Loafing in Limbo: Hibernation as a Training Aid
We are in Limbo. It's that week between Christmas and New Year when nobody knows what day it is. Not...
Thank You, Mother: an Ode to a Farm
It's late afternoon as I drive along the front of my farm to the gate. The field fence is shrouded...
Are You Having a Midlife Horse Crisis?
I got an email from a reader last week. She had a hard question. She acknowledges she was naive, but...
Euthanizing and Herd Anxiety
"I’m wondering if you could address animals and grief in one of your columns. We’ve lost a horse and a...
A Barn Visit and a Fresh Reminder About Predator and Prey
It’s a thing called a Barn Visit. I offer them to clients mainly, those I’ve worked with online through the...
A Love Letter to Dirt.
It's the eve of Christmas Eve and I'm worried about my dirt. Maybe the world has bigger problems and maybe...
Why Don’t You Ride?
"Why don't you ride?" It's the question we dread. Sometimes the people who ask are neophytes who don't understand that...
Calming Signals. You Can’t Save ‘Em All. Cat Version.
I walk in my pasture. Women of a certain over-thinking age do well to put a few miles in a...
A Legacy of Homegrown Ingenuity and Bull-Headed Confidence
I am the great-granddaughter of pioneers. They traveled far, mixed their blood with those not like them, and built lives...
For the Fragility of a Horse…
"When we see horses galloping with ears sharp, tails flagged, and hooves churning up the soil, they are the epitome...
Part of Your Horse Stays Behind
When it came time to say goodbye to my dressage mentor, a trainer that I'd ridden with several times a...
Spring Fever, Bad Behavior, or Flight Response?
It's February on the high prairie at the fringe of the Rocky Mountains. The pond is still frozen so there...
The Word Inside an Exhale: EASE
It's January first. The calendar has flipped over and I'm happy with the new numbers. New Year's is an excellent...
When There’s No Room At The Inn…
Even on holidays, our family dinners don't look like other people's. Neither do our hands or shoes. We look different;...
Poetry Out Loud: Horse. Woman.
This blog will get back to some sort of new "normal" soon. What a year, huh? For now, just a...
Calming Signals: How the Farm Says Thank You.
It's Thanksgiving time and I should write something special, but I feel kind of ordinary. All I...
COVID-19 with Horses: How Are We Doing?
If horse people know one thing, it's that it's never just one thing. Having horses also means we partner with...
The Problem with Humility
I've gotten sour on a word. Why does it matter? Words are how we understand each other but some words...