Every night I do my cardio I pick a good movie. I like climbing on my stepmill to end my day. A few more flights to climb ends the day in a perfect way. I don't even bother to try figuring myself out but, I love running in the woods in the morning before daylight, and I love climbing my stepmill with the lights out in my "playroom" with a good movie on.
So tonight I picked "Buck" It turns out it is a documentary about the Horse Whisperer, Buck Brannaman. I am sure anyone that is into horses knows of this man. Robert Redford played him in the movie Horse Whisperer. He endured a horrible childhood, and now, he has such a blessed life. Horses were a large part of why. They taught him patience most of all. As I am watching this program, I could so relate to it, for I have learned to be more patient because of my horses. They truly are a reflection of the handler. I try not to say "owner" because I like to think of them as thier own. I only help them have a better existence. And for that they give me the pleasure of love, and then the honor of them allowing me on their backs.
When I am with my horses I learn more about myself then with humans, for the horses do not hide thier feelings. If I show anger, they respond with aggresion. If I feel scared, they show fear. And, when I have calmness and love, oh how they show love, and most of all trust.
Anyway, I just felt inspired to put that in words.
Interestingly, when it comes to thier diet, they each have different needs just like humans. My mothers horse is a Quarter Horse. They are like sprinters on a track field. Stocky and fast. He does just fine on some alfalfa hay, ground flax, and some multi vitamin grain. I have two horses. My Percheron is a gigantic Draft Horse. He is around 2000 lbs. He has a very slow metabolism though. So he eats as much alfalfa as the Quarter horse, ground flax, some multivitamin grain, but he gets a strong hoof supplement. He has gigantic hooves that hold up that 2000 lbs. My Thoughrobred is a race horse. They have an extremely high metabolism, so even at the age of 24, he eats twice the amount of alfalfa, twice the amount of multivitamin grain and flax, joint and tendon supplement, AND a lot of olive oil.
I am not obsessed with the feeding, its just that from knowing my horses, I see how they perform and how they look and with the diets I have them on they seem to be fine. The one thing they never get, ..........sugar. Horses can get Cushing's disease, which is sort of the equivalent to type two diabetes. I know this because I had a beautiful Arabian that got it.......lack of exercise and too much sugar in her diet. I felt aweful, for my ignorance sent her to her grave. From that I learned a huge lesson.
I bring this up because we humans have the same problem, on a larger scale. But we are responsible for ourselves, so when it happens to us humans.....well......only person to blame is? And all of us are different. Different genetics, childhoods, and lifestyles, so no ONE diet can work for everyone. We must be mindful of that. And most of all, I wish "trainers" would be more mindful of that. But since most of them are not, it is up to the individual to evaluate themselves and be sure to let a trainer know if its not working for you. Don't ever let them make you feel badly if you feel a diet they gave you is not working. Ask them for something different. If they don't want to help, move on.