Becoming open minded does NOT mean you have to change your beliefs...

...just understand where the others are coming from.

It's a hard concept for people. Most think that being open minded means you have to accept all viewpoints, values, and beliefs. That you think that they are acceptable and just as correct as yours.

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, open minded means:

"receptive to arguments or ideas"


There is nothing in that definition that says that those ideas are correct in your eyes, that you have to agree with them, that you are flip flopping all over the place because you're so "open-minded". It just means being receptive.

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, receptive means:

"able or inclined to receive; especially :  open and responsive to ideas, impressions, or suggestion"


The other definition is "female willing to copulate with a male"... and that's not what I'm talking about here.




Able or inclined to receive. Ideas, impressions, or suggestion. Open and responsive. Still nothing in that about changing your current beliefs. Just being willing to receive others, and process them.




So many people think of being open minded as a bad thing. That if you are open minded you are never going to have your own beliefs. I disagree. Being open minded should be something EVERYBODY partakes in. And yet, I also think people should be firm in their beliefs. But those beliefs shouldn't be based on just one or five people's opinions, or the opinion you were raised to believe. It should be based on being open minded, and willing to at least look and hear other sides before either changing said opinion, or becoming firmer in the beliefs that you hold.


Being open minded doesn't weaken your resolve and your value system, it strengthens it. Seeing things from the other side doesn't necessarily mean you are admitting you are wrong. It could... after receiving the other side's viewpoint and objectively looking at both... or it could simply make it more clear in your mind how right you are.


Narrow minded and close minded people are living sad lives. They are gripping onto their belief systems so hard that anything can knock them down if people try hard enough. They are so tense that someone will prove them wrong if they open up their minds even a little bit that doubts start to come in. And so they refuse to listen to anybody, not because they truly believe that they are right, but because they are afraid of being wrong.


Nobody should be afraid of being wrong. Being wrong is a blessing. It allows you to see what is right.




So... encourage open mindedness. And encourage it so people can become stronger in their beliefs. When training a horse or a dog, encourage people to not just go with what they know, but look at many options, viewpoints, and ideas. And you may come right back to what you know, firmer in the knowledge that it's the best choice for you and the animal. But you'd never know that if you never looked.

When dealing with nutrition and the best way to feed your pet... or your child... or yourself... don't just go with what momma taught you, or what the pediatrician/doctor/veterinarian you use says. Do your OWN research. Don't try to silence people who are trying to help. And listen to everyone. And then make your own decision based on being open minded to what everyone has to say, and choosing the best option for you.

Those who are giving advice may vehemently disagree with your final decision. Well... who cares? As long as you were receptive to their advice instead of just dismissing it, you are doing nothing wrong. You made your choice. Your belief, your decision, whatever.

But still... always be open minded, always be receptive, to everything and everyone. Because you never know when some better idea, or more information, or something will come along that will blow your mind.

And people are also more willing to listen to people who listen to them first. ;)

You NEVER stop learning... EVER.

Had a great night with a few gal pals, and the discussion came around to horses and horse life and various people within the horse world. And what kept coming up again and again was the idea of people thinking that they knew it all. That they didn't have to listen to advice from anyone because they already knew how to do it. And how it was a very misguided way of thinking, because you NEVER stop learning.

With horses, think of the top competitors. Most, if not all, have coaches and trainers or at least an eye on the ground when they are getting ready for a competition. Olympic Show Jumping team has coaches, and these are people at the TOP of their game.

Take a look at the great masters. Like... of anything. In horses, to continue said theme, there is always something more to learn, either in your same discipline, or by diverging into others. Even the top trainers are never perfect. And you keep going until you die. Hiroshi Hoketsu was the oldest competitor in the 2012 Olympics, at the age of 71, competing in Dressage with his 15 year old mare. You would think that the age and experience of over 50 years of the Equestrian Pursuit would allow him to be pretty darn near perfect. He received a score of 68.72 (out of 100 for those who don't know), placing 17th out of 25.

The highest score ever received in Dressage was a 92.30, and even that was seen by many as controversial for many reasons, which means there is still definite room for improvement, and that's the world record by a horse and rider who are at the very very top of their game.

