Why You want a Drama-Free Barn

In recent years, I have started to notice that horse boarding advertisements are starting to add to their verbiage “drama-free barn.” Have you ever wondered why horse people tend to thrive on drama? The basic explanation is because they haven’t learned to get rid of their ego. Through the process of putting the ego aside, you can have a healthier relationship with your horse and yourself. It is best not to have unnecessary drama in one’s life because drama is stress and stress leads to health issues.

Numerous research studies have revealed there is a negative link between an individual’s behavior and health. Unhealthy behaviors, such as drama, become bad habits and can cause weight gain, depression and even shorten a person’s lifespan. Living a life prompted with drama has many downsides including damaging your relationship with your horse and effecting your rides.

Drama has the power to influence your emotional and physical nature. When you’re experiencing a difficult time, in your life, you may find that you have an increase or decrease in your appetite, difficulties sleeping, and in some instances panic attacks, which are brought on by stress and/or anxiety. These health issues should be reason enough to detach yourself from the drama in your life and any drama at the barn. If there are people in your life continually unloading their problems on you, then it’s time to consider the pros and cons of that relationship. Do not allow people to regularly dump their drama into your life. Or perhaps you find yourself constantly reaching for a reason to be angry – don’t do it. Stress goes hand-in-hand with drama. Stress has been linked to cancer, lung disease, fatal accidents, suicide, even cirrhosis of the liver – which is a side effect of combating stress with alcohol. Furthermore, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have discovered that children exposed to chronic stress are more likely to develop a mental illness if one runs in their families.

With drama derives stress and other health ailments that can be prevented if adequate safety measures are put in place. Research has linked stress to gum disease because the habits associated with dramatic people pay less attention to oral hygiene. Also, increased levels of stress has been known to create acidic changes in the saliva and decreases immunity.

Stress can also physically damage your heart muscle. Drama that brings forth stress damages your heart because stress hormones increase your heart rate and constrict your blood vessels. This forces your heart to work harder and increases your blood pressure. This is why a doctor may tell a patient to avoid exerting themselves when they’ve experience a heart attack or other heart associated ailment. According to the American Institute of Stress, the incidence rate of heart attacks and sudden death increases after major stress-inducing incidents, like hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Those dramatic episodes are life changing and can cause an individual to feel like the world is against them.

In addition, the outlets such as nutritional health are one of the most widely affected elements associated with drama. Some people don’t eat while others binge eat to numb the drama. These traits live inside of us and tend to come out when drama arises. Researchers at the University of Miami found that when people are placed in stressful situations, they’re likely to consume 40 percent more food than normal. The study recommended that late night news viewers turn off their TV before eating dinner because they may over compensate due to the difficult matters being reported.

Drama and stress may be inevitable. At some point in your everyday life, you will be face –to-face with a dramatic situation. However, unnecessary drama can be avoided. Distance yourself from people that bring constant drama into your life. Take action within your own life events to avoid dramatic situations. Make sure you are riding in a drama free barn and I am sure your horse will thank you for it!

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