dancing horses

dancing horses

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Quality Time


When I used to be a boarder I felt guilty if I did not spend time with my horse (with boarding I could only afford one horse). I often rode but I also enjoyed just grooming Irish and spending time with him. He didn't always seem to appreciate being taken out of his field though.

Now that they are home I see them everyday (unless I am away). But now I've noticed that I feel guilty if I don't spend time with them other then the necessary care. I guess I thought that I wouldn't feel guilty anymore if my horse was home. Yesterday and today I only had time to do the necessary care so tonight I made sure that I went out to the barn and gave them both a nice groom. Both seemed much happier after I was done.

Horse ownership seems to be a lot like parenting:

  • I feel like I'm making it up as I go along (don't tell the kids)
  • there's always potential for guilt
  • everyone has an opinion as to how you are doing as either a parent or horse owner
  • there is a lot of hard slogging involved some days
  • you need sometimes to hold them while a vet/doctor does something unpleasant
But most importantly the joy makes it totally worth it.
Steele: "why would she spend time at work when she could be with us?"
Irish: "Not sure but I think it's tied to us having hay"
Steele: "Oh. Well that makes sense"


6 comments:

  1. I know what you mean. Even when you want to do the very best things for your horse you still feel guilty.

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  2. I think you have less time for riding and grooming when you have horses at home. When I was a boarder, I could spend my barn time riding. Now, I'm busy feeding and mucking and all the other horse care stuff that goes along with it. I love that last shot of them in the snowy field.

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  3. LOL, love the caption on that photo. I don't think I could handle horse ownership and being a parent at the same time, too stressful!

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    Replies
    1. lol yes, both can be stressful. Fortunately, the children had left and then the horses came home!

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  4. I really appreciate this post for the comparison between parenting and horse ownership. The last caption is cute!

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