INVISIBLE FORCES: RIOT

INVISIBLE FORCES: RIOT

Thursday, June 27, 2024

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Riot

I am starting a new series about horses that I connected with. Not all of them are mine, and not all of them I knew for a long time. Like with people there are horses that we connect with more strongly than others. I used to struggle with that, but it's really okay. I love them all, of course, and I will always treat every horse with dignity and respect. 

TW: euthanasia, horse death, and animal neglect/abuse

I first met Riot several years ago when a former friend purchased him for a very low amount. He was older, thin, and just generally not well taken care of in his later life. He came with an older gelding who was his friend who ended up being euthanized before the year was up. From the time I met Riot I felt something. I almost always do with older horses. 

Maybe it's a respect that they've given their youth and their bodies to us, so I get very emotional about them. Especially when I see them end up in less than ideal situations when they should be enjoying their leisurely life of retirement or semi-retirement. 

I really got to know Riot when he was used in the farm school that I co-owned, although after a few classes I stopped using Riot. He was clearly in pain, and although it was mentioned to his owner several times that behavior changes were occurring nothing was done. Riot did like attention from adults. I think the pulling and unbalanced riding of beginners and children were too much for his arthritis, teeth, and probably the malady of other untreated issues he was experiencing. 

I only rode Riot once, but he perked up more than I'd ever seen him before during that ride as though remembering his glory days where he went to the NFR three times as a head horse in team roping. I've tried to find his videos, but I've never been able to. 

I do know that every time I was near him, he would lay his head on me as if to ask for help. And I tried. I mentioned multiple times that he seemed to be in pain and needed to be fully retired. I offered to let him retire to my pasture. 

Riot died a few months ago. 

A death that could have been prevented, which is partly why his previous owner is a former friend and why I no longer co-own the farmschool. An inexperienced horse person and her friend were out at that barn riding horses and Riot was allowed to eat medicated goat feed, which has an additive in it called rumensin. This additive is extremely toxic to horses in very small amounts. 

Riot acted like he was colicking. The vet came out, tubed him. I have no idea if the truth about what he had ingested was told or not. He ended up seizing and dying in his pen. 

I was devastated and relieved. 

I was devastated because no horse should die a painful death like that. If you have never witnessed a horse having seizures, I hope you never do as it's quite violent and traumatic on their bodies. And because they are so large and it's so violent, there is nothing you can do until it stops. 

I was devastated because he spent the final years of his life unhappy in a dirt lot without shade at a shitty barn with shitty people. 

I was devastated because it was so preventable. 

But I was also relieved. 

I feel like those quiet moments I spent with him when he would lay his head on me were him asking me to help him. I feel like those deep sighs when I would scratch him and let him just be was him begging for relief. And both of our requests were ignored because he was busy making money for someone despite his age and condition. 

And so I was relieved that he was free. I was happy for him that he gets to move on to a happy green pasture with his old friend that he came there with. I was relieved that the pain was gone for him. 

In retrospect, I wish I had offered to buy him more when I saw that he clearly wasn't going to be offered a soft place to retire and instead would be working until the day he dropped dead. I was giving my former friend the benefit of the doubt, and my regret is that it was ultimately at the expense of Riot. 

Rest easy Riot. Run free. 

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SETTING GOALS + BACKWARDS PLANNING

SETTING GOALS + BACKWARDS PLANNING

Friday, June 21, 2024

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Setting Goals + Backwards Planning

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As a former teacher, I have a ton of ways to plan and reach an end goal. It's really a core component of teaching, and I know there is no reason that those methods cannot transcribe to my coaching and to my own life.

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Start at the end.

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I know it sounds counterintuitive, but if you know where you want to end up then you can plan out the smaller steps and goals along the way to get to that BIG GOAL at the end. 

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After you have the BIG GOAL, then skip to your five years from now goal. After you have a goal for five years out, then think of what goals you would need to accomplish over the next five years to get to that point. Don't worry about the day to day small things yet, just the larger benchmarks that you need to accomplish to get to that five year goal. You can do one per year or every few months. Whatever works best for you. 

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When you get to the one year out goal, then you need to worry about the small things. What series of small things will you do to reach that one year out goal. One small thing per day with bench marks along the way to mark progress. Little things you can accomplish and when they're all added up they'll work together towards that one year goal. 

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The plan should look like this outline (feel free to steal it and use it)!

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BIG GOAL

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FIVE YEAR GOAL

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Benchmark to 5 year

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Benchmark to 5 year

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Benchmark to 5 year

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Benchmark to 5 year

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ONE YEAR GOAL

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Benchmarks to 1 year

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Day to day to get to Benchmark

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Benchmarks to 1 year

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Day to day to get to Benchmark

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Benchmarks to 1 year

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Day to Day to get to Benchmark

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You can adjust this to be as many or as few benchmarks as you like. It might be different with different horses, and don't get so rigid in your goals and planning that you're not flexible or you make decisions that aren't the best for you or your horse. 

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But the most important part is making those small day to day goals and checking them off. This will allow you to track your progress and for me, it helps me not get discouraged because I can see the checkmarks on my progress sheet. This is especially helpful on those days when you feel like you're not getting anywhere; you can look back and see how far you have progressed. Videos are also a great way to do this. Keep a video diary, even if it's just for yourself. 

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I am considering opening up a paid online coaching which would focus on the mental aspects of this. I would also do run reviews based on videos. I am still working out the logistics, but please let me know if that's something y'all would be interested in! It would be fairly inexpensive as well. And we would learn anxiety control techniques, preparing our mind, staying positive, and more goal setting things. 

