How having a horse is changing my life

Being a "real" horse owner is quickly changing my life.

Although we rescued Panama in June of 2006, it was not until last Thursday that I felt I became a "real" horse owner. Although I love working with Panama, I am also finding that owning a horse carries with it certain necessary compromises.

These are the changes I am experiencing so far:

1) I have less time for writing. This was inevitable. I am trying to settle into a schedule, but still, visiting and working with Panama takes up a lot of time. This means that...

2) I am working more in the evenings. After my Big Project ended, I was supposed to have to work overtime anymore. Unfortunately, I wasn't taking into account the amount of time I would be spending on Panama once he arrived. I'm having to work a lot of evenings in order to make up for the work time I missed out on during the day. However, the real surprise is that...

3) I don't care about #1 and #2. Obviously, I still need to dedicate a certain amount of time to work, at least if I am going to continue to be able to afford my horse. I'd also like to be able to minimize the amount of catch-up I have to do when Michael is home. However, I am so happy about Panama being here that I am glad to make these sacrifices in order to spend time with him.

4) I am more active. I think one of the biggest challenges work-at-home writers face is how to get enough exercise. At least, for me that is true: Sometimes I sit at my desk for hours at a time without getting up. It's not good for me, of course, but it's a difficult habit to break when the only reason you have for getting up is going into the kitchen to get food. Which brings me to #5...

5) I eat less. It seems to me that when I am home, working twenty feet away from the fridge, I eat more frequently. Sometimes I seem to get hungry faster; other times I think I just need the excuse to get up and move around, and doing laundry doesn't do anything to relieve restlessness.

6) I feel more fulfilled. I love my work, I really do. But there is something so fulfilling about spending an hour at the stables every morning -- something my work can't give me. I think what it comes down to is that being busy doing lots of different things is very satisfying, while being busy doing the same thing all day long very quickly becomes tedious. Working with Panama gets me moving and changes up my day a little bit, and that seems to make all the difference.