Friday, October 30, 2009

If Horses were Software

My new favorite facebook page is Knot-A-Tail- look them up on facebook and join, because the posts are hilarious! Here's another post from them that made me chuckle out load! Being a tech support professional, I find this absolutely hillarious. Enjoy and be sure to check out Knot-A-Tail on facebook! Thanks Knot-A-Tail!



If Horses Were Software.... A Letter to Tech Support

Dear Tech Support,

Recently I purchased and installed Horse 1.0. I soon noticed that this program appears to have numerous glitches. For instance, every time my computer boots up, I have to run Feed 5.3 and Water 7.1. Many times I've been in the middle of writing an important document, and a window will flash telling me to run Clean Stall 2.0.

This program also contained applications I did not wish to install, such as Manure 8.5, however they auto-installed with Horse 1.0. Applications such as Vacation 2.7 and Free Time 10.1 can no longer run, crashing whenever selected. Possibly the worst is that Horse 1.0 has attached itself to programs like Finance Manager and MS Money, with folders added such as "Monthly Shoeing" and "Winter Blanket".

Periodically, I'll get a reminder telling me to send a check to the manufacturer of Horse 1.0 for the aforementioned items. I have tried to uninstall Horse 1.0 numerous times, but when I try to run the uninstall program, I get warning messages telling me that a deadly virus known as "Withdrawal" will infect my system. Please Help!!!!!

THE REPLY:

Dear User,

Your complaint is not unusual. A common misconception among users is that Horse 1.0 is a mere "utilities and entertainment program." It is not - it is an OPERATING SYSTEM and is designed by its' creator to run everything! A warning will soon be imprinted on the box.

Since you have already installed Horse 1.0, here are a few tips on how to make it run better. If you are annoyed by the applications Feed 5.3 and Water 7.1, you may run C: \HIRE HELP, however this will cause another folder to be added to financial applications, labeled "Staff". Failure to send payment to "Staff" will result in Feed 5.3 and Water 7.1 being run again on startup. A note of caution: NOT booting up your computer for several days isn't the solution to avoiding Feed 5.3 and Water 7.1.

You will find that, when you boot up your computer again, a nasty virus called "Colic 4.2" will have attached itself to important documents and the only way to rid your computer of Colic 4.2 is by purchasing and installing "Vet 10.1", which we admit is extremely expensive, but crucial. Otherwise, Colic 4.2 will cause irreversible damage to the operating system.

Finally, it is important that you run C:\Carrots and C:\Scratch Ears on a fairly regular basis to keep the application running smoothly. If you have any more questions, please call our toll free number.

Sincerely, Tech Support

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Important Traits for Riding Instructors

A forum I'm a member of posted the following question recently and here's how I responded: What Traits are important for Good Riding Instructors?

My Comment:
Since every student learns differently, what makes a good riding instructor is solid horse behavior knowledge, enthusiasm, patience, good communication skills, adaptability, and someone who genuinely "cares" about their student's and horses and wants to see both reach their goals. A riding instructor or any teacher or any employee for that matter, will be successful if they genuinely "like" their job. If this is the case, their enthusiasm will be infectious and motivate their students. A good riding instructor is not the "same" instructor with every student. They are adaptable, and can recognize each individual's learning style and adapt their teaching to this. They will have different instructions and exercises for each student/horse combination based on their ability to recognize the skills each needs to work on. Some student's need an assertive, no-nonsense teaching style, some need reassurance, some need praise, some need detailed explanation, some need respect and trust....and usually, student's will need a combination of all of these traits. It's up to the instructor to have the insight and the ability to "read" their student's psyche and figure out what teaching tips to pull out of the hat and when!


In order do this, I believe an instructor has to have lots of personal riding experience with many different levels of horses to draw from. I think it's important for instructor's to be "active riders" as well in order to keep their skills sharp and remain "relatable" to their students' riding experiences. It's also good for instructor's to ride the horses they teach riders on. Sometimes this alone will help give them better insight into why a student may be experiencing difficulty that may be tricky to spot on the ground. It's also helpful for students to "see" their instructor in action explaining the lessons they are trying to teach. Sometimes when lessons aren't really "sinking" in, watching instruction in action does!

What traits are important to you in a Riding Instructor? Do you have one in the Memphis area you'd like to give "snaps" to. Leave a comment mentioning them and why they are a good instructor.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Horse Stimulus package

Here's a post from a Facebook connection that gave me a good laugh, so I wanted to share it on my blog~ enjoy! Ashlee


"Why if every American owned a horse, we would not be in the economic mess that we are in.

