You see signs in front of people’s properties down here that say “Happy Fall Y’all.”  Well I’m borrowing it for today.

Now you may wonder how we know it’s fall here in Florida.  Some folks go up to Georgia and The Carolina’s for the fall colors, but if you really look around, you can see small amounts of color right here, and there’s also the temperature drop.  Not to mention the hairy horses that are walking around sweating.  We rake leaves in the spring, so no leaf raking to take up our riding time.

Our temps today will be in the 70’s, perfect riding weather.  Wind chills in N.Y. and N.J. (where I come from) will be in the single digits.  I remember those days, and am glad I live here.  I do feel bad for the people in the parade.  How do the Rockettes do their routine in those skimpy outfits.  I don’t care how fast you dance, it’s cold.  The balloons may not fly because of the winds.  That’s so sad.

Lost track of what day it was with the holiday week, but the meaning is still there.  We need to be thankful for what we have.  Now-a-days we focus so much on what we don’t have.

Horse people seem to be more thankful for what they have.  We have the unconditional love from our animals.  We have the time we spend with them out in Gods beautiful creation.  We are in touch with the seasons, like most people can never experience.  We have our friends and family who share our passion, and understand how much this all means to us.  We have the peace that comes from just being in physical contact with the most beautiful, majestic animals on earth.  Not just to be partners, but be able to become one with them.

No we can’t invite them in to share our Thanksgiving turkey with us, but we can go to the barn and share the carrots, apples, and other goodies at their Thanksgiving table.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving and don’t forget your fur babies (I know you won’t).

Well no one really had to tell us, we knew it all along.  Sorry men, unless you’re married to a horsewoman.

“Women Who Own Horses Live 15 Years Longer Than Those Who Don’t”  I’m serious, they did a real study.  I don’t know what set of researchers did this study, but I did find out that supposedly a Gary Cockburn was one of the leading researchers.  You can Google the article.  There are several versions.

Recent studies looked at how owning a horse impacted a woman’s health.  They studied women in Northern Virginia, Western North Carolina, and North Florida.  They tracked women for decades.  Researchers conducted a double-blind study.  This study divided women into different age groups.  They looked at a 40-year period.  The result was true for different ages and nationalities.  The scientist even looked at data from 50 countries to see if the results are accurate.  It turns out that owning a horse is good for your health.  (If they don’t kill you – my thought, not theirs.)  They set guide lines since some own a horse for just a few years.  The women had to have a horse for at least five years to be counted as a horse owner.  In Spain, women lived 16.5 percent longer.  For American women, the difference was around 14.7.  Over all average was around 15 years of longevity.

There were different theories as to why this is.  With horses, women are outside more, they exercise more, and socialize with other horsewomen.  They are less likely to have heart problems, high blood pressure, or diabetes.  They are happier and with an over-all well-being.

There is a lot printed on this, but not a whole lot of information who conducted the study and where they were from.  You can continue to research it yourself.  I’ll just accept it and say Thank You.

I guess I’m just happy that someone else figured this out.  I’ve seen a lot of old cowgirls, and horsewomen in general, walking around still taking care of their animals.  More than people who aren’t involved in a sport.

If this is an actual study, Yay for us!  If not, we’ll just go on believing it anyway.

How come we pat our horses hard, and loud.  Dogs we will pat with a good strong pat also.  Cats however will not tolerate a hard pat.  They will probably strike back with a claw.  Truthfully, if you pat a cat-like you would a horse or a dog you would send them flying across the room.  Have you ever seen a cat that is really mad?  No, you don’t want to.

Why do we feel the need to give a strong pat to a horse?  Did you ever think about that?  When a horse gives a strong whack to another horse they usually get double-barreled in return.

Cats we pet.  We stroke them long and gently.  Smaller dogs we will do the same.  Larger dogs will get a strong pat like we do a horse.  Where did that come from.  Watching to many cowboy movies?

We see it all the time at horse shows.  A horse will do well for its rider and the hand comes out and boom boom boom, we thank them for a job well done.  We are excited, and grateful, but we can’t jump off at that point and give them hugs and kisses.  You’re in the middle of a show ring with all these people watching.  However, horses are very forgiving and just think that we humans have a strange way of expressing out emotions.  Actually, they’ve learned to ignore our strange ways.

But let’s think about this.  When one horse is friends with another, how do they treat their friend?  With rubs on a favorite itch spot.  Just because they are around 1000 lbs. doesn’t mean they don’t feel a gentle pat or rub.  Let’s face it – if they can feel a fly or mosquito we don’t have to slam them to let them know they did good.  A gentle stroke and kind words will do just as well if not better.

I patted one of the horses this morning after I turned him out and thought now why did I do that?  I mean he’s used to it.  He’s 26 and has been patted his whole life.  But if you asked him what he would prefer I’m sure he’s say a good scratch, you know, on the itchy spot on my belly.

