Please, I’ve been to Walmart and seen more than I ever needed to see.

But I remember, as a kid, the Coppertone ads with the little girl and the puppy who was pulling her panties down.  Wow, that was some burn.  I think they still use that picture to this day.  She’s got to be well into her 60’s by now.  That thought just flashed thru my mind, not a pretty sight.  Gravity and all.  Let’s move on.

I don’t ever remember using suntan lotion when I was a kid.  As a matter of fact I’ve never used suntan lotion in my life.  My husband and I used to have a contest to see who could be the darkest by Labor Day.  We usually tied.  Now in Florida we are a bit more careful.  We wear hats.  They told us the Florida sun was different.  It sure is.  We’re closer to the equator and the sun is amazing.  Leave a plastic bucket out in the sun and when you come back to get it after a couple of months, it totally disintegrates.  The life span on a lot of things is a lot shorter down here.  Car tires, batteries, anything plastic, and of course wood (it warps from the sun, dampness, and heat.  And of course termites).

Okay, what’s my point you may ask.  Well we’re back to sunburn.  If you live in Florida you get skin cancer, age spots, wrinkles, but you get that up north too, just a lot slower.  But what about our horses?  They get sunburn too.  Especially the ones with pink skin.

Many people worry about their horses bleaching out from the summer sun.  Many put them in the barn or put fly sheets on them.  There are some horses on my street who look like they’re a walking moth in a cocoon.  That’s all well and good, but sunburn is something you really need to watch out for.

They now have suntan lotion for horses, or I guess really just a protection of some sorts.  One of my boarders had some.  I’m sure it’s pricey.  I sat there thinking about it as she was spraying it on.  Lifeguards popped into my mind.  They always had white stuff on their noses.  Zinc Oxide!  I yelled.  Desitin.  That’s Zinc Oxide.  Why not use that.  So she went out and bought a big jar of Desitin.  However, she rarely comes up and puts it on.  So I just put on her nose covering fly mask.  It’s seen better days and the horse now has sunburn on the end of her nose.  So we apply Aloe to the sunburn, cover what we can, and go from there.

You really don’t want your horse’s nose, or their pink skin body parts to look like a tomato that was grilled, so cover them up, one way or the other.  It’s easier to prevent the burn as opposed to trying to heal it.  Think how uncomfortable you’d feel if you looked like that.

So have an “Itsy-Bitsy, Tiny, Weeny, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” Summer.  Please don’t forget your four legged friends and a cover-up or Coppertone for horses.  Sun hats and sun glasses are optional.  The drink with the little umbrella is for you.

Enjoy!

Was that a movie?

It’s a part of life we don’t even pay any attention to, unless something happens.  Gravity is a good thing.  It keeps all people and things grounded.  Dropping anything on my kitchen tile floor will prove it instantly, usually in a million pieces.  Imagine a world (like in space) where everything just floats around.  Cows floating by.  If you think it’s hard enough to catch your horse now, try it with your horse floating around in the air.  Bummer.

Looking at the chair in my bedroom will testify to the fact that gravity is happening in my household.  Bob has now stacked up, just about all his dress pants on that chair.  He tells me that none of his pants fit.  He hasn’t gained weight, so I must be shrinking them.  My theory is that gravity is pulling his belly fat down to his waist line.  He used to carry his weight higher.  Looking at my body in the mirror, a lot of things used to be higher and tighter.  I have old people’s skin!  Agh!!!!  You just always believe that it’s never going to happen to you.  The good thing about living in Florida is that most people look that way.  You’re either old with saggy skin or overweight to fill it in.  I’ll do the saggy skin look (I’ve been to Walmart).

So now to our horses changing bodies.  And yes, they do change too.

We know that when a winter blanket comes off, sometimes we don’t end up with the same horse that went into that blanket last fall.  It’s like a magic show.  There’s your horse, you place the sheet over it, pull it off and it’s different.  Sometimes he’s gained weight and sometimes he’s lost it.  It should be that easy to lose weight for us.  Pass the sheet over our bodies and Voila! no dieting.  Well it wasn’t that easy for the horse either.  Mine gained weight, so now we’re doing the Jenny Craig/Weight Watchers thing for horses.

