What is it about that 4 legged creature that keeps us coming back for more? That horse disease…what does it do for you? How does it relate to your personal life? Why do we do what we do and other people do not? I have often pondered, while cleaning stalls, why do I do this? Can I put it into words? What is it about a barn that makes me feel “safe?” What is it about that horse that keeps my world relatively sane? Do we need to explain? Should we explain? What secret do we know that others do not? Or is it a secret? The horse thing is like a calling…I can not live without it and I truly do not know why.
I simply call it Equine Cymbalta. :winkgrin: Without it, I would go nuts, and for almost 3 horseless years I did. 
In all seriousness though, I have been out of the boarding, training & lesson biz since roughly '05. Horseless from '07-'09. Got back into it with a lovely rose grey 2 year old filly, now coming 4.
Guess what? Now, within a week’s time, I have taken on a free mini, and one of my very first students & boarders, all grown up now, has moved back, gotten a new horse (after being horseless too), and will be boarding with me again! (She didn’t want to go anywhere else & since I practically raised her, how could I say no?) We’re doing a co-op thing, which we are both really excited about, b/c it’s going to help both of us out.
Yep, it’s the whole crazy, wonderful world of horses. And for horse-crazy girls, regardless of age, there is no cure. 
I’ve often thought it might even be genetic…a “horse” gene or perhaps an “animal” gene that gets fixed on horses. I was an army officers kid, moved 33 times between kindergarten and high school graduation and was always the new kid on the block. My grandfather raised Saddlebreds and my dad and uncles and he kept the family farm during the Depression by training Army remount horses. My dad didn’t like horses. My mother is terrified of them and thinks I’m nuts (or maybe not even hers although I suspect that she’s given that one up pretty much). Neither husband was horsey. Older son…he’d live eat and breath them if he could. Younger one, raised with them…city kid all the way. Recessive gene? Appears to skip generations and to appear from parents without obvious traits. Just a thought.
Hans Gunter Winkler said it was a virus…
(found that while looking for the Halla ride in Stockholm…)
[QUOTE=Alagirl;5485035]
Hans Gunter Winkler said it was a virus…
(found that while looking for the Halla ride in Stockholm…)
[/QUOTE]
I totally agree with this!!! :eek:
Not one single person in my entire family history liked horses. My parents have often asked me where this all came from. I also had/still have no answers for them.:no:
But I can not live with out them and they still remain the only way I will willingly get up super early!!! So not a morning person:yes:
I don’t explain it. I just go with it. 
Nothing to explain.
I suppose I am lucky anyhow. In my family you have to explain why you don’t do horses…it’s not normal! :no:
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But I can not live with out them and they still remain the only way I will willingly get up super early!!! So not a morning person:yes:[/QUOTE]
Haha! Same here! Absolutely no reason on God’s green earth to rise super early, except for horses!
I don’t try to explain it. Just feel lucky to have it. It’s much like the love my nephew has for surfing. There are those that are lucky to have a passion that they will do anything to get to indulge in…and there is everyone else.
MORE PLEASE!!!
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Nothing to explain.[/QUOTE]
You took the words away from my fingers! I agree, I don’t need to explain my passion to anyone. If they like it, great, if not, go away. lol. I’m fortunate to have a fiance who understands how much this lifestyle means to me and would never dream of trying to make me stop. Some members of my family, however… hence, why I rarely talk to them.
I believe it is genetics… You may want to do a titch of geneaalogy and see if there is a horse person in your past I did and well on on side there is no less than 6 ( out of 11) paternal generations who were involved in horses. ( in the Us in england a bit more with at least 3 who have ‘been at court’ with various kings and queens of which one was well ‘the keeper’ of his horses… So yeah it is genetic…
That and it is cheaper than a shrink…
^ There could be some truth to that… Now that I think of it, I’ve got horses in my blood on both sides. My mom had a pony named Sunny when she was a preteen, and my paternal grandfather brought his pack horse home from the army (in Italy.) My dad said remembers feeding him-a stallion named Bruno-and being intimidated because he barely came up to Bruno’s belly. I don’t know if they ever rode him or not. I would kill to have a pic of that horse.
Yup, but someone hwho has another addiction like golf or sking will understand
I think many people have inherited a tendency to be obsessive.
Then, there are other genes that moderate what we will be more or less attracted to and for some, it is animals and for another group, specifically horses, maybe?
Although generally horse people also can be very obsessive about dogs or cats or other animals also.
There are people obsessed with trains, sailing, golf, fires, people can and will obsess about whatever their brain chooses.