When you’ve done a good job, and someone comes up and gives you a good hard pat on your back, I know you are glad for their approval and celebration of your job well done, but wouldn’t you prefer a different sort of job well done?  Gifts, and money work.  A night out to dinner, etc.  Just kidding, although I like the night out to dinner a lot.

Old habits die-hard, and I will probably find myself patting my horse with a strong hand again, but I certainly will think about it the next time I do it, and perhaps I will be more like their horses friend and just give them a good scratch.

Sometimes I just think too much.

I consider myself to be very in tune with my animals.  As you know, I’m a student of their energy, body language, and facial expressions.  I thought I had a handle on things.

Lately God has been pointing out things I have missed in the past.  Oh I’ve noticed them, but not given much thought to them or to how complex they really are.  It’s like diving into the next level of understanding.

People think – oh they’re just birds, frogs, dogs, cats, horses.  Well they are, but there is so much more to them all.

I have small green tree frogs who insist on living in my bathroom in the barn.  My toilet is their own personal swimming pool.  How many people do you know who have to warn someone, who is about to use the toilet, to watch out for the frogs.  You can hear a woman screaming and running out of the bathroom pulling her pants up when one jumps on their exposed butt.  I keep explaining to the frogs that they must go back outside, but every night they are back.  I’ll put them out again, and in the morning you lift the lid and they are hanging out at the pool.

In my quiet time I just read about a man who turned his two dogs out first thing every morning to go pottie and run and play, but every morning they would lay, side by side on a mound by the driveway, and watch the sun come up.  Then one morning he noticed that they weren’t on their mound.  He looked around and they had moved their location.  Laying there, side by side, paws out stretched, waiting for the sun.  Because of the change of seasons, the sun was rising in a different location so they moved to get a better view.

I have two little Wrens who come into my barn and hang with me while I clean stalls.  They speak to me and bounce back and forth among the stalls.  They continue to build nests all summer in different locations.  Haven’t seen any babies in several years, but they just keep building, and keep up a wonderful conversation with me.  They are bright, lively, and a true joy to spend time with.

We have an eagle’s nest out back behind the barn.  One of the babies this year (the youngest)  would sit and cry for his parents.  So I started talking to him, and he loved it, he would answer me, and this would continue until mom or dad came back.  He’s “flown the nest” but I hope he will come back and see me some time.  One of the adults would plant himself/herself on a limb in the pine tree and watch my Saturday morning lesson class every week.  It was really neat to have him there every Saturday.  That tree came down in the hurricane, and I don’t have a Saturday morning class anymore, so I miss our time together.  I wonder what caught his interest that he would just sit there for a couple of hours and just watch?

My Jack Russell is another piece of work.  She talks more than any other person I know, and if you don’t get what she is saying she gets really ugly.  Now she’s learned that humans are not that bright so she uses her eyes.  While speaking she will throw her eyes to what she wants.  Last night I couldn’t find her bone.  I looked all over the house.  We do – Diane sits on the floor while watching TV and she chews on her bone next to me every night when I come in from the barn.  I can’t sit in a chair, and I get a lecture the whole time I’m shutting down the computer.  (She’s not spoiled, just noisy and demanding.)  She kept looking over to where Bobby had thrown some pillows on the floor.  No, I had moved these pillows several times and did not see anything, but she wouldn’t give up.  So once again I moved the pillows and there it was.  You could hear her give a sigh, and roll her eyes.  “I mean how many times do I have to tell my human where it is and that I can’t get it.  Really, and they call us dumb animals.”

When we were putting my horse Mac down we had the animal communicator explain what we were going to do.  He had cancer and we knew the time was getting close.  He stood at the gate by the driveway and watched for the vets car.  He had never done that before.  I bought a 5 lb. bag of carrots.  Mac loved carrots and had mugged Bobby for a bag he had under his jacket when they first met.  I started to give him the carrots.  He took only one.  When Bobby came home I told him and he said “he’ll take them from me.”  He took one carrot from Bobby.  He loved us equally, didn’t really want the carrot, but shown his love and thankfulness by taking just one from each.

A boarders horse, also named Mac was 36 yrs old and when he laid down his leg would fall asleep.  He would whinny for me when he was ready to get up and we would roll him over and help him up.  When he was up he would whinny long and loud thanking us for helping him.  Then he’d walk around to get the circulation back.

Desert, as sick as he was, wanted to take a tour of his pasture.  He had been in a stall all night so I could keep an eye on him.  He went to all his favorite places and then came running back to the gate, screaming.  I ran out of the barn to him and he dropped at my feet.  He wanted me to be with him as he died.

There is so much more to animals than we really notice.  They speak to us in such subtle ways that we sometimes don’t even notice.