Okay, let’s get back to gravity.  Over time our horses body changes just like ours.  My mare used to be a fifty-five gallon drum with legs, with mutton withers.  I’ve been noticing more pronounced withers in the past year, but it’s now to the point where I have to start really checking things.  Her saddle isn’t slipping around her body any more, it’s staying in place.  I can ride with a loose girth and not find myself looking at life from between her front legs.  She will be only sixteen in two weeks, but her body is changing.

So what does that mean?  Her blankets and sheets still fit her like before, but her saddle doesn’t.  We think.  Oh but this is her saddle, it’s always been her saddle, but this has not always been her body shape.  You have to pay attention to the changing shape of their backs.  If they gain weight; do they need a wider tree?  If they lose weight; do they need a narrow tree?  Perhaps a thicker pad or a different pad will help make up the difference for now, but the back is going to keep changing so you have to keep watching.

Most people don’t even think about fitting a saddle to the horse, but it is so important.  If your horse gets cranky when you ride, check your saddle fit.  Look at sweat marks when you remove it.  Are there dry spots?  That will tell you your saddle isn’t fitting right.  You can sprinkle Baby Powder on their backs, put your saddle on (without a pad) and see where the baby powder ends up on your saddle.  Where it’s touching and where it isn’t.

Don’t just sit there and think – this has always been her saddle, I love this saddle, I can’t afford a new one.  What you can’t afford is a horse with a sore back.  If you were your horse, and you had a sore back, would you want YOU to sit on it?  Would you even want a five year old child to sit on it?  Their backs weren’t created to sustain the weight of a person on it.  Then add movement on your part, and you have more soreness.  So be kind.  Check that saddle fit.

These are changing times in our lives.  We have changing bodies.  And so do they.  (Now all you young people out there thinking that it won’t happen to you.  Surprise!!!!!!  That’s what I thought.  It starts at 11 – 13 and goes down hill from there.)

A comfortable horsey, is a happy horsey.  This in turn, makes a happy, safer horsey owner.

Fly be free (for those of you who remember Mork with the eggs).  Just watch out for flying cows.

I was cleaning stalls today and my mind just wanders.  Actually my mind wanders all the time.  Not going there.

I might have mentioned (because I was really cranked) that I got a call from my insurance company several months ago.  They told me that I would be much healthier if I exercised a half an hour a day.  Ten minutes of stretching, ten minutes of walking, and ten minutes of gardening.  Hello!  That’s a vacation!!!!!  They really don’t know their customers.  Just because you get a Senior Drink at Taco Bell doesn’t mean you sit on your porch and rock all day.  I’d like one of them to come and spend a day with me, I’ll show them exercise.  Ten minutes of stretching.  How about unloading a half a ton of grain.  Gardening?  How about shoveling some fertilizer into a wheel barrel (multiple times) and then depositing it somewhere out in the pasture.  And of course walking.  Let them try to catch a horse in a ten acre pasture on a hill, who really doesn’t want to go riding, then we can discuss walking.  (Oops, Soap Box Time.)  I do rehash things that bother me while I’m mucking.

Did you ever think about how many times you brushed a horse in your life time?  How many stalls you have cleaned?  How many water buckets you have filled?  How many times you’ve actually ridden your horse?  How many different horses you have ridden?  How many times you have fallen off?  There are many statistics out there, but I never saw these listed.  If you board, many of these don’t apply, but I’m sure you can relate to some of them, and be thankful that you don’t have to do the rest.

There’s a Tee Shirt/Sweat Shirt that sums it up nicely.  In large bold letters it says : I RODE – ALL DAY.  Now between I Rode and All Day it says:   I RODE (Well actually, I fed, turned out, mucked stalls, swept the aisle, filled waters, fixed the fence, brushed horses, cleaned tack, then realized it had taken) ALL DAY.