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SIERRA

SIERRA

Thursday, June 20, 2024

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 Sierra finds a home!

One of the other horses we took in this past January has found a new family. When Sierra came here she was underweight, and she wouldn't even let us touch her legs. Now she is shiny, healthy, the perfect weight, and will let you touch her whole leg but not the feet yet. 

Her new family is getting her as a buddy to their gelding. They are going to finish her training and give her a happy life. Plus if she doesn't work out for them then she can always come back here. As all of them can.

They have been sending updates on how she is doing, and I just know that she is living her best life with attention every single day. 

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BARREL RACING COACH

BARREL RACING COACH

Thursday, June 13, 2024

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Coaching Barrel Racers

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One of my favorite things that I do is coach barrel racers. I love the updates when they move up or have a good run. I love seeing them achieve their goals and chase their dreams. 

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Some of y'all know that I have an education degree and was a public school teacher for about eight years. One of the things that I miss from teaching is that aspect of it. The AHA moment that kids get when they get something, or seeing kids go on after leaving my classroom to achieve their dreams. 

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Barrel racing coaching combines that love of teaching and helping people with my love of this sport and of horses. I wish that I had the facility at my own farm so I could do it more and have more coaching clients. For now, I will just have to stick to doing what I can when I can at borrowed or rented arenas. 

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I can help somewhat via videos, but I like the connection of in-person coaching. I'm not great at social media so building a platform in that way to coach is difficult for me. I don't even really advertise that I do this. But I do, and I absolutely love it. I'm good at it. 

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Anyway, all of this to say that if you're interested in in-person or virtual coaching I am definitely available to help.

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ZORRO

ZORRO

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

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Zorro

Although Zorro has only been with us a short time, we love him deeply. Zorro came to us in January, underweight after having been leased out and not being properly cared for. 

Since arriving, we followed the UC Davis refeeding protocol and as of today, Zorro is around a BCS of 4 which is up from a 1 on arrival. He is undermuscled and lacking in topline, but that comes from work and exercise which we haven't done other than letting him wander the pasture with the herd to move around. Zorro currently eats alfalfa, bermuda, Nutrena Empower Topline Balancers, and Nutrena Senior Feed. He's had his feet done, and we treated for ulcers on arrival. 

Zorro came here because he needed a home, and he loves kids. He's beginner safe, so he would have been perfect for the horsemanship program that I co-owned. However, I've left the program, and we don't have any small kids. This means Zorro would just be left in our pasture with no purpose, and while I think that is fine for horses...they don't all need a purpose. He does enjoy attention. He waits at the gate, and if he sees anyone headed to the pasture with a halter he will head to meet you. So clearly, Zorro wants attention and deserves it. 

I posted him to my friends on Facebook, and someone answered! They came to meet Zorro, and he's headed to their house on a lease with a purchase option if he works out. They're going to finish feeding him up, get him in shape, and see if he works out for their littles! He's going to be so loved, and their daughter is already asked about when he gets to come home. 

Every horse deserves to be owned by a horse crazy little girl or boy at some point in their lives. And I'm so happy that Zorro's time has come. 

And they know that he will always have a home here if he doesn't work out or they need to give him up. As do all horses who pass through my barn. That's the least I can do for them. I love them all dearly, and if I had a purpose for him then he could stay here forever. 

Here's to Zorro and him living his best life as a kid's pony. 

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HORSE TRADERS

HORSE TRADERS

Monday, June 3, 2024

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Horse Traders: is that a bad thing?

Every time I hear someone talk about horse traders or horse flippers it's with a negative connotation, but is that the case? Are all horse traders or horse flippers bad people just looking to make a quick buck without caring for the horse?

Like everything in the equine industry, or any other industry for that matter, there are the bad people who are unscrupulous and don't care if people, or animals, get hurt as long as it doesn't hurt their bottom line. But are all horse traders like this? And what's the definition of a horse trader? 

Let's define horse trader first, then break it down. 

Horse trading in its literal sense is the buying and selling of horses. Also referred to as horse dealing or horse flipping. As it's a job to make money, the goal is to buy them at a low price then sell them at a higher price. Over time, as many people doing this found themselves able to make more money by being unethical or dishonest this became a metaphor for underhanded business practices. 

Because of this widespread usage of the term "horse trading" which is even used in politics for the dishonest way politicians trade votes. Overall, the term connotes dishonesty and underhanded business practices. 

If we work off of this definition only then it would stand to reason that the modern day horse trader does the same, but are there people who buy horses, put some time and effort into them, then sell them at a higher price? Surely we can agree that if someone is honest about the horses and puts the time and effort into rising the value of the horse by giving them additional training, medical care, farrier care, or whatever the horse may need then they don't deserve to have this negative derision association with the term horse trader...but then what do we call them? 

Essentially the job is still buying and selling horses, and they're not rescuing them...and while making a profit for themselves they still are caring about the horses, helping to make their lives better and setting them up for success while also helping people purchase horses they want and need. Is it fair that they are lumped in with people who lie about the horses, do no bettering of the horse's life, and put people in potentially dangerous situations?

I think this is a conversation worth having in the horse industry. I think there is a place for horse dealers in the industry as a career, especially those that train, rehab, and set up the horses that come through their barn for success as well as provide a valuable service for those who are horse shopping. 

Thoughts?

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