Sunday, February 15, 2009

No Ordinary Moments

I came to the computer to write a post about my horses' farrier appointment. The question is how to make this interesting to anyone other than me. I could try to relate it to mindfulness by describing my observations of the Robin who sat on the fence post watching us; or by discussing the trust and bond there needs to be between the horse and the handlers. Having one person hold its head while another takes one leg out from under it takes away the horses ability to flee, it's primary means of survival. At any moment a horse eating monster could jump out of a tree or come around the corner of the barn.

I could attempt some humor by pointing out that my horses are getting a pedicure for Valentine's Day (and no spa day for me), or how excited Angel gets when she sees the farrier's truck. She acts much like a kid (that category includes me) when they hear the ice cream truck. Only a dog could find such joy in what is basically dirty toe nails.

That brings up a third option, the structure of the hoof. The outer layer or horn is made up of much the same material as a fingernail. It too is constantly growing, cracks, chips, and needs routine clipping and filing to keep it healthy. Good hoof care is very important, for no hoof, no horse. This leads to the question if the horse requires so much care how do they ever survive in the wild? The answer to that question could lead to an entire essay on human interference with the natural order of things.

As I pondered these different options over the weekend what came to mind was a excerpt from Dan Millman's book The Peaceful Warrior. Dan must sit in one spot until he comes up with something truly significant. If I attempted that I would never post again. I will just leave you with what he finally realized as he sat there watching and pondering life, "there are no ordinary moments".

4 comments:

  1. Hi there! Thanks so much for visiting my blog and leaving such lovely comments. I love reading comments from readers. Okay, I have to say that I love, love, love your header picture of the surf - beautiful! One of my most favorite colors is that sea foam green when the wave is just cresting before turning to white - lovely! And thanks for the compliment about my playlist. I'm so very glad that you can enjoy listening to it while you're at work. I like my choices too :) - go figure? I read your post about the farrier/pedicure appointment. That's what I call them too and I personally have never had a pedicure yet - something wrong with that huh?? Loved reading and I will be back. Your dog is too cute! Do you also refer to your horses after they've had a great roll in the mud as being chocolate-dipped??

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  2. Fascinating! You did a splendid job of it ... :-)

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  3. Hi, Maria. Thanks for following on to my blog. Kindred donkey spirits are always welcome.

    To post a youtube video in your blog, go to the youtube page and you should see a window that says "embed" - there will be a bunch of code there. Click on it to copy, then go over to your blog layout and add a gadget for HTML/JavaScript and paste the code there.

    Linda

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  4. Peaceful Warrior is an excellent movie (I say that, rather than book, in spite of my love of books because, well, it's that visual learning thing again...).

    There truly are no ordinary moments are there. That's magnificent to ponder.

    I've often wondered how wild horses get on without regular foot care and grooming.

    I enjoyed this post, including the reference to your dogs' joy at seeing the farrier pull in. :o)

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