It’s funny, we focus on time that we spend doing other things and how long they take, but we never count the hours spent with our horses.  They are just a bonus in our day.  Of course the day still goes somewhere, but when we finish with the barn chores, we feel a good tired.  A peace that you can’t explain.  You walk away from the barn with clean, newly bedded stalls, buckets washed out, and aisle way swept.  You smell really bad, but the barn smells of fresh bedding and hay.

Just thinking – Life is good.

After spending Christmas Day at Urgent Care with my husband, and New Years Day at the Emergency Vet, when my Jack Russell vomited on Saturday morning, after eating an abundant supply of grass on Thursday, and coughing all night, I went immediately to my regular vets office.  No Easter Sunday ER Vet for me.  She has a history of pancreatitis so I didn’t want to take a chance.  Rain (JR’s name) had entirely too much Christmas cheer that  week.  She spent three days in the hospital after New Years day.

Well the good news was everything was normal, more or less.  I was told not to worry, she was given a shot for the nausea (that’s what the coughing was all about), and I was told to just go back to our normal life.  Later that day I spoke with my neighbor, and she had been at her vet, with her little dog, that morning too.  Odd?  Her vet told her that it was from all the pollen that the dogs are ingesting which is on the grass that they are eating.  My vets office called Monday morning to check on Rain.  I mentioned to them what my neighbor had said about the pollen and she was in total agreement.  They have seen more dogs this week with pollen related sickness than ever before.  I guess small dogs are closer to the ground and inhale or ingest more of it, but all dogs are being affected by it.

I’ve noticed horses, that have never rubbed or scratched before, rubbing up against trees, and those that have allergies, are going crazy.

I know the rest of the country is still in a late winter, early spring mode, but here in Florida we are in full blown Spring.  Everything is in bloom and there is a yellow layer of pollen on everything.  They are blaming everything on the El Nino pattern.  Could be, I’m not a meteorologist.  I just know my allergies are going nuts, and now the animals are having problems.

So keep this in the back of your mind, because your turn is coming.  Happy Spring!  More or less.

When I worked for a large corporation in Manhattan I was asked to take notes at a Board Meeting.  I was 20 years old and certainly not prepared to do this job.  The Secretary of the VP who usually did this was out sick.  I bounce between being a timid person, and a person of confidence.  The confidence surfaces when I’m totally knowledgeable about my subject.  I was definitely not confident about this.  So I had to talk myself into being great.  Somewhere along the line, the other secretary told me that the executives were just regular people and they put their pants on one leg at a time, just like us.  As I told my girlfriends daughter that time when she was going into the ring for a dressage test, just picture the judge naked and you’ll feel equal or more important than them, their just regular people doing a job.  So I put myself into that meeting as an equal, and did just fine.  Got to do it many times after that with no problem.

I’ve learned a lot since then.  I’m a more confident individual.  Years later some friends and I went to the Mayor of the City of New York to fight a horse licensing bill, and there was no hesitation speaking up for what we believed.  Mayor Koch was pleasant and listened to the points each one of us made.  The most important thing is that we won.  So if someone tells you that you can’t fight City Hall, they are absolutely wrong.  We fought the City Hall of one of the most important cities in this country and won.

I use my neighbors horse for a lesson I have on Saturday mornings.  He’s quiet, gentle, and just a sweet thing.  When I walked over to get him, he was definitely in distress.  Brown gunk pouring out of both nostrils and coughing up the same.  Looked like choke, but when my filly had the same fluid from the nose thing, it was a twist and we put her down.  We couldn’t get her off the ground to get her into a trailer to surgery.  His owners were not at home, so I called my other neighbor to come stay with him while I went to call my lesson and cancel.  She was going to call the owner and the vet.  By the time I got back, the husband returned and he called his wife and tried to get their vet.  It took sometime, but we finally touched base with the vet on call.  He was on his way to another call an hour away.  This was at 11:00 a.m., so 12 cc of Banamine, and five hours later, the vet showed up.  My neighbor and I stayed until the Banamine took effect and then I walked home and watched him from my window and she from hers.  The wife came home shortly after I got back to my house.  I walked back and filled her in on all my findings.  Fresh manure in his stall, no temperature, pale gums, wouldn’t drink, very little gut sounds, his whole body was sore to the touch, laying down, and lethargic.  She told me she’d call me when the vet got there.