Everyone needs a horse

Mr. President, it has come to my attention that you're having some
challenges with the economy.

If I understand things correctly, we're in a
recession, consumer confidence and spending is down, credit is tight,
investors are spooked, we need renewable energy, and health care costs are
through the roof.

Trillions of dollars, not to mention our future, are at
stake. Mr. President, I'm just a regular citizen, but I think I have a
solution.

My proposal may not make sense to you at first, but let me give you a little
background.

First of all, horses in the U.S. are a multi-billion dollar ndustry, and that's just at my house. I suggest you have your economic advisers do a little research on the spending around horse ownership.

You'd be surprised, Mr. President.

Start by visiting the tack and clothing retailers like State Line or Dover . Look at the variety of goods available there. Now take into account that every horse owner, especially if it's a woman, is buying not just one or two, but tons of these items.. Believe me.

So my thinking is that if you give every American a horse, starting when they reach the horse-receptive age of 10, you're going to do two things: boost consumer confidence and boost spending. Immediately.

Horses make us feel good, and once Americans all own horses (at the government's expense, of course), they will all logically fall into the pattern that every horse owner succumbs to: accessorizing.

For starters, we need horse-care implements like buckets and muck rakes, hoof picks and curry combs. And we need at least basic tack, halter, lead line, saddle, saddle pad, bridle and bit.

But then the fun begins.

*Zebra print** leg wraps
Neon bright fly masks.

An assortment of sheets and blankets for all seasons; you've got your cooler, your lightweight blanket, your medium blanket, your heavy blanket. Then there's your stable sheet and your pasture sheet.

Also your hoodie, and tail wrap items.*

And that's just the clothing for the horse. Don't get me started on the clothing for the rider, even if he or she doesn't show.

Since most Americans don't have a basic riding wardrobe, the stores would be swamped for jeans, boots, breeches, t-shirts, dozens of pairs of cute boot socks, helmets, and SO MUCH MORE!!

Tell the retailers to get ready. It'll be Christmas all year long!

Now let's talk about support industries.

In addition to the usual veterinarian and farrier expenditures, people also give their horses chiropractic, massage and acupuncture, not to mention buying more beauty
products for their horses than they do for themselves.

All those professions and industries will benefit. And of course there will be a big spike in hay and grain demand, so the farmers will be happy too.

Never underestimate the power of Manure
You see, that's the secret to jump-starting consumer spending through my stimulus package. People will spend money on their horses when they won't spend money on anything else.

But, your advisers might say, there's a catch.

Aren't we paying the price, in global warming, of the large number of livestock animals we currently have?

They produce all that methane!

Ah, Mr. President, here's the real beauty of this idea. When you introduce the Methane-Assisted Natural Unrefined Renewable Energy plan (M.A.N.U.R.E.),.

You'll be a hero for coming up with an alternative, renewable, home-grown source of clean energy.

Methane-Assisted Natural Unrefined Renewable Energy plan (M.A.N.U.R.E.),
Leave it to the horses to save the economy

Just challenge the energy gurus to come up with a methane gas collection system that can harness all the natural resources produced by all those horses to power our cities. Talk about shovel ready-projects:

And you keep stressing how we need new industries for investment; well, under the M.A.N.U.R.E. plan you can sell Petroleum Offset Opportunity units to investors.

By buying these units, investors can help us gradually convert from a petroleum-based economy to one based on horse P.O.O.

Health care costs will go down, too, as everyone cares for their horses. You can give tax credits based on the amount of time people spend working, riding and hanging out with their horses, which will automatically make them healthier. (Don't tell the docs, but most horse owners already get their own basic health care from their vet.)

One more thing: everyone is annoyed by these corporate CEOs and their big bonuses in a down economy. So give the executives, say, one horse for every $100,000 of bonus money they've received. Those bonuses will be plowed back into the economy in no time.

Finally, because you, Mrs. O, and the girls are such role models, you can encourage us all by getting a pony for Sasha and Malia. It will teach them responsibility, help the First Lady plow the garden, and as a bonus: free fertilizer for the Rose Garden.

If you don't believe me that horse ownership stimulates spending, go ahead,
Mr. President. Buy that pony for your girls. You'll see.

M.A.N.U.R.E. fits the bill!
Save the economy with a load of Horse Shi___


Health care costs will go down, too, as everyone cares for their horses. You can give tax credits based on the amount of time people spend working, riding and hanging out with their horses, which will automatically make them healthier.

(Don't tell the docs, but most horse owners already get their own basic health care from their vet.)

One more thing: everyone is annoyed by these corporate CEOs and their big bonuses in a down economy. So give the executives, say, one horse for every $100,000 of bonus money they've received. Those bonuses will be plowed back into the economy in no time.

