For me, this one is the longest training program that I have ever been involved in.

How to keep your stable neat and tidy.

I have a wonderful friend that I met back in the spring of 1969. Well, that sure dates me. But from the moment I meet her, I could see that her horses were her number one priority in her life. I have seen that woman, even at the age of 60 plus, rise early every morning, muck out the stalls, wash out the water buckets, measure the feed for every horse, clean out any left over hay, clean every hoof, brush every horse, hang up every piece of tack, put away every brush and before she left the barn, the aisle way, every if they were dirt floors, leave it clean enough to eat off of. It was first ranked and then a broom used to add one finale touch of elaborate elegance.

I am not kidding, she picks up every little piece of hay, sweeps around every stall door and then ranks it to a welcoming garden of perfection for all visitors to see.

Trust me, you have never seen anything like it.

Her barns are always welcoming, warm, neat, tidy and act as the ultimate opening to any horse lovers conversation " Oh my gosh, what a clean barn!"

It has always been just who she is, and if you are close to her at all, you know that you can not hurry her though her daily routine, or get her to change it in any way. She puts great value on how she leaves her chores done and has carried that forward for the last 40 plus years of her life. It has become an intimate part of her life.

Personally, you may think sweeping and ranking the barn floor may be a little extreme, but to tell you the truth I admire her for it. Forty years of total dedication to the horse's in her life, no matter what anyone thinks about the way she does it has never altered her course. She never sways, never alters, and most of all, no matter, what she never gives up. She leaves the barn only when perfection is accomplished.

At this moment, I want her to give me some of that all, no matter what attitude.

I am fifty plus and I do not have such "Stable Relationships" in my life. I still get swayed by what others say about my life, especially when they are close to my heart.

At the first signs of trouble, I forget to sweep and rake the floors to clean up any left over garbage from the day before.

I recently went to see family, and I left a lot of hay and crap in the aisle from both me and others without cleaning it up before I left. In fact, subconsciously, I believed that someone else should clean it up for me. Now the crap is piling a little higher everyday just because I gave my power away to take care and develop my relationships by leaving the mess for someone else to clean up and no less to clean up their way. Then, they do it their way, I get mad. How funny.

Family, in fact, any relationship can be like an unattended stall and one morning you "suddenly" realize that you have a lot of extremely hard work to do to get them healthy again.

Another words you might just have to shovel a lot of shit to get it back to where it should be.

Well, I am off to grab a shovel, find a wheel barrel and start cleaning a few stalls this morning and once I get them cleaned, I am going to dedicate myself to keeping them that way making sure before I leave the barn to take one last look to make sure the aisle is swept clean and ranked to perfection.

When I get my own self-righteousness, my temper and my ego out of the way, my heart is more open to love and complete understanding, no matter what. I just have to remember that when they are the closest to my heart.

So here is to keeping my stable, neat and tidy.

By the way, thanks Ginger for the life lesson.

Whinny's.

Please let me know if you have any stall cleaning to do today. I would love to know how you are doing.

Love Roberta