Well he arrived.  Then he made the mistake of telling us that the horse looked fine when he pulled up.  Seriously!?????????  He’s standing there looking like death warmed over.  My Irish side snapped to attention and I said “Really?  Have you ever seen this horse before?  Do you know this horse?  He is NOT fine.”  (I know I’m supposed to speak the truth in love, and I wasn’t coming across that way.)  The owner chimed in and said this was definitely not how the horse normally was, and he wasn’t acting normal when she went to feed him that morning.  Okay, my defenses were up.  You don’t spend five hours with a sick horse to have a vet pull up and tell you he looks fine from his truck, without examining him.  So he went about tubing him for choke, pumped a bucket of water into his stomach, and appeared to be done.  Then he pronounced that it was just choke.  My comment was “I’m not buying into that.”  I had a horse with choke and after it cleared, he was back to normal.  I got the “if looks could kill” look, but back to the truck he went.  He came back and checked his heart, lungs, and stomach sounds.  Did a rectal, checked his gums and took his temperature.  Then he pumped a gallon of mineral oil into his stomach.  Next comment from him was “Well he didn’t have much gut sounds.”  Ya think? – That’s it? –  You’re done?  So I said “How about after care?  So then he told the owner no grain or hay for two days.  (I could have told her that, but I wanted her to hear it from him.  I also wanted him to do what he was getting paid for.)  I told him that the horse was pastured with two cows and there was a big roll of hay out there.  So he told her to keep him confined. (I think that was also a question that he should have asked since rolls of hay are common in our area.)

This is the second time I’ve run into the lack of after care information.  Just recently I had this problem with the office staff at the vet clinic I take my dogs too.  I had to ask them.  Now I know what after-care usually needs to be done, but there are so many people, who would be so relieved that their pet was going to be okay, that they wouldn’t even think to ask, and without proper after-care, it could put the dog right back where he started.  Actually, I’ve had questions pop into my head as I was pulling out of the clinic drive.  I have just picked up my cell phone, or turned, went back, and ask my questions.

Just because someone has a degree in something, or appears to be knowledgeable about something, if it doesn’t feel right to you, stop and ask questions.  Challenge them to make sure they covered everything.  If you still don’t buy into it, check further with other people and in other places.  Don’t just believe everything you hear.  Not with your animals, or the people in your lives.  I’ve done this to doctors too, and on prescriptions.  Sometimes it’s a matter of life or death.  If they are right, good for them.  You’ve just confirmed that this person knows what they are talking about.  If not, you’ve kept things from getting worse.

If this horse didn’t improve, after the original diagnosis, we would have had to wait another five hours or more to get the vet back.  As with my mare, maybe it would have been too late for this horse too.  The day my filly coliced I was an hour and fifteen minutes away.  Everyone was at a horse show.  There was not vet on Staten Island that took care of horses, my vet had to come from New Jersey, an hour away.  It was Saturday, and when the kids found her, they called my vet, and he didn’t want to come out.  When they called me and told me that she had fluids coming out of her nose, I called my vet and told him he’d better be there when I arrived.  He was, but it was too late.

I’ve probably written about something like this before, but it’s worth repeating if I did.

This will always haunt me.  If it doesn’t feel right, don’t be afraid to question a diagnosis.  They just put their pants on one leg at a time.  They do make mistakes.  But at whose cost.

Oh yes, another oldie but goodie song from my youth.  Which today seems like forever ago.  Hate getting old.  Never believed it would happen to me, of all people.

When I was writing the Post about checking under the blankets, it hit me; they are “Artificial Aids” also.  Funny never thought of them like that before.

