Hungry As A Horse

Unfortunately, I do not see my horse everyday.  I board Harley at a nice place and they take very good care of him, so I do not have to be there to feed him or clean up after him everyday (I DO have to pay for it to be done, though).  I try to see my horse as often as I can, whether it be to ride, lunge, trim his feet, or just groom and feed him carrots.  Despite my best efforts and the fact that spending time with my horse is among my favorite things to do, life does get in the way at times and I have to miss seeing him.  Here are some examples of reasons why I might not be able to go to the barn:

• I have to work late at school.
• I have a bag full of grading, which is working late but at home.
• The daylight hours are short, which also means he gets fed dinner earlier in the day.
• I have a doctor or dentist appointment after work.
• There is a family birthday on a week night.
• There is a family birthday or holiday event right in the middle of the day on a weekend and I also have work or household obligations sucking up time before and after the midday event.  I detest midday events, because they monopolize the entire day.  Just make it in the morning or at night!  (please) 
• One time I had to wait for guests to arrive for a family event (not my event) and I couldn't leave the house until they arrived.  They were about four hours late and it was an absolutely gorgeous Saturday in the spring.  I think that it had been raining for a while before that, so I was nearly beside myself knowing that I could have left and gone to the barn and been back before they arrived.  It was so difficult to hide my distress and socialize/entertain for hours afterward.  The only one who understood my frustration was my Mom (and my husband).  She watched me cry over enough rained out riding lessons as a kid to know exactly what was going through my mind!
• I have to clean the house (with my husband) before guests or a holiday.  With both of us working and neither of being very domestic, this usually turns into a cleaning marathon ending minutes before our guests/family arrive.  It's miserable, but at least it gets us to clean the house!
•  Household projects or yard work, which must be completed during the daylight hours, can hog up perfectly good barn time.

And speaking of "hog", here's a new one:

• I'm too hungry to go to the barn. 

I can hardly believe it, but this actually starting happening to me a lot in the fall.  Of course, it was because I was pregnant, and like my horse, I have a high metabolism and a high energy job.  I knew that I would have to eat more to share with a newly developing human, BUT I had no idea what that would be like.

During the first trimester, I would actually rush home from work with a hunger so intense that I didn't even take my coat off before I opened the refrigerator.  I could down a can of soup, an entire avocado or cheese sandwich before my husband came home to see any evidence that I had made food.  Other times, he would walk in and I would be stuffing my face with my "first dinner" only to have no problem a few hours late eating a "second dinner" with him.  I felt very, very fortunate not to have any sickness or fatigue.  I have spoken to enough women and heard enough stories at this point to know that I should thank my lucky stars, but MAN-O-MAN was I hungry. 

This started to interfere with my barn time as the days got shorter.  There was less and less time after work and I needed a good chunk of it to fill my stomach.  My husband remembers seeing me looking kind of upset after work one day and when he asked what was wrong, I lamented that it was a beautiful day and I wanted to go ride my horse so badly, but I was too hungry to leave the kitchen.  It was really distressing to me.  I had never been a slave to my physical being before.  As a teacher, I was used to ignoring my bodily needs to suit a bell schedule.

Of course, I was still able to get out to see Harley, but it was much easier to do on the weekend.  I would bring a snack (or snacks) and take a break from trimming or grooming to eat before a ride or finishing my work.  I started giving Harley his hay cubes while I took my food break.  He enjoyed this deal immensely and I found myself appreciating the expression "hungry as a horse".

I started eating the baby carrots that I brought for him and he would definitely give me a look if I walked out the tack room with one in my mouth and none in my hand for him.  I don't think that sort of thing was lost on my equine companion. 

Sorry, Harley.  I couldn't help myself!