Here it is...gather three friends or less. Not too many. It needs to be intimate. You know the ones...the ones who have seen the comments on your worst dressage test. The ones who knew you "back when". The ones who know just how much time you spend shopping for horses and encourage it by going to look at them for you when they are in the area. Set a time in the not too distant future, pour yourself a glass of whatever (wine, beer, tea), call them on FaceTime or WhatsApp, and VENT about all the anxiety that horses have recently produced for you- a common theme here at OCEN, LLC!!
I believe that the tradition started during the Covid years- like so many other online gatherings- but not because of Covid. They were dubbed "Wine and Whines" and were/are completely random. The "because" was horses, but the topics wasn't limited to horses. Of course, that’s all we talk about; lame horses, sick horses, young horses, selling horses, training horses, feeding horses, and on and on. Many of you likely get these cathartic social releases at your barn, but my “barn” family is spread far and wide across the US, so we gather remotely.
Maybe it was the shrinking daylight hours, or the election results, or just a very stressful week of horse experiences, but I needed it so badly. Last nights ladies gathering spanned the spectrum of equine woes, but we left the conversation laughing at our selves and setting a date for the next one. I’m a BIG fan of naming my text thread groups, so when we disconnected, I changed the name of the group to “The Equine Anxiety Society”. Stay tuned- we may start a Facebook Group!
So, fellow horse feeders, my greatest health recommendation of 2024 is to schedule your “Whine and Wine”, “Whine and whatever”, “Board of Depressors”, “Committee of Equine Angst”, or “Equine Anxiety Society” right now with those you love! I’m super lucky to have two of these scheduled this week!
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