I’ve just returned from the annual meeting of American Horse Publications. This is the organization for magazines and publishers in the horse industry. I love attending this meeting. It’s a great example of competitors working together to improve their own businesses and the health of the industry we’re in. Here’s some cool info that you may not know:

* There are over 500 members publications and related businesses. (There are over 400 publications in the horse industry!)

* This organization was founded back in 1970 by some forward-thinking people to allow publications in the horse industry to network with each other. Their goal was “to promote better understanding and cooperation between all facets of the horse industry, irrespective of breed.”

* Competition is viewed as a way to celebrate and encourage excellence. Publications and websites compete in a variety of categories (66 classes), as well as a number of special awards.

Congratulations to our own website www.myhorse.com, writer Lauren Ann Back, and The Trail Rider for winning second place in the “Service to the Reader” category. (You can read the article here:
http://www.myhorse.com/vehicles/trailers/special_report_keep_on_hauling.aspx?ht=#top)

Congratulations also to Charlotte Kneeland, founder of the American Riding Instructors Association (http://www.riding-instructor.com) who received the The Equine Industry Vision Award. Each year, Pfizer Animal Health partners with American Horse Publications to honor one individual who has demonstrated exemplary innovation and service across the entire equine market.

Though publications compete for subscribers, the editors, photographers, writers, and publishers enjoy getting together to talk about the industry and ways to improve their individual publications.
So, why is this important to you? Because this organization is proof that horse people of all breed and discipline preferences can work together and have fun doing it.

Horse people often tend to magnify what separates us, making fun of people from other breeds or disciplines, rather than pulling together around our love of the horse.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Think about what you could do to foster better understanding with someone in your area. Maybe it starts with going to lunch with someone you don’t know. Maybe asking a breeder to tell you about his horses, or offering to help out at a local show, even if it’s not your club running it.

Taking that first step isn’t easy. The founder of AHP said that at the first meeting, nearly everyone looked at his shoes, unsure about how to interact with competitors. But they worked through that awkwardness, and developed something rich and rewarding.
I can’t wait until next year’s AHP meeting because it helps me to carry the spirit of camaraderie in the industry I love with me all year. I hope I convey some of that to you, and that you pass it on to people in your sphere of influence.

I have a more than healthy respect for lightning. I think my Corgi is smart for getting under the bed when she hears the first rumble of thunder. I’m tempted to do that, too.

But I know plenty of people who take lightning for granted. Because it’s something we experience frequently, it’s easy to get complacent about it. I want to remind you that lightning is deadly. Last year in a town nearby, two kids were killed during soccer practice when a storm came up suddenly.

Most people don’t realize that lightning can appear ahead of rain, and in fact, many lightning strikes occur before storms or after the storm seems to have passed.

I have two friends who have been hit by lightning when out with horses. Fortunately, they lived to tell their tales, but both still deal with after effects. The first was driving an Arabian on a pretty day. He can’t remember what happened next, but the horse ran back to the barn with burn marks on her legs, having broken free of the cart. They found my friend out cold and the shattered cart strewn around in the field. (I’m sure his guardian angel was back in heaven in ICU).

My other friend was leading a horse in during a storm when lightning struck. The horse was killed, and he was knocked to the ground and his leg injured. Another horse, farther out in the pasture was killed during that same storm. Most of us who have been around horses for a while know stories of horses being killed by lightning. It’s a bad deal.

So I watch the weather pretty closely, ready to bring horses into the barn. It’s a lot of work for a false alarm, but I figure peace of mind is worth it.

This past week, I saw a severe thunderstorm warning on the radar. I knew the farm owner was about 30 miles away visiting friends, so she wouldn’t be aware of the danger. I headed over to the barn as the sky got darker. I thought through my plan.

Once the storm was there, I was not going outside to get horses. My friends’ experience taught me that lesson. I didn’t have much time. How was I going to determine which horses to bring in first, in case I didn’t get everybody inside?

Rather than think about which horses had the most commercial value, I immediately thought about which horses were most likely to self-destruct, running through a fence if lightning hit a tree nearby. And I evaluated which horses would represent the biggest emotional loss to their owners. Nobody wants to make that kind of a call, but I really didn’t think I could get everybody inside in time.

As it worked out, here in the foothills of the mountains, storms often take paths slightly different than you might expect. Maybe it was wind currents, or maybe it was really God answering my prayer, but the storm circled around, so to speak, buying me time. Everybody made it inside, including me, by the time the storm hit.

This is the beginning of lightning season, and I don’t want any of my faithful readers or horses to be added to my list of war stories. Please take the threat of lightning seriously. So what if you make extra work for yourself and the storm never materializes? It’s better than the alternative.

I’ve done a lot of reading and interviews about lightning over the years, and the experts all agree, “When thunder roars, go indoors.” (If you want to read up on lightning, go to http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov.)

P.S. Want to tell me your lightning stories to add to my collection? Feel free to comment below or send an email to my website, http://www.inspiredbyhorses.com

My horse has little tolerance for things that bug him — literally. It’s not that his skin breaks out or bug bites swell up on him, it’s that he can’t seem to stand the frustration that comes with flies.

Over the years I’ve tried a variety of sprays and other attempts to keep him comfortable. And they work, sort of.

The other day I was riding in the arena, and it was all he could do to pay attention to what we were doing. I had sprayed him prior to going out, there was a light breeze, and it’s not even the hot part of summer yet. But every chance he could, he stamped a foot, swung his neck around to deal with some bug, and swished his tail. Of course, one might wonder whether I was the pest he was trying to eliminate, but I don’t think so.

Ultimately, I told him that he had to accept that flies were a fact of life. We went back to work, and I put lots of variety in the workout, to distract him from the flies.

Ironically, there had been lots of pesky things in my life this week, too. Without intending to, I found myself figuratively stamping my foot in irritation, shaking my head in skepticism, and snapping at irritations around me.  I thought about how getting bugged by one thing colors your perception of everything else.

I commiserated with Calvin about these things as I hosed him off. I told him that we had to do better, that when we let an irritation get under our skin, it takes over. Flies are a fact of life, and we’d better not let them become the focus.

I don’t think my lecture helped him, but it helped me. And he enjoyed the cool water and my company, despite that he looked at me with his usual, “And what planet did you come from?” look.

It’s amazing how therapeutic a buggy horse can be.

P.S. Got a good bug solution? Share it below or send me an email at my website http://www.inspiredbyhorses.com.