Lessons learned from chickens

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by timmgirvan

The image of me on skis running into a tree is enough to keep me in the lodge,lol

Timm,
Downhill skiing is way different than crosscountry. It's like horseshoes and bocci. I'll take snow shoes on a quiet night, anytime.
Tip-ups...fine with me....THERE'S a FLAG!! Adrenalin city!

[Downthestretch55]

Believe it or not, this time I'm not posting anything about politics.
Lately, I've had more than enough. Hagel is the only guy that seems sensible lately, maybe Webb, and a couple of others.
But that's really not what I want to talk about.
Today is about...drum roll....

"How to Hug a Horse"

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I've been called a tree hugger, and I admit that I've done that. I've had some very nice times with my favorite maple, a cute cherry, and a golden delicious that was the apple of my eye. Heck, those trees didn't respond nor seemed to share my enthusiasm. Good for me though.
But the truth of the matter is that there's absolutely nothing like hugging a horse.
Today went like this. I went to Shot o' Bourbon's stall. Her head was out, and i'm guessing that she was hoping I'd toss her a flake of hay or give her a mint, or maybe a carrot. Nope, Shot o' B...just me coming to say hi.
So, I petted the big white blaze that runs from the top of her beautiful face, down between her chestnut muzzle, and reached with my other hand to stroke her feminine elegant neck. She melted. When she rested her head on my shoulder as I stoked her muzzle, I knew I'd been hugged back.
There's something nice that happens when a horse knows your smell, shares some trust, and knows that you're not going to hurt her. Breaking will wait until the weather warms, though the bonding will continue.
Next I walked a few stalls down to where Ciel Bonne lives. She's Shot o' Bourbon's half sister. A yearling filly by Stanislavsky (High Cliff @ nybreds).
What a beauty she's growing to be! Shot is a chestnut, but Ciel B is a grey,
very dark right now, with a crescent moon on her forehead.
So I put my hand near, so she could get a sniff. I reached up with my other hand to stroke her neck, and guess what...she also put her head right on my shoulder. Ahh the love!
She stayed there for over a minute, just as calm and nice as a pretty filly could be. More sniffs, muzzle in my jacket arm, petting her neck and rubbing that spot under her jowls that some horses like so much, like petting a dog behind the ears.
So, there you have it. No politics today. Just a lot of horse hugging.
If you ever get the chance, give it a try. It's nice for the horse, and even nicer for the human.
Now, if Darlin' by Day would just calm down enough for me to touch her mane, maybe...maybe.
Fillies are so different.
Whispers and carrots next time for her.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Downthestretch55

Believe it or not, this time I'm not posting anything about politics.
Lately, I've had more than enough. Hagel is the only guy that seems sensible lately, maybe Webb, and a couple of others.
But that's really not what I want to talk about.
Today is about...drum roll....

"How to Hug a Horse"

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I've been called a tree hugger, and I admit that I've done that. I've had some very nice times with my favorite maple, a cute cherry, and a golden delicious that was the apple of my eye. Heck, those trees didn't respond nor seemed to share my enthusiasm. Good for me though.
But the truth of the matter is that there's absolutely nothing like hugging a horse.
Today went like this. I went to Shot o' Bourbon's stall. Her head was out, and i'm guessing that she was hoping I'd toss her a flake of hay or give her a mint, or maybe a carrot. Nope, Shot o' B...just me coming to say hi.
So, I petted the big white blaze that runs from the top of her beautiful face, down between her chestnut muzzle, and reached with my other hand to stroke her feminine elegant neck. She melted. When she rested her head on my shoulder as I stoked her muzzle, I knew I'd been hugged back.
There's something nice that happens when a horse knows your smell, shares some trust, and knows that you're not going to hurt her. Breaking will wait until the weather warms, though the bonding will continue.
Next I walked a few stalls down to where Ciel Bonne lives. She's Shot o' Bourbon's half sister. A yearling filly by Stanislavsky (High Cliff @ nybreds).
What a beauty she's growing to be! Shot is a chestnut, but Ciel B is a grey,
very dark right now, with a crescent moon on her forehead.
So I put my hand near, so she could get a sniff. I reached up with my other hand to stroke her neck, and guess what...she also put her head right on my shoulder. Ahh the love!
She stayed there for over a minute, just as calm and nice as a pretty filly could be. More sniffs, muzzle in my jacket arm, petting her neck and rubbing that spot under her jowls that some horses like so much, like petting a dog behind the ears.
So, there you have it. No politics today. Just a lot of horse hugging.
If you ever get the chance, give it a try. It's nice for the horse, and even nicer for the human.
Now, if Darlin' by Day would just calm down enough for me to touch her mane, maybe...maybe.
Fillies are so different.
Whispers and carrots next time for her.