The last day of Rainbow, my last Jack Russell’s life, was the most touching day I had ever had with her in her 10 years.  She was never attached to me like my Jacqueline was.  Rainbow was a free spirit who loved absolutely everyone she met.  She loved my vet more than me, I was sure of that.  It saddened me some days, but the last day I spent with her (and I didn’t know at the time that it was her last day)  was more special to me than if I had 10 years of wonderful.  She had been in the hospital for a week.  I went to stay with her everyday.  We would take her off her IVs and I would take her outside for a walk.  Most days she was wobbly, but this day she was normal.  Some days we would just sit on the picnic bench and watch the pastures for activity.  She started off to go check the pasture out, but I called her back.  She was too sick and I had no desire to climb through the barbed wire to retrieve her.  It was a little chilly so we went back inside.  We sat in the tech’s lunch room and just looked out the window, she was on my lap.  She reached down and licked her paw once, then licked my hand once.  I thought that it was odd, but let it go.  She was so much like her normal self that I thought the worse was over.  It was New Years Eve day and the clinic was closing at noon.  New Years Day the clinic would be closed.  Even though she still hadn’t eaten anything I felt confident we had turned the corner and she’d be coming home.  I passed the vet on my way out and told him how much better she was today, and that I’d probably be taking her home on Monday.  He looked surprised at me and shook his head no, but he couldn’t stop to talk, the clinic was closing and I had errands to do.  I was elated.  Eight hours later I got the call from the tech who was on duty that evening that Rain had taken a turn for the worse and that she had just had a seizure.  My vet was on his way back to the clinic from Tampa and wanted us to meet him there.  When we got there she was a shell of her self.  Her eyes were sunk in and she just stared at me.  She wasn’t there.  He told me that her organs had been shutting down.  Bobby and I chose to end the pain she had endured for a week.  She wanted out, but I had the most wonderful day of her life with her that day.  She showed me that even though she loved everyone, she really loved me and thanked me for all I had done for her.  I could have missed that most important communication between us.  I almost did.  But it was so odd that it stuck in my mind.  I still treasure that moment two years later.

The next time you walk by your barn cat and they give a quiet meow, or reach out a paw and grab you, don’t just walk by, stop and let them know you’ve noticed and care.

When you dog runs up to you, even though you are late feeding or in a hurry to get somewhere, don’t brush them off.  You may have other things to do, but to them you are their whole world.  Stop and love on them.  Not a quick pat on the head, but really put as much into loving them as they do you.

When your horse reaches for you, yes sometimes they are looking for a carrot, or maybe they are looking to wipe their nose on you, but maybe, just maybe, they are reaching out to you just to get a touch, a gentle touch of love either from you or they are just giving a love touch to you.  Don’t miss that moment.

Look closer, pay more attention, and you may be blessed beyond your wildest dream.  Don’t blink you may miss the most important day of your life.

Did you ever listen to couples fighting?  Or for that matter, friends.
There are two sides to every story and somewhere, right down the middle, is the truth.

The Bible says to speak the truth in love.  It’s not always easy for the love part, and people don’t want to hear the truth if it doesn’t match their ideas of things either.

It’s not necessarily what you say, it’s how you say it.  And people only hear what they want to hear.  Ask any wife about their husbands hearing and understanding of what she just said.

The horse business is full of people who know everything there is to know about horses.  Maybe their horse, but does it apply to every horse.  Not all the time.

People do love to talk about their horses.  If you want to make friends with a horse person, just ask them about their horse.  It’s kind of like jump starting a car, once it starts it just keeps going.  Well it’s the same thing with  grandchildren.  The grandparents will pull up all kind of pictures of grandbabies and you smile and nod about how cute they are, all the while rolling your eyes because your on picture overload.  Now years ago Bobby had six children (still does), a horse, and me! and the only picture he carried in his wallet was of his horse.  That says it all.

Although my intentions were honorable, I may have created a monster.

There are very knowledgeable horse people who have been in the business for many years.  They are at the top of their game.  However don’t try to discuss any subject, that they perceive as you knowing what you are talking about.  They’re right, your wrong, end of discussion.  Now I have found that listening to what other people have to say can either be enlightening or you may be able to show them a different way of thinking or doing things, but it never hurts to listen.

I’ve seen these master gurus tell blacksmiths how their horses feet should be done.  I’ve seen them instruct vets on ailments and how to treat a situation.  Because they’ve been down the road before and “They Know.”  Usually they go through a lot of farriers and vets before they come upon a newbie who is willing to learn what they have to say.  Or just needs the job.

Well a friend asked if I knew about a barn for lease and I also knew another friend who had one for lease.  So, duh, I put them together.  Probably a big mistake.

If there is one thing I know for sure, anyone you let ride (or half lease) your horse will never ride it the way you do.  People who care for horses will never care for them the way you do, and people who lease will never do things the way you want them done.

Now you take that thought and match it with the two all-knowing horse people and you have world war three in the making.

Now they are both adults, “all-knowing” adults, so I just passed on phone numbers and backed out.  Didn’t think of the “all-knowing” thing until after the fact.  One is older and one is younger, that’s more fuel for the fire.  I sit here waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I can’t go back and say “maybe this is not a good idea.”  So let the games begin.

Some times you just have to do what my vet suggests – Just smile and nod.”