Out Around the Barn

When you wake up to start your day your attitude, within the first few minutes, can set your day for you.  Are you feeling good or run over, did you sleep well or toss and turn?  Depending on how you look at things and how you feel will make it a good, bad or great day.

If you are in a grumpy, irritable, grouchy and mean mood, you may take it out on those around you, this includes your livestock.  When not at our best, we tend to be a little short with whatever or whoever is closest to us at that time.  Our animals can sense that something is not as it should be and they will react accordingly.  They may act up, as in not paying attention, and someone could get hurt. 

Horses are real sensative to us.  The can smell fear on and around us and if we are out of sorts, they can tell.  Some of them take advantage of us just to see how much they can get away with and others just stay calm and wait to see what happens next.

When we are frustrated with ourselves or upset about the days happenings, we shouldn’t go to the barn and begin our chores or take on a task that has to do with working with and around the animals or livestock.  Most of the time we end up yelling or even worse, get hands on upset with the animal and it has nothing to do with them.

Our livestock has feelings too, believe it or not.  They may not always seem like the sharpest tool in the drawer but, they are not stupid.  Some of them are pretty clever and will even surprise us at how they can achieve certain acts like walking through electric fences, jumping over them, tearing up livestock equipment and feeders, getting into places we didn’t even consider they could and pushing every button on us that just really gets our crawl.

So, they do have brains.  They can tell by our tone of voice and actions if we are calm and caring or irratible and grouchy. 

Our personality around our animals is a big deal.  If you enjoy them and care for them, they understand that.  They may not just stop, roll over and do everything you want but, they will be more apt to remain calm and allow you to work closer with them. 

I talk to our animals every time I chore.  I walk into the barn and say hello to the boys, our horses, as I put them in their stalls for the night, and I talk to the cattle and call them by name as I feed, and of course, I have to talk to my goats and chickens, just like they are family. 

No one has to go to the extremes of naming their animals and having a converstation with them like I do, they just need to enjoy being around them. 

If you are having a bad day, step back, take a deep breath, count to ten and then proceed.   The animals will thank you for it and you will feel better.