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Last week I talked about the economic value of trail riders. I am still mailing out the forms to fill all the requests!! Anyway, Jean down in Arizona mailed me a copy of an e-mail she received from a fellow horseowner. This person has done a lot of deep thinking -- really deep thinking -- and came up an Economic Stimulus Package that, to my way of thinking, makes a lot of sense. So, since it's in the vein of last week's blog, I decided to post it for all of you to read too. ECONOMIC RECOVERY STIMULUS IDEAS Mr. President: It has come to my attention that you're having some challenges with the economy. If I understand things correctly, we're in a recession, consumer confidence and spending is down, credit is tight, investors are spooked, we need renewable energy and health care costs are through the roof. Trillions of dollars, not to mention our future, are at stake. I'm just a regular citizen, Mr. President, but I think I've got a solution. Give every American a horse!! My proposal may not make sense to you at first, but let me give you a little background. First of all, horses in the US are a multi-billion dollar industry, and that's just at my house. I suggest you have your economic advisors do a little research on the spending around horse ownership. You'd be surprised, Mr. President. Start by visiting the tack and clothing retailers. Look at the variety of goods available there. Now take into account that every horseowner is buying not just one or two, but tons of these items. Believe me. I've had to expand the garage three times and build a bigger barn just to hold all this stuff. So my thinking is that if you give every American a horse, starting when they reach the horse-receptive age of 10, you're going to do two things: boost consumer confidence and consumer spending immediately. Horses make us feel good and once Americans all own horses (at the government's expense) they will all logically fall into the pattern that every horse owner succumbs to: accessorizing. For starters, we need the necessary horse-care implements like buckets and muck rakes, hoof picks and curry combs. And we need at least basic tack, halter, leadline, saddle, saddle pad, bridle and bit. But then the serious accessorizing begins. Zebra print leg wraps. Neon bright fly masks. An assortment of sheets and blankets for all season -- cooler, lightweight blanket, medium blanket, heavy blanket then the same blankets all water proofed. Then there's your stable sheet and your pasture sheet. Also your hoodie and tail wrap items. Accessorizing is endless. And the fashions change each year so all that accessorizing has to be up-dated to keep up with the Smith and Johnson horseowners down the road. And that's just the clothing for the horse. Don't get me started on the clothing for the rider, even if he or she doesn't show. Since most Americans don't have a basic riding wardrobe, the stores would be swamped for jeans, boots, breeches, t-shirts, dozens of pairs of cute boot socks and the ubiquitous ball cap. Tell the retailers to get ready, it will be Christmas all year long! Now let's talk about supporting industries. In addition to the usual vet and farrier expenditures, people also give their horses chiropractic, massage and acupuncture not to mention buying more beauty products for their horses than they do for themselves. All those professions and industries will benefit. And of course there will be a big spike in hay and grain demand so the farmers will be happy too. You see, that's the secret to jump-starting consumer spending through my Stimulus Package. People will spend money on their horses when they won't spend money on anything else. But, your advisors might say there's a catch. Aren't we paying the price in global warming with the large number of livestock we currently have? They produce all that methane. Mr. President, here's the real beauty of this idea. When you introduce the Methane Assisted Natural Unrefined Renewable Energy plan -- M.A.N.U.R.E. -- you'll be a hero for coming up with an alternative, renewable, home-grown source of clean energy. Just challenge the energy gurus to come up with a methane gas collection system that can harness all the 'natural resource' produced by all those horses so we can power our cities, vehicles and warm our homes. Talk about shovel- ready projects: M.A.N.U.R.E. fits the bill!! And you keep stressing how we need new industries for investment; well, under the M.A.N.U.R.E. plan you can sell Petroleum Offset Opportunity units to investors. By buying these units, investors can help us gradually convert from a petroleum-based economy to one based on horse P.O.O. Health care costs will go down as everyone cares for their horses. You can give tax credits based on the amount of time people spend working, riding and hanging out with their horses, which will automatically make them healthier. Shoveling does that to a person. Finally, because you, Mrs. O, and the girls are such role models, you can encourage us all by getting ponies for Sasha and Malia. It will teach them responsibility, help the First Lady plow the garden and as a bonus: free fertilizer for the Rose Garden. If you don't believe me that horse ownership stimulates spending, go ahead, Mr. President. Buy those ponies for your girls. You'll see. An American Horseowner
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