Relaxed & Forward Blog

Photo & Poem: Waiting for the Vet

  No days like the golden photos on the calendar from the gas company, propane topped off at the first...
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Photo & Poem: Sentient

  Long in the tooth, people say. Gray hairs dusting his temple, this gelding plays the part of good uncle,...
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The Thing About Geldings

I'm the sort of horse-person who hears about a castration and pops a cork for a toast all around. I...
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Calming Signals and the Thing We Call Stubborn

In celebration of Edgar Rice Burro's birthday, he's asked me to rant a bit about the thing humans call stubborn....
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Writing and Riding

Happy New Year. It's my ninth year of writing this blog about riding. Thank you for reading along, and I...
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Photo & Poem: Old Bones

  A night so frigid the snowstopped at midnight, the farmdark under thick clouds. Hetakes a shallow breath, hopingto warm...
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Photo & Poem: Ghost

  Her big sister won a contest, sharing breakfast with minor horse celebrities, so this shy red-haired girl with glasses...
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Photo & Poem: Surviving Vulnerability

  Dark eyes, older than her years, the horse’s shoulder shows damage, thick scars and a stilted gait, the opposite...
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Heart Horses

  "He's my Heart Horse," she says by way of introduction. A hush falls over the room. Or maybe that's just...
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Photo Challenge & Poem: Prolific

  Pray his back is broad, strength needed for the precarious load he bears, the seesaw blessing and curse of a...
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Photo Challenge & Poem: A Face in the Crowd

  It's the ninja cat skirting the shadows, hesitating, then moving on a silent path, leaving no trace. Or the...
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Photo Challenge & Poem: Transformation

  The old gelding's eye sockets are hollow or maybe he's pulled his gaze inward. Once a trumpet blast of...
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Photo Challenge: Windows

  Has it been a year? Scanning the pasture from the kitchen sink, I don't see your swayed back. A...
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Photo Challenge: Shiny

  Birdwatching in the dark is an art best practiced with no yard light. Start just after the colors are...
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Photo Challenge: Elemental

I remembered to sink the corner post deep, filled the hole with Quikcrete, and topped it off with dirt. Then...
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Part One: The Strong Silent Type (Of Horse)

I've said it before: While growing up, I saw She Wore a Yellow Ribbon more often than I saw my...
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Remembrance: Someone's Always Dying

It's that weird week between the holidays. I never know what day it is so I mess up scheduling around Christmas,...
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Going the Full Heart Distance: Saying So Long

It's deep fall here on our farm. Most of the leaves are gone; Canada geese are on the wing. Each...
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