Thursday Rant

I have observed something, maybe for years, but it really hit me last week. The conversation brought to mind many that I've had in the past; I wanted to share them.

Last week a small group was talking and one of them knew I had horses, the rest not aware of it. I don't wear it on my sleeve and try to keep the hay out of my hair. I don't wear cowboy boots or other horse-related do-dads. The person that knew I had them asked about their welfare in this chronic cold weather cycle we're stuck in. The fact that I have horses was a surprise to the others.

All of them reared back, like looking at me for the first time, in a different light! The first said, 'oh, the hard work!, filling buckets with hoses...," and another quickly followed with, "oh, they are so expensive...," "cleaning stalls...," "they are so big...." Naturally, I felt barraged by all these lamentations of horse-keeping. They made it all seem icky.

The other side of this is when someone announces that they are expecting a baby. This is always (usually) greeted with congratulations, blah, blah, blah. NO ONE ever says, "oh the diapers," "oh, kids are so expensive," "babies are noisy and messy," "they'll grow up to kick your ass, wreck your car," "college is so expensive," etc.

I won't lie, horses are expensive. So are dogs and parrots, golfing, shoes, wine-tasting and movies. Pick your poison. Horses need only a few things, but they need a large quantity of that short list of items. They need water, hay, maybe grain, shelter from the sun and inclement weather, grassland to be in. They need about 10 gallons of fresh water a day, about 20 or 30 pounds of hay, three, four or six cups of cereal each day. About 2 or 5 acres of safe, debris-free, grassland to stand around in. You won't find all those things in a townhouse community.

One of the myths is that the Veterinarian will be expensive. Honestly, this is not true. The boy's rabies shots (yes, they get them) are cheaper than for the dog or cat. Just because they are bigger does not mean everything is that much more money. It doesn't work that way. A horse Vet is never as rich as a dog/cat doctor.

There are primitive ways of taking care of horses and there are modern, refined ways of horse care. Barns can be built or installed close to the house because manure management is so much easier now. That translates into low-odor, low-insect issues. Improved manure rakes are easy to use and very effective with picking stalls. Manure spreaders come in sizes and styles and even a small child can maneuver them around the aisle. There are even hand-operated choices.

There are automatic watering systems available, eliminating the chore of hauling water or dealing with hoses. Buried water lines prevent freeze-ups.

It is easy to remotely monitor your horses, too. Closed-circuit cameras will send images to your P/C, at your job or on your phone! You can see that they are lazy sacks, hanging out, waiting for you to come home.

Another thing is the size factor. Size DOES NOT MATTER to a horse. They don't think they are as big as they are, and a clear-cut, definite pecking-order is what they thrive on, depend on. I am the biggest horse in the field, and they know it.

I could go on, but I think you get it. Children are always testing the boundaries of your love but horses figure it out right away and then rely on that. Children try to find the chink in your armor. Horses are the better bet, if you want my opinion!