by Martha McNiel, LMFT

Cold rain is pelting the window as I sit at my computer. Large drops of rain hitting the glass sound like hail. The trees outside are bending, straining, limbs breaking under the powerful winds. It has been cold and raining off and on for the past three weeks. The ground is a saturated, soggy, muddy mess.  New lakes have appeared in many of the paddocks. The horses are either an unidentifiable color, covered in mud nose to tail, or jumping out of their skins from being stalled for a week. Some of the stalls are flooded. The turn-outs are completely unusable. Before being diverted, a small river ran through the hay room.

For the past three weeks, a series of Arctic storms has pelted our area. Frigid air, gale-force winds and a deluge of rain have made life outdoors somewhat miserable.

I could complain (and it may appear that I am doing so) about the rain. It has stopped me from going on trail rides, stopped me from turning out the horses, stopped me from riding my own horse, and prevented me from working with two of our horses that are in rehab. It's stopped me from doing a lot of the things I love with horses!

But, as I slog through the mud in my Muck brand boots, splattering mud above my knees, I think about the hay prices that should go down with the rain. We are having a shortage of oat and other hays in our area, a shortage that will result in no oat hay for several months, until the new crop is harvested. This is partially the result of the drought last year and the almost complete absence of the rains I am telling you about. The rain I would love to complain about is going to help produce quality hay to feed our horses, at a price I hope to be able to afford.

As I check the water trough and sink in mud past my ankles, I think about the fire behind the barn last fall. Our staff and volunteers stood in the barn and watched snakes of fire race up the hill behind the barn, tinder-dry and covered in crackling, dead grass. Trailers were at the ready, to evacuate all the horses if the fire turned toward the barn. Fortunately, firefighters got the fire under control before it reached our property. The rain I am complaining about today will help tremendously with fire prevention efforts this summer.

Forty years ago, Joni Mitchell wrote the song "Both Sides Now." She sings about clouds and love and life, and how differently each of those things looks, when viewed from a different perspective. The song begins:

"Rows and floes of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons ev'rywhere
I've looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on ev'ryone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now..."

In life, as with horses, there are usually two, and often many more, ways to look at a particular situation. Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Tenth Edition) defines perspective as a "point of view: the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance."

When working with horses, "perspective" is extremely important. "The capacity to view things in their true relations..." During the past week I have spoken with many clients, co-workers and friends who report feeling sad, depressed, "down," and otherwise unhappy, and they place the blame for those feelings squarely on the cold, relentless rains. They are truly feeling miserable, and nothing I can say will change how they feel. From their perspective, getting cold and wet when you walk outdoors means you will have a bad day.

I think there is something about human nature that makes a negative perspective the "default" position. Somehow, many humans naturally gravitate toward depression, melancholy and sadness when it rains, and even when it doesn't. It seems to take a tremendous unnatural effort of the will to look at rain or any other situation from a positive perspective, and many persons are unwilling or unable to make the effort to find the positive perspective.

I believe this happens often in the horse world, too, and not just when it is raining. It is easy to become negative, discouraged and hopeless when your horse suddenly goes lame or you get a surprise vet bill or your trainer is unexpectedly unavailable for several weeks. When the boarding stable you love gets sold or mold attacks your favorite saddle or your farrier goes on vacation without giving you notice, it is easy to sink into a personal pity party.

But during the gray days at the end of winter, when all is gray and dirty and muddy and the spring flowers haven't quite come out yet, I am suggesting that you try to look at the situation from a more positive perspective. Try looking at it from "the other side." Many an injured horse has developed good ground manners while being treated for an injury. Sometimes moving to a new stable, even when you don't want to, opens exciting doors you would never have chosen to walk through voluntarily. Cold, blustery winter rains mean green pastures in the spring.

Find something about the situation you are in that you can feel good about, enjoy or think positively about. I have discovered that I actually enjoy being out in the rain when I am covered head-to-toe in warm, waterproof clothes and boots. There is something intrinsically satisfying to me about walking around in a cold rain, while remaining warm and dry. I feel like I have had a brief, yet satisfying, victory over Mother Nature.

This does not mean you will be unrealistic about a particular situation. Or that you will never feel discouraged or sad. But if you can find a positive perspective, you will personally suffer less and your life will be more enjoyable.  After all, winter rains are just Mother Nature getting ready to make some great hay!