Wordless Wednesday.....Loving Our Pets

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Keeping Up With Responsibilities

With the holiday gone, and one more coming up quickly, sometimes we lose sight of our responsibilities. We have made an extra special effort to try and keep up with it all. Having an animal such as a dog, cat, horse, or even a turtle can be fun, but very full of responsibilities. We just so happen to have animals in our home and my daughter also has her horse to take care of. Please remember that even though animals are not people, they ARE living things and still need to be taken care of. You are the one that chose them to be in your family. They are givers of such joy in our lives and they deserve to have our time and attention as well. Hug your pet today, you'll be glad you did.

How Do You Deal With a Pet's Death?

How do you help your teen get through something tragic in life? Life has so many ups and downs but when something bad happens, do you hover over your teen, or do you leave them alone to deal with it in peace? I believe that there has to be a middle ground here somewhere.
We went to the barn on Saturday to see our horse. Our horse was fine, and all the other horses in the barn were doing good. We got a call on Sunday morning that the lesson horse, (who belonged to our trainer) was ill. He had gotten colic, which is pretty much a stomach ache, and it made him extremely ill. To shorten this story, he did not make it. My daughter loved him so much, as he was the horse she rode over the summer and learned many things on. She had developed a love for this horse. He was now gone and the tears came out very quickly. I felt so lost as I was upset about it as well. How do you deal with a "pet's" death? I chose to talk to her a little bit about it, and we both cried and hugged, but then I let her have some alone time. How do you help your daughter, or teen through a "pet's death"? This is a hard subject, I know, but we all have to go through it at one time or another, unless you have no pets, of course. I got up this morning and she was doing alright, but I know that it's on her mind today as she goes to school and sits in her classes. A Pet's death can be very hard on young people. I don't know what she would be like it if had been HER horse, but nonetheless, it was pretty tragic weekend for us.

Horses, dogs, responsibilities

Aw, aren't horses beautiful? They surely are. Most families get dogs and cats for pets, but in our household, we have chihuahuas. For the past many years, and I do mean MANY, my youngest daughter has wanted a horse. Now, living in the city, it's very difficult keeping one in your backyard. There's simply no room for one, and of course, our neighbors would complain. But what do you do about a situation in which your daughter wants to persue something that can be very costly? We all know that dogs can be costly.... especially if you get a particular breed. However, horses are double and triple that. And not only do you have to worry about the cost of buying the horse, but the living arrangements and such but the most costly of all, is the upkeep of the horse. This is the direction that we are heading in with my dear darling young teen. To be sure that this was NOT a passing faze, many years ago, we went into a 4-H program where she could learn about horses. We also went to a non-profit place that offered lessons on care of horses and did that as well. My daughter not only learned about horses and riding, but had a very nice lady who gave her that first start with teaching not only riding, but cleaning out stalls and the daily care of horses. That did NOT deter my daughter's want. For a brief while, we were in transition of moving and she was without horses in her life. Now we are back to it again, and have found a wonderful trainer in English riding and my daughter is now in "horse heaven" with all the training and volunteering that she is doing. I believe that when young people go through the WANT of something, you need to test this and not go out and buy on a quick impulse because sometimes the want passes quickly. Such is an example of a child wanting a dog and promises to take care of it no matter what, and then once the new is worn off, the parents end up taking care of the dog. Of course, that dog grows on you and you end up happy that you got it in the first place. But if you are looking at something as costly as a horse, please take the time to educate your child on the ins and outs, the daily care and what all it takes to take care of such a wonderful animal.