A potential attacker would rather assault someone who is looking at the ground, and is looking unsure. You will be less likely to be attacked if you maintain a good posture and look directly ahead of you. Keep your phone in hand and ready to make a call if necessary, but do not look down at it while you walk. Walk with purpose and pay close attention to your surroundings. Always know where you are going before you go there. If you plan out your route before leaving, you will be confident as you walk and less likely to get lost or have to ask strangers for directions. If you should return home and there is a new car nearby or a new person standing outside, take precaution and stay alert. Many times, this will be harmless, but sometimes this could be a potential threat. Call a neighbor who can make sure you get inside safely. As far as it is possible, avoid walking alone at night. The more people you have to walk with at night, the safer you will be. Never walk alone at night if possible. Walking with strangers can be dangerous, as well, so walk with friends that you trust. If your friends want to stay out longer, ask them to walk you to your car and then drop them back off at the door. When you are approaching your car, you do not want to be fumbling to find your keys, particularly at night or when you are alone. Before you leave your destination, have your keys in your hand. You can also use your keys as weapon if you wedge the key between your fingers and punch. Being out while your cell phone is dead can be dangerous. Should you need to call a friend or even 911, a dead phone will render you unable to do so. Take at least an hour before you leave home to charge your phone and make sure that all of your contacts are updated should you need to dial a friend in a hurry. Consider putting some numbers on speed dial so that you can access them more readily. Consider buying a portable charger and taking that with you when you go out. It is easy for a potential attacker to sneak up on you without you having seen them if you are walking with traffic. But if you are walking facing traffic, you will know should a car slow down. Though you love your friends and enjoy spending time with them, you likely know the ones who often get you or themselves into trouble. Spend less time with these types of people and more time with people who you trust. Work to also be a trustworthy friend who keeps your friends safe. Try to avoid going out with friends who regularly get arrested or who drink too much. Though it is normal and healthy to have a few drinks when out with friends, you should refrain from binge drinking at all costs. Know your limits and try to have no more than one to two drinks per hour, depending upon your size. Also, should someone want to buy a drink for you, make sure that you watch as it is being made to assure that no drugs are being put into it. It is perhaps safest to purchase your own drinks. Make sure you keep your drink with you at all times. Don't leave it unattended. Avoid drugs, as well. They can alter your judgment and make you do things that you normally would not do. Avoid "party punches" at parties unless you know and trust everyone there. These could be spiked with drugs, as well. If something were to happen or if someone were to attack you, there is a smaller chance that someone might hear you and be able to help. It is better to go the long way around than to risk being harmed. If you have an iPhone, you can share your location via the iMessage app while you are texting a friend so they can make sure you arrived home safely. Apps for those without iPhones who are interested in sharing their location include Glympse and Life360 Family Locator.

Summary: Appear confident. Know your surroundings. Walk at night with a group of people you trust. Keep your keys in your hand. Charge your cell phone before going out. Walk facing traffic. Hang out with friends who are responsible and safe. Don't drink too much or accept drinks you didn't see being made. Avoid taking short-cuts through dark alleyways, especially at night.

The temptation when you rescue an emaciated, or very thin, horse is to feed her a lot to help him regain weight. However, this is not as simple as it sounds because suddenly providing an abundance of food causes digestive problems and is likely to trigger potentially serious health issues such as colic or laminitis. Weight gain has to be mapped out over several months. It must be done carefully and methodically. The ideal food for helping the horse regain weight is forage (good quality hay) and the amount you feed the horse should be the amount recommended for her current body weight, plus 10 or 15%. Use a measuring tape to assess the horse's current weight, and cross reference this with a body weight-based feeding chart. If you are concerned that you are not feeding the horse the right amount, talk to a vet. After a period of starvation, the horse's stomach will need to repopulate the good bacteria that aids digestion. Feeding the horse a large meal will put a lot of pressure on the horse's stomach that could lead to digestion problems. Rather than giving the horse her allotted amount of feed all at once, space the amount of feed you give her out over the course of the day. This will keep the horse from gorging herself. Forage, or good quality hay, is the ideal food for a horse in the initial stages of rehabilitation because it is high in fiber, takes time to chew, and it difficult to bolt down. Bolting a lot of feed quickly can lead to choke, or a blockage of partially chewed, dry food in the esophagus. Alfalfa hay is high in protein and low in carbohydrates, which can help to keep the horse energized. If the horse is eating hay well, increase her daily ration by about one flake a day, and after a week of eating well, consider allowing her free access to hay. Some horses won't eat hay; if this is the case with your horse, try hay cubes or roughage chunks. These can trick the horse into thinking she is eating a concentrate, which will make her more likely to eat. If the horse if having trouble eating because of dental problems (for example, dropping food or drooling) try soaking the hay cubes to soften them. If the horse is not gaining weight on hay, then add beet pulp or rice bran to her diet. Both foods are higher in calories than forage but are also high in fiber. Avoid beet pulp that contains molasses as it will cause a "sugar rush" or a wash of sugar into the bloodstream that could overexcite your horse. Vegetable oils are an easy way to add calories to your horse's feed. Most horses will eat 1 to 2 cups (250 ml each) of oil mixed into the food, though some horses may be picky. Try different types of oil, including: Canola, cocosoya, and standard vegetable oil. Although concentrates are high in calories, they are also high in the starches and sugars that trigger metabolic problems such as insulin resistance, colic, and laminitis.
Summary: Resist the urge to give the horse a lot of food. Plan the weight gain out over several months. Feed your horse small, frequent meals. Feed your rehabilitating horse forage. Troubleshoot if the horse won't eat hay. Add high calorie foods if the horse is not gaining weight with hay alone. Add oils to your horse's meal to help her gain weight. Do not give your horse concentrates.