My Body is a Workhorse

My body awaits the day

Like a workhorse.

Like a racehorse.

It knows that soon

It shall be put to task.

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How has society changed enough for a woman to seek out and learn to shoe horses?

What has happened to the “weaker sex”?

When I first began trimming my own barefoot horses’ hooves, twentysomething years ago – in my 30’s – it challenged me.

And I arose to the task.

It took two years of fumbling – with the tools, the skills, the posturing – to become even somewhat comfortable.

Six years later, when I got Max (with his old heel injury – requiring shoes) and hauled him to Chatsworth for my farrier-uncle to fix, I sized up the situation: I had to learn.

Not just to trim.

But to shoe.

For Max – in order for Max to stay sound.

That meant learning how to: Nail, shape, clinch, pull – an extremely challenging, physical skill set! Done all the while, bending over-down-up-down . . .  Underneath, and HOLDING UP the horse!

(In the beginning it hurt so bad, I couldn’t walk for three days.)

I remember thinking: “I wish it were a year from now!”

For I knew that I’d be much better at all this after a year.

Now, nearly two decades later, I am indeed much better.

I still maintain my own horses’ hooves.

I’ve also established a Hoofcare and Farrier practice, trimming and shoeing and keeping many other horses sound.

But, I’m older now.

And age has a way of eating away at you. As it should, slowing you down a little bit.

~~~

. . . The working parts on the car wear out first: Belts, bearings, transmission, alternator.

In humans: Shoulders, knees, neck, wrist, thumbs. (Feet, too!)

And her perspective at fiftysomething is far different from her thirtysomething past.

She works slower, happier. Eats better, rests more. She works smarter.

(Lighter, brighter, less pain now, Gluten-Free : ~ )

The years tick on – and still she does the work.

The commitments loom greater with age.

And the gargantuan effort she throws into the task

Appears easy to those who look on . . .

~~~

My body is a workhorse.

And I work with horses.

And the horses are the

Leisurely in this generation,

And we humans are the

Workhorses now.

Strange!    DawnHoof

Strategies I’ve adapted to keep myself fit:

• Supplements, herbs, vitamins, minerals, electrolytes . . .
• HYDRATION! Drinking ample water
• Eating moisture-containing foods (an apple a day; a salad over a sandwich)
• Daily routine of pushups, ab-body rollouts,
• Light weights and stretching
• Deep breathing . . .
• Positive thinking, self-talk, and affirmations :))
• Speeding myself up when my energy drags
• Riding my Life like I would ride my horse!
• Writing in my Journal
• Gratitude and Prayer

2024 note: The good news — this all seems to work! :)) I’m now 70 and still doing the work :)))))

For more thoughts on using our bodies to work, see my post: Watching the Woman Work.

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Copyright 2013, 2024
Photographs: Dawn Jenkins

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Please also visit my Life Blog, Journal of Dawn ,

for Strategies and Insights into the

Journey of Life

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