I think that most people learn to balance the obsession with the rest of our lives, some more than others.
There are co-morbid disorders that some times go along with horse obsessions, one sad one hoarding, not knowing when to stop having horses, to the point you are in over your head and overwhelmed.
I say, for most people the tendency to be obsessive and that focusing on horses does seem to be have inherited components to it.
I know that no one in my immediate family had the slightest idea what horses are or wanted to know, had that silly frozen grin if I even mentioned the word horse.
Stories of my grandfather being completely obsessed with horses makes me wonder, like the time he was so excited with a new horse he traded for he came to the yard yelling for grandma to come see the horse and when she was not coming right out, walked the horse right into the kitchen for her to admire.
What is it about that 4 legged creature that keeps us coming back for more? Insanity
That horse disease…what does it do for you? It keeps my bank account from getting higher.
How does it relate to your personal life? Well, it definitely curtails some social life and vacations since mine are at home. But then my home is like a vacation. Granted…it’s a working vacation…
Why do we do what we do and other people do not? Insanity again.
I have often pondered, while cleaning stalls, why do I do this? Because if you don’t, the stall will be dirty. And bedding isn’t cheap.
Can I put it into words? We can keep trying, but I doubt anyone not “horsie” will eveer get it.
What is it about a barn that makes me feel “safe?” Horses don’t speak. It’s instant gratification, nothing in there will tell us anything we don’t want to hear and we see instant results of our work.
What is it about that horse that keeps my world relatively sane? Hee hee, have you not seen the insanity replies? :winkgrin: We only think we’re sane. The rest of the non-horsie world thinks we’re nucking futs.
Do we need to explain? We shouldn’t even try to explain, it only justifies other peoples’ opinions of us. Just keep quiet, nod often and try to project an “I’m really not insane” vibe.
Should we explain? See above. Nope.
What secret do we know that others do not? That horses have a fart button. I got $100 says non-horsie people don’t know that.
Or is it a secret? It’s only a secret if you don’t know where that button is.
The horse thing is like a calling…I can not live without it and I truly do not know why. Insanity.
But if this is insanity, who would want to be sane?
I was wondering about the insanity part last night when i was running to the barn, in the rain, late at night, to put meds in Nannys eye :lol:
My mother says I was obsessed with horses from the very first time I ever saw one…on TV maybe. After Dada and Mama my first word was horse. I am one of 7 kids in my family, my mother is one of 14, my dad is the oldest of 6. Only one uncle (my dad’s brother) was involved with horses for recreation. My mother’s family farmed with horses when she was little. Other than my uncle I am the only one in my family that I know of with the obsession. My parents had no idea what to do with me but found that I would do any chore for a chance to go to the pony rides. Unfortunately raising a family with 7 kids in Southern California was too expensive to be able to keep a horse too so I grew up horseless and had resigned myself to a life without horses until a miracle happened and my husband’s job transferred us to the Southeastern part of the country where land is much more affordable. I bought my first horse less than a year later when I was 32 years old. As soon as he was mine I leaned into him, put my nose into his mane and inhaled as deeply as I could. My whole world tilted upright for the first time. The background static disappeared and I actually felt the missing part of myself click into place. Can I explain it? Heck no.
Of course it’s in the blood! We all have ancestors that relied on horses for their daily work and/or transportation. But once the generations beyond that point got past the industrial revolution, many dropped horses out of their daily lives altogether and never exposed their children to them. Now, someone finds they have a fondness for horses, and they wonder where it all came from!
Mr. Chief2 is a perfect example of someone who, for many decades, thought his family had no background in horses. Then pictures of the old family business surfaced with the business’ delivery cart pulled by a horse framed in front of his grandfather’s business. The business was sold, and his own parents moved off into different facets of their lives, sans horses. They were afraid of horses, so did not expose their children to them. Then the numerous horse carvings his grandfather whittled (they are good!) were distributed to the children and grandchildren after the man’s death. Surprise! The clincher came when Mr. Chief2 went up on ancestry.com and discovered he has a relative presently owning and running a large, multi-generational Percheron farm in another country. It wasn’t that horses weren’t in his blood, but rather that his parents dropped it from their lives and never exposed him to it. He’s baaack!
My dad handicapped Standardbreds and Tbs; his brother owned barrel racers. My brother runs a boarding facility. I have no doubt it goes further back in the lines. My mother’s family is musically talented, with some relatives teaching in NYC conservatories. I have both horse and musical genes and have used the talents from both to make a living. Seek, and somewhere in your ancestral past, you will find horses!
