A New Small Army

Dixie hated her new world.  To give her credit, horses have their own niche just like people.  Once we traded our barrel saddle for a jumping saddle our relationship went downhill fast.  Jumping was not her thing.  Basically we were 2 stubborn mares butting heads,...

Life is Better with Friends

Liz and Jon took care of the horses at Winterview Farm.  They were married and lived in a small house next to the barn.   Liz and I had an instant connection, because we were both western riders immersed in a world of English riders, saddles, and horses.  Soon after...

Chaos what?!

Today is a beautiful Easter Sunday.  We enjoyed lunch on the patio of Clyde’s after church, and while my husband Joey was enjoying the company of great friends, good food, and sunshine I batted my eyelashes and asked if we could visit Silas.  We soon parted ways...

Transitions Stink….but are often for the best

I don’t remember what the last straw was, but it was finally pulled.  My parents were afraid to say it to me.  Herald Farms was where I spent every spare second of my life for the past 4 years.  This was where my dream of owning and riding horses had finally...

Education in Horses and Life

There was always a small group of girls at the barn – usually 3 of us.  Mrs. Brenda taught us to be true horse people.  On the weekends when we weren’t barrel racing we could be found at the local horse auctions.  She would buy horses cheap, bring them...

Rough Start

Sometimes bad beginnings can have happy endings.  Shortly after I got Dixie I went out to the barn and she had a gigantic cut on her face.  It was right along the ridge of her cheek bone a couple inches below her left eye, about 3 inches long.  It looked bad, but Mrs....

How to Avoid Quicksand

Today was a frustrating day.  Thanks to weather, work, and locking my keys in the car Monday I haven’t been able to ride in nearly a week.  That means my young horse has had nearly a week to lose all work ethic he may have previously gained.  My trainer has been...

Moving On

I mentioned before that it was time to move on from Henry.  A lot of people don’t understand selling horses.  It is hard to explain, but I think it really depends on where you are in life.  Some people have the means to keep every horse they have ever...

The Ride

My time had come.  I walked on jello legs towards the chute my steer was waiting in.  The steer turned his head to the side and we made eye contact as I lowered myself down onto his cream colored back.  Justin secured my rope for me – it wraps around the...

Camp Horse Show

The day of the camp horse show was the day I decided to sell my beloved horse Henry.  He came to me without any barrel training, but he was FAST!  Well, no matter how hard I tried, we just could not make it work on the barrels.  The tricky thing about barrel racing is...
Book cover for the short story, Three Horses and a Wedding
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