Ranty rant!
I've decided that I hate it when people say "You've got horses? You're so lucky!"
I always want to reply "Blow me. What do you know about it?"
I'm not lucky to own horses. They're a ton of work. They're expensive. They're potentially dangerous. They're filthy. I have to pick up piles of shit that weigh as much as your lap dog. Sacrifices are made, relationships destroyed by the hairy, shedding, ungrateful beasts.
There's nothing "lucky" about it. You too could go out tomorrow, buy some old nag and pay 300$+ a month to see its basic needs met. You too could drive an hour every fucking day to ride it if you felt like it, or maybe you'll have to drive that hour every day to care for it even if you don't want to! You too can scrub an inch of dirt off of an impatient horse for half an hour just so you can get on and exercise it even if you're too goddamned tired to, or better yet, the horse just doesn't feel like it today. What fun!
Maybe it's just because I'm in a foul humour today. Or maybe because the person who said that irritates the hell out of me to begin with. But when she said that to me today it seriously pissed me off, and I essentially gave her a shorter, more light-hearted version of the above, while in the back of my mind I'm saying "fuck you and the horse you rode in on!"
I'm "lucky" because I want to be. Because I love them will all my heart. Because I put all that time, money and effort into them. Was I lucky that my mother nurtured that love when I was a child and bought me my first horse (purely for her benefit, might I add - it was actually unfortunate for her that Teresa and I took to riding so much!)? Yes. That was lucky. That was awesome. But I'm a grown up now. Mommy and daddy aren't paying for anything. It's the sweat off my own back, the money I work hard for, that pays and cares for that animal. Owning a horse isn't all roses and rainbows - it's dirt and filth and aching muscles and empty bank accounts - all for the feeling that comes from that partnership, that Moment when it all comes together. That moment they haven't experienced in their entire lives.
On second thought, maybe that's what makes me lucky. Maybe on some level they know what they're missing?
I always want to reply "Blow me. What do you know about it?"
I'm not lucky to own horses. They're a ton of work. They're expensive. They're potentially dangerous. They're filthy. I have to pick up piles of shit that weigh as much as your lap dog. Sacrifices are made, relationships destroyed by the hairy, shedding, ungrateful beasts.
There's nothing "lucky" about it. You too could go out tomorrow, buy some old nag and pay 300$+ a month to see its basic needs met. You too could drive an hour every fucking day to ride it if you felt like it, or maybe you'll have to drive that hour every day to care for it even if you don't want to! You too can scrub an inch of dirt off of an impatient horse for half an hour just so you can get on and exercise it even if you're too goddamned tired to, or better yet, the horse just doesn't feel like it today. What fun!
Maybe it's just because I'm in a foul humour today. Or maybe because the person who said that irritates the hell out of me to begin with. But when she said that to me today it seriously pissed me off, and I essentially gave her a shorter, more light-hearted version of the above, while in the back of my mind I'm saying "fuck you and the horse you rode in on!"
I'm "lucky" because I want to be. Because I love them will all my heart. Because I put all that time, money and effort into them. Was I lucky that my mother nurtured that love when I was a child and bought me my first horse (purely for her benefit, might I add - it was actually unfortunate for her that Teresa and I took to riding so much!)? Yes. That was lucky. That was awesome. But I'm a grown up now. Mommy and daddy aren't paying for anything. It's the sweat off my own back, the money I work hard for, that pays and cares for that animal. Owning a horse isn't all roses and rainbows - it's dirt and filth and aching muscles and empty bank accounts - all for the feeling that comes from that partnership, that Moment when it all comes together. That moment they haven't experienced in their entire lives.
On second thought, maybe that's what makes me lucky. Maybe on some level they know what they're missing?