My horse triggers an old, habitual way of thinking and feeling in me, not enough. Horses establish clear boundaries with each other. They regularly and decisively enforce these limits. For humans, boundaries can be complex and problematic. Everything about human relationships is more complicated than it is with horses. As an animal lover, my natural inclination is to cuddle with them and love them to pieces. Many people struggle with setting and maintaining personal boundarie

Some people face a lot of loss in the form of death in their life while others face comparatively little. I fall in the latter camp. As the decades pass, it has not gone unnoticed that I'm fortunate in this regard. I've lost my great grandparents, my grandparents, great aunts and uncles, and a first cousin who was only 18 years old when he passed away. He suffered from cystic fibrosis his entire life. Still, he lived a vibrant life thanks to my incredible aunt and uncle, who

Everyone seems to have a different view on the necessity and effectiveness of bodywork on horses. There are many treatments, and every practitioner has a unique approach. Some are effective, and some aren't. It's hard to know what treatment to choose, and then there's the issue of cost. I experienced many benefits to human bodywork, for example, chiropractic care, acupuncture, and massage, so it wasn't a leap for me to have a massage therapist work on Rudy when his back was s

It was going to be a busy day for Rudy and me. Portsmouth Living magazine was profiling me as their person of interest for the September 2021 edition. A professional photographer was coming to the barn to take pictures of us. The hope was to capture the essence of our relationship as well as Rudy's connection with children. I arrived at the barn at 8 a.m. to start preparations. My close friend Allison was due to arrive at 9 and the photographer at 9:30. Our goal was to get fi

I went to a horse clinic earlier this month. The title was Compassionate Connection, and the instructor was Heidi Potter. If someone walked into the room, they never would have guessed we were in a horse clinic. Heidi started by suggesting we give our worry up to a higher faith. We discussed breathing patterns, that the inhale brings energy and the exhale brings calm. She introduced us to Brené Brown’s 7 Super Tips. For example, empathy is the antidote to shame. Heidi told us