Relaxed & Forward Blog

Barn Dance! Almost Soon!

Do you have friends who love playing games? My relatives were big card players--Pinochle, Canasta, Cribbage. I grew up to...
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Morning

  The sun rises pale and delicious on the prairie. Take your coffee to the barn; baby pink clouds diffuse...
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How to Ride Creatively.

Riding a horse is the simplest thing in the world. Just point 'em and kick. What's so hard about that?...
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Narrow

He takes a narrow view of rain and a chill wind. He takes a narrow view of sharp voices, quick...
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Money: If Wishes were Horses…

"How much does a horse cost? Do you have to be rich to own one?" I can tell you how...
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Photo Challenge: Cherry on Top

Maybe it’s just simple math. The cumulative tally of giving versus withholding. Of offering open space for a wisp of an...
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Rescue: Training the Things We Take for Granted

Lethargy. Sweltering with a non-specific stickiness. Flies. More flies. Dilly-dallying. These are the wilting Dog Days of Summer, named for...
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Photo Challenge: Details

Search the horizon Lean into the wind Scream truth out loud Rage against monsters. Then find ground in the details....
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Defending Horses with Words and Money

Fair warning: I'm going to ask you to do a favor for horses. It will involve some of your time...
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Photo Challenge: Look Up.

Look up to him?  We all do. Horses would benefit if we loved them less and respected them more. ___Read...
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Crossing a Line, One Year Later

When I was twenty-four and just a baby goldsmith, I decided I wanted to show my one-of-a-kind jewelry in a...
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The Trailer Isn’t the Problem.

The owner said his horse had trailer issues. He'd watched a video and used a whip and rope, with bad...
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Photo Challenge: Opposites.

  Stillness bounded by movement, offered without demand. Independent, connected, Cradled as close as skin, but set free. At peace...
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A Lesson about Squeamishness and a Donkey.

Look, it's a selfie of me mucking last week. I like to get an early start in the summer. Over...
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Quote-Hoarding as Therapy.

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It was called The Book of Quotes, curated by two guys in my high school. They...
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Photo Challenge: Partners

Move together in silence, an inaudible song. A wordless place, deep and shadowy and still. They wait for us to...
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Admitting You’re Wrong.

Do you remember the first time you wanted to be right? It might predate memory or even language. Being good...
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Curve

The mingling of moist breath, the warm embrace of a curve, the uncomplicated wholeness that we covet. And the guilt...
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