We talk about Aids and Artificial Aids that we use in riding, and training, but a blanket?  Well in the wild God doesn’t supply “blankets” so to speak.  Horses grow long thick coats to keep them warm.  If they do get cold, they run around a little to heat themselves up.  Smart, right?  So once again us humans step in and try to make it better.  So we shave their natural protection off of them, put them in a warm?? barn, and blanket them.  So here they stand naked as a jay bird (have no idea where that saying came from) forced to stand still, and possibly have to shiver to keep warm.  I know, I know, they have to look pretty and be easy for us to take care of.  It’s all about us again.  So now the blankets are on and we believe they will be fine until spring.

But a blanket does not act or react like their natural coat.  It makes the hair lay flat.  We’ve always been told to layer when we go out.  It helps to hold the heat in.  Well that’s what their hair does naturally.  Their hair is made to lay flat or fluff according to their needs.  If it’s hot, it lays flat.  If it’s cold it fluffs up and traps the heat of their body under the long hairs to keep them warm.  But if they have a blanket on and get warm, they can’t take it off, they have to wait for us to come and help them remove it.  Although I’ve had some horses which do that just fine in one way or another.  Be mindful of the temps and remove that thing before they over heat.  Most destruction of a blanket is caused by them not wanting it on.  They either have an itch under there that they can’t get at, or it’s too hot and they want it off.  This is not Rocket Science 101.

A blanket also gets to rubbing on certain areas of the body.  Especially areas like the point of shoulder, where the skin is close to the bone with no natural padding.  So being we impose this unnatural article of clothing onto their bodies, we are ultimately responsible for taking the time to make sure that everything we’ve caused is rectified.

This wasn’t supposed to be just about blankets, but it sure has led in that direction.

I do put sheets and blankets on my horses.  The coat they get in the winter here in Florida, is not the coat they used to get up north.  They grow coats according to the day light hours, not the temperature.  It’s also the drastic change in temperature that we react to.  It will be 85 and then boom, 40 degrees, and surprise, back to 75, down to 28.  My horses have an extensive wardrobe, but we depend a lot on the weatherman to give us a heads up.  It’s the only job in the world that you can be wrong every single day, still get paid and not get fired if you are wrong.  (Sounds like big government in Washington)  Every channel you listen too has a different idea of what the weather is going to be.  My neighbor and I, last year, decided to keep a record of what they said it would be, what we thought it would be, and what really happened.  We won most of the time.

So I walk out the door, look to the sky and make a decision.  I can’t go by, if I’m cold they’re cold, because I’m always cold.

Well I have to end here because I’m going to go and apply for a job as weathergirl.  I can certainly get paid for being wrong, just as well as they can.  My guess is as good as theirs.

I will continue the Artificial Aids thing another time.  Keep an eye to the sky, if you get wet, it’s going to rain.  How am I doing so far?

This was written a month ago and everything is going smooth now.

Okay so here’s another song from my childhood.  It was in the original “Parent Trap” movie with Haley Mills.  I guess it was back in the 50’s, you know, the “Good Old Days.”  My cousin and I used to sing that song.  But there is a different story behind it when you are trying to introduce a new member to the herd.  Especially one who is very opinionated.

I stress more than the horses do when I try to introduce a new horse.  This isn’t the energy you want when you are making introductions.

We all know there is a pecking order in the herd.  Usually I worry about where this new horse is going to fit into that order.  I also am concerned for the safety of all involved.  I certainly don’t want anyone hurt, they do that well enough all by themselves, for no good reason.  There are hoofs flying, and teeth showing.  It’s not always the biggest that wins.  Usually everyone loses.  I thought this one would be a little easier since I was introducing a gelding into a herd of three mares (snobs).

My preference is making introductions in the morning.  This way they have all day to figure things out, and I can watch them.  The discussion between them usually takes hours of give and take, hooves, and teeth.

