Here Comes The Sun

March is here and we are gearing up for a great year. I am so tired of hearing about 2020 being bad. A lot of great things happened to a lot of great people. If you are one of the folks who got bogged down, I feel terribly bad for you. I bet you can think of a number of things that were really good about 2020. Hearing all the negativity almost forced us to focus on the bad. I don’t focus on the bad. Why bother? It doesn’t do a darn bit of good — just digs your own hole deeper.

I have always found March to be an enlightening month. Maybe because it is my birthday month. It just seems to dump a cold bucket of water over my head and forces me to wake up. At 57 now, I have more to reflect on, but also much more to plan! I can really focus on what is important in my life. What do I want to do with my life while I still have the ability? What are my goals with everything I love to do?

So here comes April. I have my plans and I am ready to spring into action and make it all happen. Being a horseman from New England, April was a month of getting out from under a blanket of blustery cold weather, blankets of snow covering everything, and twenty below zero when even time seemed to stop. Now that we live full-time on our horse property here in South Carolina, April is the month that it all turns on. Saddles and bridles are cleaned and oiled. Chaps are good and soft. Time to break in a new pair of cowboy boots, give my mare a good warm bath, wash and wax the horse trailer, clean and store our “winter” blankets, reseed our pastures, … Time to shake my head at the amount of money we spent at feed stores, tack shops, and on other assorted “stuff.”

When I was organizing our tack trunks, brush boxes, and tack room shelves, I discovered that, between my wife and I, there are 6 full bottles of Cowboy Magic Detangler. I’m lucky if I can find a full bottle of shampoo in our house!

April should be a month for turning the corner. The sun is warms the earth longer each day. The moonlight is spectacular down here in South Carolina. Have you ever taken your horse out on a moonlight ride with friends? Or your spouse on a moonlight picnic? Refer to my December article and you’ll see what that kind of planning is all about. If you don’t plan, there is a good chance it won’t happen. Life gets in the way every day in the form of work, bills, weather, car repairs, kids’ activities, and more. You all know what I’m taking about. Plan ahead. Make it happen. Get planning!

I love a good quote. Here is a great quote from Gloria Steinem: “Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” If that does not say it all, I’m not sure what does.

Hope all is well with you. Dream away. And as I write this, there are 286 days until Christmas — just sayin’.Adiós for now!

Picture of John Toli

John Toli

John has a lifelong relationship with horses. Well known in the equine industry, he has balanced his time training, instructing, judging, and teaching equine nutrition. John has worked for a nationally recognized feed company as well as serving as consultant to others. Prior to The Feed Geek, he managed New England Performance Nutrition, another equine nutrition consulting business. His guiding principle is a pure belief in the importance of balanced equine nutrition in regards to equine health and performance. John’s schooling included Texas A&M, Oregon State University, Kansas State, Purina Mills Equine Research Farm, and on-going equine nutrition based education. He has also spoken at conferences at Tufts University as well as in veterinary practices. John now owns The Feed Geek, Equine Nutrition Consulting. For more information, feel free to call him at 603.520.3875, email [email protected], or visit The Feed Geek on Facebook.
Picture of John Toli

John Toli

John has a lifelong relationship with horses. Well known in the equine industry, he has balanced his time training, instructing, judging, and teaching equine nutrition. John has worked for a nationally recognized feed company as well as serving as consultant to others. Prior to The Feed Geek, he managed New England Performance Nutrition, another equine nutrition consulting business. His guiding principle is a pure belief in the importance of balanced equine nutrition in regards to equine health and performance. John’s schooling included Texas A&M, Oregon State University, Kansas State, Purina Mills Equine Research Farm, and on-going equine nutrition based education. He has also spoken at conferences at Tufts University as well as in veterinary practices. John now owns The Feed Geek, Equine Nutrition Consulting. For more information, feel free to call him at 603.520.3875, email [email protected], or visit The Feed Geek on Facebook.

In the know

Related Stories

Bella Fella | La ballade de Kelvin Jenkins | Aiken Bella Magazine

Bella Fella | La ballade de Kelvin Jenkins

acte un Once upon a time, let’s say 1985, back when kids still played outside, A boy named Kelvin Jenkins could be seen ‘round town, out for a bike ride. South Boundary was his preferred path; how he wished to someday live on that road. So he vowed to own a house under those sleepy oak trees, someday, perhaps, when he was old. Then he’d pedal on home, to his family and kin, where he’d play with his neighbor and best buddy, Jimjim. “My dad,” Kelvin tells me, “he almost went into the NBA. He was a basketball star; he’s even up on the wall at the Etherredge Center. And

Read More »
Discipline + Purpose | Aiken Bella Magazine

Discipline + Purpose

Discipline — what a great characteristic to start off the year 2020. Discipline is having the desire and will to execute actions with vision and purpose over all other options, and it’s having the self control to overcome temptation. Discipline is self mastery, and it takes heart, effort, and will to complete. It’s matching your actions to your beliefs. Discipline makes the difference between greatness and mediocrity. Discipline is related to greatness, and lives between doing the right thing over doing what you want to do and doing what you don’t want to do because it’s the right thing. I do not know any living person on earth today who

Read More »
Bella Fella | What’s up, Doc? | Aiken Bella Magazine

Bella Fella | What’s up, Doc?

A Fan Fiction Interview I’ll bet Dr. Tiffany has more awards than your doctor. I don’t say that to put your doctor down, I’m just saying, the man has accolades. He’s been recognized by multiple peer and community organizations for his dedication to his clients, his community, and for his sweet dance moves.* Ask around Aiken — those who know him take their kids to him. Those who take their kids to him swear by him. I even asked my mom, and she went on for like 10 minutes about how great the good Doc is. But I’ve never met Dr. Tiffany. I’ve never had a doctor friend. So most,

Read More »
Diving Into Wellness | Grin and Bear it | Aiken Bella Magazine

Diving Into Wellness | Grin and Bear it

My feet moved to the edge. The air was cold, sharp in my throat. Scared eyes looked down; my heart raced. I knew I had to jump, but couldn’t believe I was about to actually do it. “Count to three, then just let go,” said a stranger in line behind me. I counted to five. And a half. Then I did it; I just let go. I fell. It was freezing. The plummet lasted half an hour, or maybe half a second, I can’t be sure, time bends when you’re free falling. When you leap with both feet, literally, you completely surrender to the moment — to time and space

Read More »