12 Ways To Boost Your Mood When Horse Life Is Disappointing

The gap between expectation and reality can sometimes look like the Grand Canyon. Never is this more true than when it comes to having horses. But when horse life has you down, there ARE ways to turn your frown upside down.

As most horse owners know, when it comes to having horses, the honeymoon stage ends pretty quickly. From thrown shoes to abscesses to mystery lamenesses to colics to humungous vet bills, horse life is seldom what most of us envisioned as young children, dreaming of the horses we would own as adults.

Let’s get real, The Black Stallion pretty much set us up for disappointment from as early as we can remember. We thought having horses would look like this:

Instead, it looks a lot like this:

But there are ways to make yourself feel better even when that horse life has you down. Sure, these suggestions won’t do anything to actually boost your bank account or make your horse ridable, but they might make you feel better for a little while.

Here are twelve tried-and-true methods to make you feel better:

FYI: Some of these are NSFW and pretty much all of these are meant in good fun… even if they may actually be true/have happened to some of us.

1. Get a big chocolate chip cookie.
Or whatever baked good does it for you. After all, what better way to make yourself feel better than a big ole sugar rush? Worry about the crash later…

2. Drink.
If you’re able to partake legally without it creating more issues than your pre-existing equine addiction, have at it. If you’re lucky, you might forget about those horse problems for at least a few hours. Granted, you’ll wake up regretting all your life choices up to that point (including the decision to become an equestrian), but that’s a problem for tomorrow, right?

3. Start running.
Here’s a healthier outlet for your frustrations. You’ll lose weight, gain muscle mass, build bone density, get stronger, have more endurance. Really, the benefits are endless. Sure, you’ll look like Forrest Gump once you’ve run enough to relieve that stress, but at least you might feel better.

4. Get another job.
Because you’re gonna need one when it comes to paying for those vet bills.

5. Spend more quality time with your non-horsey friends/loved ones/spouses. 
We almost couldn’t type that without laughing.

Speaking of significant others …

6. Tell your partner they’re the only ride you have left.
And then just wait and see how they react. At least you’ll be entertained briefly.

7. Marathon TV session.
Watch a marathon of The Saddle Club or Heartland. It’ll kind of make you hate horses, anyway. Like Cobalt is really going die because he ate some grass clippings? Why are horses so freaking fragile?

8. Video Games.
Specifically, horse video games. You know the ones. If you brush and feed your horse, it’s happy and will jump tall buildings or win races for you. If only real horses were that easy, right?

9. Shop for more tack. 
Because there’s nothing an unridable horse needs more than five new saddle pads…

10. Think of the worst person you encounter at horse shows …
… and just think, “At least I don’t have to see that b*t@# anymore.”

11. Commiserate with your friends. 
After all, misery loves company. And who else will truly get it other than your horse friends? They’ve been there. They’ve done that. And they know there’s only one true way to boost your mood when horse life has you down. It’s to…

12. Shop for more horses.
After all, if your current horse is too problematic or expensive, there’s only one real solution. Get another horse. Because that next horse definitely won’t have any problems or cost you lots of money. Really, it won’t… (just keep telling yourself that).

What do you do when owning horses isn’t going quite as well as you’d hoped? Let us know in the comments.