Last nights party began an hour before dark.  So at 9:00 last night I was still sitting in the pasture, on a mounting block, to make sure all was going to be quiet for the night.  Everyone was well exercised and tired, so a truce was called for the evening.  It’s like when we were kids.  You called a time-out only to return to the game the next day.

Well the sun is up.  I did not hear the thundering of hooves over night (with my bed bouncing across the floor), no one jumped the fence (and was looking in my window this morning), all seemed quiet.  I have two mares and a gelding standing under the trees by the house and only my Zoey is standing on the opposite end of the pasture, under a tree by herself.  She is not going to give in that easy.  She’s my hold out.  She’s like me.  She hates change.  Those were her two girlfriends, and now the boy has taken their attention and broken up “That Old Gang Of Mine.”  Only those of you who are long in the tooth will remember that song.

You all know that the expression “Long In The Tooth” with its meaning of a horse having some age on him.  When people used to look to buy a horse, they would first look at their teeth to determine the horses age.  I remember when I used to go to the horse sales as a kid, everything was a 9 year old.  Until you looked in their mouth and realized that this particular horse hadn’t seen 9 in years.  Anyway, when people would describe an older person they would use the old horsey term “Long In the Tooth” instead of saying he/she is older than dirt.  Now back to our regularly schedule program.

I hope that Zoey will give in and rejoin the herd today.  My guess is that as soon as she does the gelding’s old girlfriend will arrive and I’ll have to pull him out of this herd and move him to another pasture with her, and then I’ll have to listen to the racket of screaming separation anxiety all over again.

Some people don’t care.  Just throw them together and let them get over it.  That’s not who I am.  The last time this horse came in (he’s back), I put him in a different pasture and he kept jumping out, taking top boards with him.  And when he couldn’t see the horse next door, he paced the fence line all day and half the night.  You can have trench warfare in this one.  My husband just bought new boards, and the trench is just starting to fill in.  The horse next door (his old flame), has gone across the Rainbow Bridge, which he doesn’t know yet and probably won’t believe.

So here I sit back at square one again.  Neither the horses nor I need to be stressed, but it’s part of the game we call owning a Boarding Barn.  Boarders come and go, the names and breeds may change, but the confusion goes on forever.

First Aid kit in hand, hammer, nails and boards loaded, buckets of grain ready.  Let the games begin.

Yes, a lot of us got away with warmer temperatures for a good long time, but I hate to break the news to you all, Winter is here.

My horses, here in Florida, are starting to shed.  Not a good plan.  The trees and bushes are budding, and my Easter Lilies are up and getting ready to bloom.  Boy are they in for a shock.

I always bring to your attention that you must oil your clips, check your blankets, prepare your water pipes, but do you think I remembered to do all of that?  Ugh!!!

We weren’t expecting a freeze as of the morning weather forecast, but boy did they surprise us last night with a “Possible Freeze Warning.”  Now when you are up north, it’s just par for the course.  You expect it and prepare (I hope).  Down here when you’ve been having beautiful weather (above normal temperatures) you just think it’s going to continue.  Then surprise!!!  You’ve got an hour to remember all the things you’ve forgotten to do.  Plants come in the house or garage.  Water faucets get turned on to keep them from freezing.  (We don’t insulate them down here, we don’t have to.  Yeah right.)  But what I forgot to do was oil my clips.  Most of them were free and working when I washed the blankets this summer, but you always get one in the crowd.  So as I’m putting the leg strap on, with my nose dripping and my gloves on, trying to hurry to get in before frost bite sets in, (only kidding, but when you are used to 85 degrees 45 seems cold) the one stupid clip on the leg strap was not going to move, no matter how ugly I got.  So I grabbed a double ended clip and got the job done for the night.  Love those things.  They fall into the category of Duct Tape, Masking Tape, and Bale Cord.  No barn should be without them. Old timers used to say “chewing gum and bail wire.”

It’s really odd down here.  It feels like 40 degrees when it’s 60, and when it’s below 40 it feels like 20.  It has something to do with the dampness.  It just goes right through to your bones.  I wear as much clothes down here when it’s 40 as I did when it was 20 up north.  I think your blood thins too.  Not quite sure.

