Relaxed & Forward Blog

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;...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Horse Woman, Our Narrative

Drawing by Rebecca Howard I usually write a gray mare rant annually on my birthday. I'm...
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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...
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Requiem for an Old Truck

req·ui·em/ˈrekwēəm/noun 1.(especially in the Roman Catholic Church) a Mass for the repose of the souls of the dead. There is...
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Photo & Poem: Her Words

If her words didn’t matter, her father would lift his eyes from the television commercials and not busy his mouth...
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Photo & Poem: Forever Now

Walking past the mare, I let my hand follow the shape of her body, her hair so short it has...
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What Will Happen if You Don’t Ride Today?

It's really hot here. How hot is it? I'm not saying. People get competitive. You'd just say it's hotter where...
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Photo & Poem: As if Love

She declared that she loved her horse as if loving took a sort of noble skill rare to our kind....
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Photo and Poem: Three-Quarter-Ton

  Driving home from the feed store on a back road, easing my foot from the gas pedal, the three-quarter-ton...
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Photo & Poem: Words

“You’re not wearing that, are you?” Voicing her anxiety first, was my blouse revealing something more than unconventional taste? Welcoming...
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Photo & Poem: Sunset to Dark

Talking with her while I walk the farm, I say look what you’ve done with the new grass. Earth sends...
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Photo & Poem: No Gloves

The woman doesn’t make a good first impression. Her hair is dry as straw under a ball cap from Tractor...
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Edgar Rice Burro on Covid-19 and Physical Distancing (on World Donkey Day)

  Does Covid-19 impact my herd? The email asked, "I wonder if you've noticed the quieter world in your horses?...
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Photo & Poem: Slap Hands

Sit next to Jack, she said. Mother’s youngest brother on leave from the Army at our kitchen table. He pinched...
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It Could Be Worse. You Could Be Married to Me.

"Honey, when you're in town will you pick something up for me?" I don't quite wait for the answer. "Great,...
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