Want...or Need?

When I was little my mom had all kinds of little catch phrases for different situations.

Say we passed someone smoking on the street. "What happens when you smoke cigarettes, Carli?" she would ask.

"You get cancer and then you DIE," a wide-eyed little Carla would respond.

Say I was being bad. "I'm going to call 1-800-GYPSIES on you!" she would say.

"NOOOOOO!" I would say.
(side story: When I went to Madrid, a Roma woman chased me on the street trying to get me to buy something, and kept yelling, "NO TENGAS MIEDO DE LA GITANA!!!" at me. By that point I had gotten over my gypsy fear though.)

And whenever I saw some amazing thing on TV that I NEEEEEEEEEDED MOM PLEEEEEEAAAAAASE, she would say, "Well do you need  it or do you want it?"

In hindsight most of these catchphrases were pretty bizarre,  but the last one definitely stuck, and since  Little Bay Horse  brought up the topic, I thought I would get up on my soapbox about needs vs. wants in the horse world too. Not that I'm qualified to do so, but hey, that's what is so great about blogging.

Also I am home sick and Dr. Gato has recommended I lift my spirits by reading or writing

Of course, unless you rely on horses for your livelihood, they are always going to be more of a want rather than a need. But once you give in to the "want" of having a horse, all of a sudden so many "needs" start piling up. Shoes, vet, shelter, feed, tack that fits. These are pretty basic things I think anyone would agree are "needs" (at least for a horse who is rideable). But what about other things? Supportive boots? Supplements? Lessons? Shows? What divides a need from a want, when objectively they're all really wants when it comes to horses?

Although I love horses, I do see it as a hobby, not an all-consuming force that takes over my life. Through trial and error I've realized I don't really want to ride 4-5 days a week, or train up a completely green horse, or even have a set schedule of hacking Mondays, dressage on Tuesdays, jumping Wednesdays,  etc...I just do what's fun for me on that particular day, and what I can afford. Even as a kid, it sort of baffled me that some of the girls at my barn were showing at rated shows practically every weekend. When it comes to special wants like shows and clinics, I think that they need to be just an occasional thing so you have some time to look forward to them! (Don't get me wrong, though--I was WAY jealous of those girls.)

And today as an adult, I kind of scratch my head when I see people struggling to make ends meet for themselves, but they have a $2000+ saddle, brand-name everything, and board at a super-expensive barn. It's like, don't they know life would be SO much easier if some of those costs (and in some cases, debts) were reduced?

I'm not trying to point at anyone in particular, since I've seen so many people this applies to, and I'm not trying to say you shouldn't ride if you have limited means. There are lots of ways to ride for free, or to work off some of the costs! However, I do think it is so tempting to justify crazy spending just because your horse is your baby and you want to take the best possible care of him. There is an article on a sort of related topic on Horse Nation today--and although it is blasphemy to say it in equine bloggerland, I do think it is possible to love your horse too much if it's at the expense of the rest of your life!

I know from experience that it's not fun to have to say no to going out for lunch with barn buddies because you have perfectly good groceries at home, or to skip the XC schooling day along with all of the hauling, coaching and other fees. But it's also not fun to subsist on peanut butter sandwiches, and only drive to absolutely necessary places because you bought a saddle on a whim and literally have no money until your next paycheck!

Anyway, to avoid ending on a  know-it-all note, I thought I'd make a list of some of my top horsey wants right now:

Joules everything. I don't own anything by Joules, but I drool over everything by them in the Dover and Smartpak catalogs every time they arrive! Their clothes are the perfect mix of preppy and weird. And so springy!

I like all these patterns, so why not wear them all at once? Oh yeah, because it's a $90 polo.

Straightforward stripes on the outside, party on the inside.

Fuzzy Mountain Horse boots! Well, now winter is HOPEFULLY over (though there might be snow on the ground for my birthday next week, which has never happened in my entire life). I would totally pick these up if I found a really good deal used...but I just can't see the sense in buying them full price when ridiculously cold winters like we just had are the exception rather than the rule in MD.

If the dog was included I'd pay full price.

A Melton coat for hunting: Now if the whole thing with Polly works out as planned, and I end up hunting during the formal season, this creeps closer to a "need" on the spectrum. Of course those are a lot of "if"s, so when I meet with her owner, I'm going to ask if it's something I should shop around for in the meantime...or ask Byron to shop around for me as a birthday gift :)

A cubbing jacket for hunting, and 10,000 patterned stocks: You may have gathered from the Joules stuff above that I like pattens...the more the better. Tweed cubbing jackets and patterned stock ties simply enable my love of matching different patterns together. Some call that mismatching, but where's the fun in that?

 What are your horsey wants?