So this morning, armed with WD 40 I attacked the clip.  It was just stopped up with sand in it.  No big deal, took hardly anytime, but that is also because it was pushing 60 degrees at that point.  Life is always better when the sun is out and there is no North wind.

We didn’t get the expected freeze last night, but tonight is going to be another story.  But unlike last night, tonight I will be expecting it and prepared.

Why is it that no matter how prepared we think we are, we’re really not?

Just a quick reminder.  Now that the blankets are on, don’t forget to remove them and check what’s underneath.  Make sure your horse isn’t being rubbed raw, and that he isn’t losing weight.  Besides it always feels so good when you removed something tight and get to rub or scratch the area.  Don’t forget they feel the same way too.  Even if it’s cold, take that blanket off and give them a good curry every once in a while.  Air the blanket out and look for any problems.  Don’t wait until spring when you may find something you could have prevented.

Spring is coming.  The days are getting longer.  Just hold on.  I know, it’s easy for me to say.  But seriously, it has to come at some point.  Right?  Okay, so go back into hibernation, but don’t forget the four-legged critters.  They’re depending on you.

I was just sending my granddaughter an email and thought this might make a good post for New Years.

When it comes to the end of the year we reflect on the past and make resolutions for the future.  As we come closer to “old age”, I think we reflect back more than look to the possibilities of the future.  There really isn’t that much future left.  I was speaking to a woman the other day who has been carrying emotional baggage since she was four years old, she’s now in her early 60’s.  I told her that she really must be aware that there isn’t that much time left, so she needed to be kinder to herself from now on.  After burying her parents a few years back, the thought that her generation was next to go, hit her.

But I’m not looking for this to be a morbid post, more like a time to sit and think about the people and animals who have made a positive influence on our lives, and what they have taught us.  If the humans are still with us, don’t hesitate to say Thank You, and mention what they have meant to you.  I did that this past summer when I spent time with our youngest son.  I told him some moments that we had spent together that made lasting happy memories that I will keep forever.  He wasn’t aware that they were special to me, but he does now.  When I say simple, I mean just that.  One evening, when Bob fell asleep before dinner, I took my son to an old diner that I had gone to with my parents, when I was his age.  I guess he was around 10 at the time.  We walked into that diner and back in time.  Nothing had changed.  The booths were the same pink vinyl they were 30 years earlier.  The same counters, and juke boxes were present.  The only thing he remembered about that night was that I wouldn’t let him have a chocolate shake (because they always made him sick), but finally let him have it anyway (and he got sick).  I stepped back into my childhood, and in my mind, my parents were there with me.  This became a most precious memory because about 10 years after that it burned down.  It was the OB Diner in Point Pleasant, New Jersey (it stood for Ocean Bay.)  His fondest memory of me, when he was a child, was that I taught him how to fold fitted sheets.  Hello!  Is this a claim to fame or what?  Somehow I was hoping for something more breathtaking.  Actually, he explained that no one had ever taken the time to teach him something that he still uses today. (His wife has thanked me.)  I find that hard to believe since he is operating the same heavy equipment that his father had.  But he’s mentioned the sheet thing several times, so I guess it did have some kind of an impact on him.

But my email to my granddaughter was about the horses that I have loved (that she knew) and what they have left me with.  I will list the lessons I have learned from them, but what I want you to do is to think back and actually acknowledge the wonderful gifts that your horses have given you over the years.  Also with each new horse that you will have in your life, I want you to beware of what they are trying to teach you.  It’s a gift, accept it as such.  Actually it’s more of a blessing.