Awww.... I like this one! I had a nice riding lesson last week on a big chestnut gelding named Oberon- we took to each other right away, and after the lesson, as I was telling him what a good boy he was, he tucked his head right under my arm and rested his nose on my stomach. I just about bawled, it was so sweet.

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

Awww.... I like this one! I had a nice riding lesson last week on a big chestnut gelding named Oberon- we took to each other right away, and after the lesson, as I was telling him what a good boy he was, he tucked his head right under my arm and rested his nose on my stomach. I just about bawled, it was so sweet.

Hey Genuine Risk,
I'm happy you liked it. It's really true.
Nice that you and Oberon are friends too.
I don't advise going up to any horse and trying to do what I did today.
Heck, there are some that will bite your fingers off faster than you could react. There are a few at the farm that I'm very careful around.
To me, it takes time for a horse to get to know you. Even then, things can go badly in a blink. So be careful.
But the "hugs" are really nice. It's not something to try on the first "date".
All of 'em are so different.

[Downthestretch55]

Today's news about Barbaro did something inside of me, reminded me of something I should have remembered. It's called:

Letting Go

The first time I came across the difficult decision to let go was when my little female dashund, Ginger, was too sick to get off the couch. She was eleven at the time, and I'd had her since she was a pup, and I was in kindergarten.
All the fun of growing up with her seemd to disappear when I came home from school that day, and my Mom said that she had been to the vet with Ginger, and there wasn't any hope of prolonging her life without a lot of suffering from an old dog that had done her best throughout her life.
She had been loved. Now she was humanely put down.
My brother and I sat on the back porch for hours, crying our eyes out.
Only later did I realize that this was the best decision...to let her go.
Many years later, when my father didn't come out of heart surgery without having a clot hit his brain, and that he was on life support for a week, and the outcome was that the best that could be hoped for was that he'd regain consciousness, but never walk, nor think, nor even know who came to visit him in a nursing home...well, we had a "family meeting", and agreed that he would never want to "live" that way, and Mom called the hospital and got through to the ICU, told them to disconnect the life support. Let go.
The crying lasted a lot longer this time. Not a day goes by that I don't think of him.
Since then, there have been far too many, ones that I've held out so much hope for, so many prayers.
What comes to me is that there really isn't a way to completely let go.
Even when they pass, a part lives on in my memory, a gift that doesn't let go.
A friend of mine, who now is going through Alzheimers, told me this before things started going badly for him. Here are his words, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is the present. Treat it like a gift, cause that's what it is." There's no letting go of that.

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by Downthestretch55

Today's news about Barbaro did something inside of me, reminded me of something I should have remembered. It's called:

Letting Go

The first time I came across the difficult decision to let go was when my little female dashund, Ginger, was too sick to get off the couch. She was eleven at the time, and I'd had her since she was a pup, and I was in kindergarten.
All the fun of growing up with her seemd to disappear when I came home from school that day, and my Mom said that she had been to the vet with Ginger, and there wasn't any hope of prolonging her life without a lot of suffering from an old dog that had done her best throughout her life.
She had been loved. Now she was humanely put down.
My brother and I sat on the back porch for hours, crying our eyes out.
Only later did I realize that this was the best decision...to let her go.
Many years later, when my father didn't come out of heart surgery without having a clot hit his brain, and that he was on life support for a week, and the outcome was that the best that could be hoped for was that he'd regain consciousness, but never walk, nor think, nor even know who came to visit him in a nursing home...well, we had a "family meeting", and agreed that he would never want to "live" that way, and Mom called the hospital and got through to the ICU, told them to disconnect the life support. Let go.
The crying lasted a lot longer this time. Not a day goes by that I don't think of him.
Since then, there have been far too many, ones that I've held out so much hope for, so many prayers.
What comes to me is that there really isn't a way to completely let go.
Even when they pass, a part lives on in my memory, a gift that doesn't let go.
A friend of mine, who now is going through Alzheimers, told me this before things started going badly for him. Here are his words, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is the present. Treat it like a gift, cause that's what it is." There's no letting go of that.

Kudos! well said!

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by timmgirvan

Kudos! well said!

Thanks Timm.