Mental Health Days

I have always loved school. But, I am a perfectionist. So, no matter how much I love school, it has always caused me an obscene amount of stress.

When I was in elementary school, my Mom instituted mandatory "mental health days."

On these days she made me skip school for a "fun day." (I found out later she always checked with the teacher first to make sure she pulled me out on un-important days.)

These days forced me to be a kid. And I usually went back to school the next day more relaxed and ready to learn.

Ace is a perfectionist. He tries so hard to do right, but sometimes he doesn't know how. Sometimes he is scared. Sometimes he is anticipating pain.

Ace needs a mental health day.

So, he is heading to South Florida to my parent's farm for a few months to "be a horse."

He will still be handled every day during feeding time, but besides that he will be turned out to pasture with my parent's retired ponies. We're calling it decompression time.

Hopefully in the Spring he will return to training more relaxed and ready to learn.

(The sunset at Floppy Ear Farm.)