Finding Me

What is it about the stable that transforms grown women and men into youngsters again?  Over my 50 plus years around horses, I have had to take a hiatus or two for different reasons.  Looking back, some of those times away lasted far too long.  Yet back I come, inhaling the sweet aroma of the …

What’s another birthday?

Today I turned 57 years old!  All the adages of "where did the time go" and "wasn't it just yesterday"  run through my head.  I look in the mirror and I can assure you I don't see the face everyone else sees, no I see the big laughing smile of a little girl sitting on pony.  …

The Kingdom

I work in a kingdom of sorts.   We have a king who fiercely defends his title, his wives and maid-servants and we have princes and a princess or two. The king has had an adventurous life; visiting and conquering many distant lands.  Much of the time he returned home the victor; on those occasions where he …

Scars tell a story

Fifty-two years on horseback has created some of my most cherished memories, biggest victories and indelible scars. God willing there will still be many more; years, memories, victories and yes, even scars. As I analyze my aging body I see the gray intertwining with my brunette strands, my crooked nose, the knobbiness of arthritis and I feel …

March madness

When one talks about March madness, usually the first thought is college basketball finals, but my reference to this term has nothing to do with squeaky shoes on a polished floor and balls being tossed through a hanging net. March typically is thought of as the end of winter transforming into spring.  All one has to do …

My First Home Show – 2016

Our pasture is a large field with a hill or two and the type of soil we have makes for deep mud in the spring especially the low areas, and usually around the large round bales of hay where the horses stand and eat.  Thursday and Friday majority of our horses show so myself and …

The Escape

This winter has been odd; both winter and spring off and on since November.  We go from frozen ground to mud every other week.  The horses go from wearing sheets to heavy blankets back to sheets again within 24 hours.  And faithful stable hands go from being bundled up to having the barn doors open …

My first spring in the prairie

It was April 2016, the latest escapades included several days of preparing the barn of horses for the show we were holding the last weekend of the month.  This  entailed clipping of whiskers, "feathers" on horses legs, etc. as well as lots of baths!!  Not all had been shed out from their winter coats so …

Baptism with fire

So a year ago I moved lock, stock and barrel to a new city, new state and a new home.  Thankfully I had the support of my family.  Even then it was difficult on some levels, but I knew that this move was what I was supposed to do. I had several days with my …

The Move

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