Finally, because you, Mrs. O, and the girls are such role models, you can encourage us all by getting a pony for Sasha and Malia. It will teach them responsibility, help the First Lady plow the garden, and as a bonus:

free fertilizer for the Rose Garden.

If you don't believe me that horse ownership stimulates spending, go ahead, Mr. President.

Buy that pony for your girls. You'll see."Originally Posted by Knot-A-Tail

SOURCE: Knot-A-Tail

Monday, October 19, 2009

Tips for Successfully Catching Horses

Wow, natural horsemanship sure has come along way. It sure does seem like there are more horse behavior tips available these days then when I was starting out with horses. I can remember being a kid and being told to go catch horses notorious for being "hard to catch" and the advice always being- "take some food out, that one's hard to catch." Silly me used to march right up to the notorious "bad" one, determined I was going to catch that horse. Yeah, well, where do you think that bossy attitude got me? You bet ya, with me chasing the horse/pony around the pasture while the horses laughed at me- I'm still convinced horses laugh at us....horses have a sense of humor too... but that's for another day another post.

Now that I'm older, wiser, and have been exposed to more of this natural horsemanship "mambo jambo," I "get it" This stuff really works. Kid's these days being started off learning horse behavior abc's will be really awesome horseman/women when they're twenty something like me.....okay busted, thirty something :)

Read this awesome very practical article compliments of America's Horse Daily about how to read the "signs" horses give you when approaching them for a successful "catch" every time....without having to run around the pasture giving the horses a good laugh the way I used to!

Source: America's Horse Daily

From Memphis Horses- A Blog All About Horses in Memphis & Beyond




Saturday, October 17, 2009

Carrige Driving is FUN

Carriage Driving is FUN! Check this out:


My friends, Nora Land and Joanna Wilburn driving "Berry" in preparation for the Nashoba Carriage Classic. Can you see that big smile on Nora's face? Speaks for itself!


SOURCE: Lauren Pigford- The Commercial Appeal

From Memphis Horses- A Blog All About Horses in Memphis & Beyond

Video Penny Chenery Owner of Secretariat

Check out this video about the new Secretariat film being made by Disney. Can't wait for this one, will be great! Even though I'm still miffed that my sister's boy, Gage, wasn't one of the horses chosen for the role of Secretariat. That's okay, Gage is still a "Hollywood Hottty" in my eyes!

Secretariat Video

SOURCE: TheHorse.com

From Memphis Horses- A Blog All About Horses in Memphis & Beyond

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Fun Fall Memphis Horse Events


So many opportunities for Fun with Horses this Fall in Memphis! I love Fall because of all the horsey activities available in our local area!

If you're looking for some fun, filled horse activities, take a look at this article I wrote for the Memphis Horses Examiner for all kinds of ideas!

From Memphis Horses- A Blog All About Horses in Memphis & Beyond

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Are You Listening To Your Horse?

True horsemen know their most important lessons in life have come from their best friends- horses of course! Horses teach us to listen, to observe, and patience. Without learning these skills, you won’t be successful with horses. They tell us how to listen to them on a level beyond just the surface and beyond what may seem the obvious. For example, one day while grooming a usually quiet natured, willing, and mild-mannered horse, he was acting quite peculiar from his normal behavior. He would simply not stand still as I brushed on him, squirming side to side, lunging forward on the cross ties. I’d had a busy day at work, was tired, irritable, and his behavior did not help my attitude! I reprimanded him several times for not standing still, until he lifted his back leg and kicked forward with it towards his belly. That was it, “this cantankerous behavior will not be tolerated,” I thought. So I smacked him in frustration, and then looked at him and his wild-eyed expression. Finally, the light-bulb went off with me! He’s got a tummy ache and is “trying” to tell me! I was not listening to him. I felt really badly once I realized he had good reason for his behavior. He was trying to tell me, his “trusted friend” how he was feeling and I was not listening because I was too wrapped up in myself and my busy day to recognize the obvious.


This is an example of horses teaching us to “listen” to “observe” and to “think.” Had I not known the typical behavior of this horse, I probably would not have recognized that this guy was hurting and that is why he was behaving so anxiously. But, I did know this horse, and once I looked beyond the surface, the answer was right in front of me because he was trying to “tell” me what the problem was. I guess he trusted me enough to know I’d eventually “get it” even though I was a bit slow! Point here, slow down and “listen” to your horse! They actually tell you quite a lot if you let them.

From Memphis Horses- A Blog All About Horses in Memphis & Beyond