4th of July

Our 4th of July Weekend was one of extremes. We got a rare rain Saturday and Carrie wished it would stay all weekend.

Carrie has grown to hate the 4th of July. Specifically, the fireworks. They've always caused her anxiety, but now that we have horses? Double it!

Meanwhile, Shane can't stop extoling how much he loves fireworks. Especially, to Carrie.

Shane was surprised she got snappy with him as he wished for bigger and bigger explosions. I told him it was fine to like fireworks. I like them, too, but it would be a better conversation to have with Mom when she didn't feel threatened. 

There's no way to reconcile the opposing viewpoints. This year, I stayed to help battle the anxiety.

The first step to that was a plan for the horses. Carrie was afraid they'd startle or do something stupid, so I waited and brought them in for dinner as the light faded. I figured there'd be more fireworks this year since people were pent up last year with COVID.

I was almost too late. The horses heard some explosions before I turned on the fans to drown out some of it. 

They were anxious at first. Abby started to spin in her stall. I closed all the curtain doors to keep her in particular from trying anything crazy.

Some of the explosions came from a neighbor. There were mortars and all sorts of big ones. While Carrie said, "That's illegal!" and fumed, Shane came down to the barn to hang out with me and watch.

I let him stay up late watching what he could while I tended the horses. They did really well. Carrie texted once or twice and ran down when I didn't immediately respond, but went back in each time when she realized the situation at hand.

Almost everything petered out by 10:45 PM or so. I think it was around 11 PM when I kicked all the horses out and went inside. 

Carrie met me and apologized for "being no fun." She knows she has trouble with fireworks. I read that quiet fireworks exist. Those would probably help her if they caught on, but I don't know how likely that is. 

Everything went to plan this year, though. I hope that helps allay future concerns about the horses. I'll probably still need to stay home, but maybe Shane would be able to spend the night with Grandpa and Grandma and go see a show somewhere.