ShreddedOakAviary
New member
- Jul 13, 2011
- 591
- 5
- Parrots
- M2's, U2's, G2's, RB2's, VOS, RLA's, BFA's, DYHA's, Dusky Pionus, Blue and Green Quakers, Meyers Parrots, VOS, GW Macaw's, Harlequin Macaws, Tiels, YNA, TAG's, CAG's, Blue Crown Conures, Red sided Ecl
I have three hobbies that aren't really viewed as hobbies by most other people... I both raise and rehabilitate parrots, I both raise and rehabilitate horses, and I play the guitar. I have always been a high energy person, but when I honestly look at my "hobbies" I realize that most people in each of those individual areas consider them "lifestyles". I have spent this past year really organizing myself and being realistic about what I will be able to handle as I age (I am not old, I will be 35 in March). It has forced some hard decisions and some expensive ones. Major changes to the way I keep birds and horses are two of the biggest. I had to stop breeding birds and horses for a while during a major set of changes on our farm this year. While I would love to be able to do it all, it was starting to be at the expense of either my family or my animals. The first difficult thing I did was assess the horses... I had 8 horses and they ranged from a mustang to a Friesian. I spent a lot of time choosing homes for 3 of them. I realized that I only wanted to keep the Shires and my husband insisted on keeping the Friesian. I then looked further into the future and realized that I would at some point have 6 total horses (we want our own stallion). So, I contacted a contractor and planned a new barn with exactly the number of stalls we would need with an additional medical and foaling stall. I learned to trim hooves myself (and taught my husband) because I can't find a farrier that does a good job, so I spent time learning that and figuring out how to do it without killing my body (someday I will be 75 hopefully). I spent time changing horses diets to maximize health, combat major draft issues like EPSM, and manage costs at a reasonable rate. I took a hard look at our birds and designed a more enriching environment and diet for them that was both easier in maintenance and did my best to lower their stress and keep them happy while still allowing tours of our farm. I have had to design a very rigid schedule to keep up with all my "hobbies", but I also made sure that if I dropped dead tomorrow that someone else could easily step in and find everything they need and take care of my people and animal family without missing a beat. I am only one person, and I need to remember that lots of lives depend on me and that I need to make sure that they will be safe and easy to manage if for some reason this "one person" leaves sooner than expected. I think that some people are simply driven to do a lot in a day, but as I look around I notice it's those same people who leave impossible shoes to fill, and it generally causes a mess in their absence. Besides, I should enjoy my life and be able to go on vacations and it should be simple for someone else to keep an eye on things here while I am away. Now, I just need to work on balancing birds, horses, family, guitar, and church. (I plan and make a meal for our entire church every Sunday, I train horses for a local rescue, and I still raise birds... like right now I am feeding every hour around the clock). So here's hoping that I can maintain what I love to do, and still be there for my family... so far this balance focus has been helping and everyone (animals and people) seem quite please with my progress... Here's praying I can continue to improve everyone's life (including my own)
