(All images I have chosen for this article are from Jean Abernathy and Fergus the Horse.  Love her humor!  Tons of fun stuff to buy, too.  no affiliation.)

I added this Fergus cartoon because it reminds me of the ragtag team I have here…

I NEED A VACATION FROM GETTING READY FOR MY VACATION!

Do you ever feel this way?  I’m exhausted from running around trying to make sure that everything in our world is perfect and organized and ready and prepared to leave the house and horses for a week.

I mean, to be honest, I’m pretty sure that if I just dropped everything and left town, I could call my horse feeder and she’d make everything happen without so much as a note from me.  In fact, I’m sure of it…

But, that isn’t my nature.  Instead, I need to make sure that every single little possible thing is absolutely airtight and perfect… because you just never know what might happen.

I’m like Fergus or Chicken Little.  Everything is a plastic bag when I go away.  Or even better, for some reason, I think I’m SUPEROWNER made of duct tape and super glue… if I go away, everything is liable to fall apart.

In reality, without me, everything will go on just fine.  It isn’t a giant mystery on how to do this:  Give them hay and water twice a day.  Please give them a bucket daily with these pre-measured supplements.   If anyone behaves oddly or won’t eat, call the vet.

That’s pretty much it.

However… I have managed to make that simple list of “to do” into a two page precise list with all phone numbers posted in BOLD, headings with subheadings, and numbers with indents – on the refrigerator.

I’ve also created a mass text of all horse people in the neighborhood, hooking them up with our house/horse sitter – just in case.  And, I have two syringes of SayWhoa to Colic (a horsegodsend) – even though everything is stable around here.  No temp changes, no pasturemate changes.

What is even more concerning to me about myself is that we aren’t leaving until Friday.  Today is Monday.  But, I’m already ready.  I have double the hay needed (not just a few extra bales…) and extra bags of feed, you know, in case some spill or get eaten by rogue raccoons, or the garage gets flooded, somehow.

What my mind sees when I contemplate leaving town for a week…

MY EXCUSE

OK, I think I’m like one of those mother cats who when her kittens grow up, she starts nursing rabbit babies.

That’s me.

I’m no longer a producer of commercials, so I have to produce any event that comes into my life.

Over – producing.  Everything.

I cannot help myself.

You see, as a producer, it was my mantra to be totally prepared with our minds absolutely wrapped around every step of what was to transpire during the shoot – so that when the inevitable issue or problem arose, we would have our minds clear to deal with it fully.

That worked.  Being totally prepared creates a calm for the storm.  And, in production, there is always a storm.

But, with 9 horses staying at home in their regular places with no odd weather and no odd circumstances, I’m kinda making a storm out of nothing.

However, all this pomp and circumstance will come in handy when Friday comes because I will leave with a quiet mind… .

Then, it will be up to the Horsegods, who will receive several prayers from me as we drive away… – gotta add that to the list!

This is the kind of thing I picture happening when I leave… Horse gets head stuck in fence, or tears down entire fence and they all run wild around the property, slipping and sliding and wrecking everything in their path.

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