Everyone is so bored with the snow and even more bored and worried about the credit crunch. (I am heartily sick of hearing that phrase). It has meant that some people have been forced to make some hard decisions about their horses. Whilst recognising that this is a real problem and that horses cost a lot of money, we can avoid horses having to pay the price - we can't just throw ethics out of the window. In the first instance, you can make savings by really examining your horses nutritional needs and making sure that you aren't feeding things just because they are fashionable or because it makes you feel good. Most horses that I see are over-fed and given food that actually add to their behavioural problems. Watch the labels for added sugars (which include molasses) which horses don't need and are designed to make the food look and smell more palatable to you. If you are thinking of selling or loaning a horse you still need to really check out the potential purchaser or loaner to make sure that your horse is going to be in the right hands and not end up in a downward spiral or abbatoir within weeks of leaving you. Horses deserve to be put down in their own home if they are becoming too elderly or sick to safely pass them on to someone else - no one likes having to make this decision but you have to do the right thing by your horse and not avoid the responsibility. I have deliberately taken Cello off the market as I'm not prepared to risk him going in the wrong direction. We have taken Chancer on loan so that he doesn't have to be sold either - although why we need 7 horses I do not know!!
If your horse needs training and money is tight, don't be tempted compromise his welfare by turning a blind eye to training where the end is claimed to justify the means - watch out for trainers that use violence and drilling even in the name of natural horsemanship; young horses, sorry that should read 'no horse', needs to be hit as part of his training nor should there be excessive use of ropes or ever laying a horse down or tying it to a 'naughty tree'. The pressure to get horses 'broken' quickly leads to a lot of wrecks. Cheap costs dear in the end. Horses don't mind not being ridden and there is a lot of preparation work that you can do yourself with the right guidance at the appropriate time - from training your horse to having the odd riding lesson to get your confidence back, to reading training books when it's snowing or just walking your horse out to get him seeing the world. The slower you go, the more quickly things happen.
Years ago I went to a course run by Tanya Arroba on stress and time management. She taught me two valuable lessons - eat your mammoths while they are small and break tasks down into small manageable parts. I use the tree above to plan projects - such as getting Chancer re-started; turning Petra into a Western horse and becoming an RA in the first place. The idea is that you write the major aim down the trunk of the tree and the key elements along the branches. Individual and bite sized tasks go along the twigs. If your tree is deciduous you are exempt from doing anything other than feeding and caring for your horse during the winter months!
