, and the warmest gloves you can find. And you still need to periodically pop into the tack room to warm up.

Tuesday night we plunged from 30 degrees to 5 degrees! And since that plunge, it's been single digits all the way ... with a few negative numbers thrown in for good measure. Tomorrow, the weather forecasters are saying maybe 10 degrees, and that's looking WARM!

The horses seem to be doing ok. They've got on their Baker sheets, insulated blankets and turnout sheets and feel comfortably warm but not too toasty when I slide my hand underneath the layers. Katie walked Dude yesterday, and I arrived later and walked him again, plus Bestie. Some people did ride yesterday at the barn, but we're both weenies and really don't see the point of it when it's so cold.

I'm hoping today to put them out for a little while, after we run some errands. The barn's policy is not to turn out below zero degrees, which I can understand. Once the horses get uncomfortable, they tend to get unhappy, and if no one's there to grab them and bring them in, they start getting silly. So it's better to leave them in. Sounds like they'll get out Saturday and Sunday. We're supposed to get some snow, which will be nice. Right now we've got a hard crust over everything from the cold.

You had to go to the BARN??

I am tired of people who do not have horses saying to me, "Oh my gosh, you had to go the barn??" This generally occurs on days of inclement weather, which for the most part occur in Winter here. The question is asked in a tone of utter astonishment and sometimes accompanied by a "you are crazy" expression. They seem to be implying that going to the barn is an activity that must be such a BURDEN. I'll admit that sometimes it is a burden, usually due to time constraints, but when I walk in there I really try to shed any crankiness, and usually that's easy. How can you be cranky when you walk in and one horse whinnies and the other nickers at the sound of your voice, and they both look at you expectantly like they're just waiting to see what you will do, like you are this really interesting part of their lives. I love that moment, it makes me laugh. How often do you get to feel totally fascinating?!

Salt

A funny thing happened tonight. The barn muckers had the day off, so the stalls were pretty messy by the time Katie and I got to the barn around 4 pm. I decided to put Bestie in an empty stall across the aisle, just so I'd have more room to maneuver. I wasn't paying too much attention to her as I worked, but I soon realized that very energetic slurping noises were coming from across the aisle. There had been a salt block left in the stall by the previous occupant and Bestie was totally going to town on the thing. I ended up moving her back into her own stall because she showed no signs of letting up and I was kind of worrying that she might be getting a bit too much in her enthusiasm for it.

We haven't given her salt or electrolytes in quite a while since she is on a pretty laid back work plan. Now I'm wondering if I need to. People at the barn have been going on and on about the Himalayan salt licks, which are cool looking and apparently less likely to break up because they are very hard. Also kind of fun to visualize one catalog's description of the yaks of the Himalayas toting all these salt licks down from the mountains for the ponies of the world :). One more thing to think about. I see some Googling in my future :).