Lady – I will always take care of you.  Chance – Each horse will help make you a better rider.  Mac (mine) – Trust me, I will give you confidence.  Scarlet – Don’t be repetitious.  Diamond – Set your sights high and go for it.  Shadow – Celebrate life everyday.  Rosie – You don’t have to like everyone.  Chester – Who says I have a disability?  Toy – If you love to do something, do it with all your heart.  Lad – Don’t mess with perfection.  Jiggers – Pay attention at all times.  Wilson – Give me a purpose and I’ll rise to the occasion.  Lily – Don’t count me out until the fat lady sings.  Mac –  Always say Thank You when someone helps you.  Kissie – Just do it. Maggie – Be devoted to the one who matters most.  Desert – Laugh everyday.  Magic – Pay attention and keep things under control.  Savannah – Be a good friend, love your job, and know where you are the happiest.  Indy – Be grateful for a second chance and people who love you.  Zoey – Quiet times together are the best.  Dawn – Snuggle, it feels good.  Friday – No matter how grouchy you feel, smile and say Thank You.  Mikey – Love children, they love you back, and usually have something sweet to eat.  Joey – Don’t ever believe that you don’t matter to someone.

With all the horses I have known, I could go on, and on, and on, but I won’t.

It’s your turn to reflect on what they have taught you.

May you have a Happy, Healthy, New Year, filled with all the good things that horses can bring into your life.

Even though she’s been gone for 13 years, I can still hear my mother saying that to me.  Her voice is so loud and clear.

Christmas, with all the lights twinkling on the houses, bells jingling from the sidewalk Santas, the smell of baking cookies coming from the oven.  The tree in all it’s glory standing tall in the living room.  The presents wrapped and placed carefully under the tree.  The Christmas carols playing in the background.  The snow gently falling outside.  As a kid, these are the things that meant the most to me.

People were always nicer then.  Strangers smiled and wished you a Merry Christmas.  It was the most wonderful time of the year.  Now it seems they just mug you for the what you have just purchased, and run off into the night.  No one is allowed to wish you a Merry Christmas anymore, it’s politically incorrect.  Some stores will not allow the sidewalk Santas who collect the money to feed the poor.  (I won’t shop there).  Oh everything is still decorated, but with out the reason for the season, the birth of Jesus.  They decorate so that you will come and spend all your hard earned money in their store.  Stores are decorated before Halloween now.  They play seasonal music, but certainly not carols.  Instead of being a warm peaceful time, it’s become a shopping frenzy.  All the commercials on TV are proclaiming their huge Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Brown Thursday sales.  Has anyone really watched or took in the meaning of a Charlie Brown Christmas?  I always watched it, but until I really watched it, I didn’t hear the message behind it.  Wow, is it still allowed?

The one thing they can’t take away from us is our visit to the stable.  My mother would say that I needed to go to church on Christmas Eve, not the barn.  And I, being the wise guy teenager that I was, would say “What better place to be on a Christmas Eve other than a stable.  Jesus was born in a stable.”  So off to church I’d go and then to the barn.  They used to say that if you go to the barn on Christmas Eve you would see all the animals bow down at midnight.  I’ve been in many a barn and have never witnessed that, but I do believe that they worship in their own way.  I also still, to this day, go into the barn at Midnight to check.

The barn has always been an amazing place to be at Christmas.  Up north is was usually very cold, icy, and/or snowy.  But the sounds of the horses munching on hay, with the chill around you made it really seem like Christmas to me.  That is how it must have been on that first Christmas.  The chilly night, the smells of a barn as only we can know, the animals munching on hay.

People may go to a candle lit church, with beautiful music being sung, with the story of the first Christmas being retold, but we, as horse people, can really relive the first Christmas like no church can possibly put on.  I still go to church on Christmas Eve, but then I still go to the barn at Midnight too.  When I was in my 40’s, and Bob got into Fox Hunting, my mother said to me one day, “Well I guess you’re never going to grow out of this are you.”  It was not a question, it was a statement of fact that she resigned herself to.

Have a Blessed Christmas, and “Go To The Barn”, it’s the right place to be for Christmas.  And don’t forget the carrots and apples.

Have a very Merry Christmas, and to all my Jewish friends “Happy Chanukah” a few weeks late.

Both holidays are politically incorrect.  So am I.