Ok, enough horses. Let's look at something more mundane. History. Say you want to be an expert and master of a specific town, a specific time period, and even a specific family. You can know a LOT. You can devote your entire life to learning about theirs... and you will still never know everything about them. You can know a lot, a whole lot more than other people, but you will never know everything.

In more classical training methods, whether that be in art, a craft, a job, etc... you apprentice underneath either an average worker or a master. You spend YEARS apprenticing before you become mediocre, or even workable. VERY VERY few become "masters", and even they can be showed up by something new or simpler or whatever by their students or even by another "master" of their craft.


And yet... that's the beauty of it. How boring it all would be if you could learn everything... and then you're just stuck with all of that knowledge, and nothing else to do. There is excitement found in opening your mind a little wider, in finding a new facet to a gem you've studied for years, to growing.

Progress should be encouraged, and desired. And if you are proven wrong, it should be something to rejoice about. Not get upset over. Getting proven wrong is a part of learning, and just means that there is something even better out there.

So... why wallow in the same place? Why tell yourself and others that you already know it all, or act like you know it all? All that does is hinder yourself and your talents. And why would you want to do that?

Artist by day, animal activist by night. Ok... correction. I'm not one of those crazy nutjobs who think all animals should fly free (whether or not they are physically capable of flying), that keeping a dog in a crate for 4-5 hours each day while the owner is at work is cruelty, that all zoos should be shut down, and meat should never be eaten, or fed to other animals. No.

I guess a better term would be animal welfare activist. I will advocate until I'm hoarse for an animal's welfare.

Now, let me look into that more. Welfare. What does welfare mean?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, welfare means - "the state of doing well especially in respect to good fortune, happiness, well-being, or prosperity."

So, I advocate for animal welfare. I advocate for the state of animals doing well in respect to happiness and well-being (wealth and fortune aren't exactly necessary for animals). Happiness and well-being you say? What does that mean? It's a pretty broad term.

For most states the minimum requirements include food, water, and shelter. Other states and various legislations have more specific requirements, like minimum sized enclosures for certain animals, minimum tether length, chains vs no chains, temperatures where certain animals must be provided with specific types of shelter, etc etc etc.


For me, the end goal is the welfare of the animal. If an animal is happy, healthy, and safe while being fed free choice a poor quality food, tied on a 15 foot chain in a backyard with an old plastic igloo dog house with a couple old towels inside it when it gets colder... I really can't be overly upset. Yes, things could be done to improve the animal's welfare. A longer tether that isn't chain (or no tether). A few more blankets in the dog house. A higher quality food. And I will advocate for such. But in the end, if the dog is happy, healthy, safe, and its minimum requirements of physical and mental health are being cared for, I am content. Not happy, but content.

Unfortunately, a lot of these minimum requirements are not being cared for. Puppies dying because their mothers did not receive adequate care while pregnant, animals not being fed, being tied up too short with no shelter, etc. And these types of things are completely unacceptable, and must be immediately changed and dealt with.


So... yes. I advocate for animal welfare. And I advocate for the highest level of animal welfare. The minimum is granted. I expect better.


So, because I am always ranting and raving about something... that is what this blog is for. My rants and raves about something involving animal welfare, about ideas, things happening outside of the world of animals, etc. I will try to keep it as factual as possible after my emotional rant, and involve veterinary and medical journals for information, news sources, statistical data, and so on to prove my point. Nothing will be just pulled out of the air. Before I write something I am stating as factual, I will do 5-10 minutes google and google scholar search to make sure before I write it. If I'm wrong, I won't write it, or I'll write about how I was wrong.

I might also have some stuff about my own animals on here from time to time. My dog, my cat, and my horse. Hence the name, Canine, Feline, Equine. Hehe... so clever don't you think?

Some stuff involving my artwork, my showing, and various little snippets of random things might also come up, but this blog is primarily for information about various things. Puppy care, spaying and neutering, nutrition (from both a pro kibble and anti kibble stance, even though I am personally anti kibble), first aid and injuries, state of shelters, euthenasia (for all types of animals, what happens before, during, after), equine concerns with tack, bits, and such, and so on and so forth.

I don't know if anyone will actually read any of it... but I have so much going on in my head, I need to get it up and out and down.

So... here goes!