Comparison of the Cost and Effectiveness of Holistic Horse Care versus Conventional Care
Comparison of the Cost and Effectiveness of Holistic Horse Care versus Conventional Care
After years of practicing both conventional and holistic medicine for horses, I decided to compare the cost, effectiveness, and net results of managing and treating horses holistically versus conventionally.In this article I compare results for the average trail horse that is ridden about 2-3 times a week. I have used average feed and veterinary costs for my area (Austin, Texas), and drug and supplement costs from a major horse supply catalog.I then discuss the issues related to each area of care, including feed, supplements, vaccines, dewormers, and first aid. Stay tuned for different profiles in coming months, when I will compare horses in different disciplines, young horses, older horses, and broodmares.>>> Holistic Horse Conventional Horse
7 Techniques to Supercharge your Creativity and Solve your Problems
7 Techniques to Supercharge your Creativity and Solve your Problems
Do you ever encounter problems, challenges or obstacles in your business? If you answered 'no,' then you can stop reading and continue to rake in the fortune you must be making. For the rest of us, the answer of course is 'yes.'
For the most troubling problems, the biggest challenge is in your inability to come up with new and innovative solutions. This is because when you try to solve a problem, you probably use the same approach every time ('let me sit here and think about it until I come up with something?'). The next time you try to solve a problem, try applying any (or all) of these approaches:
1) Be Obvious - Cances are, whatever your problem is, there is some conventional wisdom about how to solve it. Ask yourself why you are not following it, and evaluate for yourself whether your reasons are valid. Sometimes the easiest solution is the one right in front of us.
2) Be Contrarian - The opposite of being obvious, being contrarian means to consider doing the opposite of what conventional wisdom says. If the standard advice is to buy, think about selling. Instead of working more, work less. Note: This does not mean you should automatically DO what the opposite is; it just means to let your mind wander over the opposite to get it working in another direction.
3) Start Where you are - Sometimes we get so caught up in the long term goal that we lose sight of where we are. Think about your problem and what you might do right now to solve it. Usually this results in frustration because we don't have a fully formed solution. But just because an idea is not fully formed does not mean that it does not have some validity. Start with your current idea and watch as new ideas present themselves.
4) Chunk up - If you can't figure out how to achieve your goal, try looking at the bigger picture. If your goal is to earn $10,000 this month and you can't figure out how, think bigger - maybe you want $10K because you want to earn six figures this year. Then start to brainstorm ways of earning six figures. Don't get so caught up on your problem that you lose sight of the bigger picture.
5) Chunk down - The opposite of chunking up. Think in terms of smaller details. Continuing with the $10K example, if you can't think of how to earn $10,000 this month, can you think of ways to earn $333 per day? Maybe, but even if you can't it gets the mind working in a new way.
6) Take a REAL Break - Stop working on the problem for a bit and let your subconscious work on it. This requires two things. First, you need to actually give your mind a break and recharge. Switching from thinking about one problem to another will not do it. Get away from the problem an your work, even if for only five minutes. Second, make sure you are not dwelling on the problem. Taking a walk to get away from work is great, but if you continue to mull over the problem your not really giving your mind a break from it.
7) Move - Get the blood flowing! Exercise, walk, run, stretch, whatever. Be it from blood flow, endorphins, or a change in focus, physical movement enhances creativity. I do some of my best thinking while shooting baskets. Find out what works for you and do it.
There are many different techniques you can use to solve a problem. Try the few above to start, and then come up with your own. Use them well, and watch yourself create new and exciting solutions faster than ever.Avish Parashar is a professional speaker who runs seminars on creativity, teamwork, productivity, leadership, and communication using the principles of improvisational comedy. http://www.professional-speaker-avish-parashar.com
Creativity e-book:http://www.supercharge-your-creativity.com
Dog Anxiety – Fear of Thunderstorms, and Other Dog Fears
Dog Anxiety - Fear of Thunderstorms, and Other Dog Fears
How to Deal With Anxiety in Your DogAnxiety in dogs can be caused by any number of things - illness, travel, thunderstorms, death in the family, separation, or they may develop unexplained phobic or neurotic behaviour, or barking or other antisocial behaviour.If you can identify the cause of the anxiety, then the best solution to the problem is to remove the cause.This is not always possible, though. If your dog is experiencing separation anxiety every time you leave the house, and you work full time outside the home, you've got a problem! I suppose you could give up work and stay home with your dog, but sometimes we need to be a little realistic!For this particular problem there are a number of things you can do to alleviate your dog's anxiety when you leave - many people have found that playing soothing music while they're out works wonders.Mozart? - that certainly used to calm my hyperactive son down a little, so Mozart would be my personal first choice, but there are many soothing classical and new age, or even some light rock or jazz music might work - try out whatever you have in your CD collection for starters.Another wonderful idea I read about recently is making a tape recording of your own voice and playing that on a continuous play while you're gone.And there are certain homeopathic and herbal remedies which really do calm your dog. So those may well assist with your dog's separation anxiety.But what about dogs who are afraid of loud noises - my dog Kara has an irrational fear of thunderstorms, and fear of fireworks, and, well, actually, she's scared of just about any loud noises. Many dogs are like this.One New Year's Eve when I was away, Kara dug her way under the house and escaped (due to being terrified of the fireworks which were going off). My neighbours had to pick her up from the pound the following morning. Apparently the dog catchers are out in force on New Year's Eve because they round up many dogs and impound them! A nice little revenue booster for the local authorities. From memory it cost about $100 to get her back.Anyway, I've found that peppermint oil applied to the pads of her paws has some calming effect. And a natural stress remedy also works very nicely.Some years ago, before I became interested in natural remedies for dogs - actually it was following the fireworks incident - Kara became quite determined to continue escaping, for some reason. Once she realised she could get out, she just kept on trying. She was even destroying part of my house in her determination to try to get through the thick wooden boards I had put up to prevent further escapes. So I took her to the vet, as I was at a complete loss to know what to do with her. She was prescribed an anti-anxiety medication. This made Kara quite dopey, and seemed to take some of her personality away somehow. In other words, I suppose she appeared drugged. I didn't like it at all.Now I know that there are much more pleasant, all natural anxiety treatments for dogs, which have no nasty side effects. And they really do work just as well.For more information on Stress Remedies for Dogs, Click Here: http://www.StressRemedies.BrigitteRecommends.com(c) 2005, Brigitte Smith, Healthy Happy DogsBrigitte Smith is a dog lover with a special interest in holistic dog health. Her site, Healthy Happy Dogs, has pages and pages of information on improving your dog's health naturally. Brigitte is the author of several reports, articles, and the Healthy Happy Dogs newsletter.For your special FREE report - "How to Improve Your Dog's Health Within 30 Days - Maybe Even Lengthen Your Dog's Life!", Click Here: http://www.HealthyHappyDogs.com