My boyfriend and I had just broken up, and the best way to describe me was ‘a shit show’. An absolute mess. And amongst all of the crap that you feel when you’re is in the middle of a terrible break up, the most painful to me was a future of… nothing. All I could picture was this gray foggy mist, a completely unknown wall of darkness that lay in front of me. (If you’re already depressed, then you get the picture. If you’re nodding in agreement, then you’re amongst the best of us that have been through this kind ...
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The other day, I got an email that touched my heart. It was from a man named Rusty, who told me the story of his draft horse Duke. The love that he carries for his horse was so evident. His story made me think of my own love story with my horse Gemini. And from there I got thinking about all of our stories. How is that we find our first horse love? What kind of place do they settle into in our heart? How do we connect with them? What makes us fall for them so hard? How do ...
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The best words to describe horse showing, for me, is anticipation and relief. You know that moment before you go into your class? They call your name, and you know you’re up next, and you gather yourself and horse — hopefully to go do something great. And if not great, at least something worthwhile. Showing (and for the sake of this argument, I’m going to include going to clinics under the same umbrella) takes a lot of time. And it takes a lot of money. So why do we do it? The American Horse Council estimates that there are 481,000 ...
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What’s a show mom? A show mom is a category of mom that all young riders know and love. Show moms are the ones that come to their daughter’s horse shows, not just to watch, but to support and be a part of their child’s world. You don’t actually have to be a mom to be a show mom. For example, I’m not a mom, but I surely consider myself a show mom! They’re the mother figures that are there to help, keep everything in line and support the girls who are showing. It’s usually 50/50 — some mom’s are ...
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One of my goals for the year of 2015 was to ride more.  Actually, I know goals are supposed to be specific, so I put it like this: "Ride 2-3 times per week, because it makes me happy and grounded". Happy and grounded?  Interesting way of putting it.  Of all the things that I could have focused on as the reason behind why I should be riding (moving around, getting exercise, taking care of a horse who needs to be ridden, just to name a few), doing something that makes me happy and grounded was what was the most important to ...
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My grammy, Marion Libby Broaddus, was a spectacular woman. Mainly because she was such a unique person. She was 9th was a generation Mainer, who had a strong, witty personality and an attitude to boot. She always reminded me of the classic 1950’s ad with the woman saying, “We can do it!”. She taught me things that I couldn’t have learned from anyone else. As a girl finding my place in the world, my grammy was integral to keeping me tied to my roots, and growing up in the right direction. I originally drafted this article almost a year ago, ...
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Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a draft person.  A person, who above all other horses, loves draft horses.  It's true, I am a draft lover. Know anyone like that? I think it happened when I got my second horse, a Clydesdale cross who I named Gemini.  He knew nothing, I knew nothing.  It was a spectacularly terrible mix.  Plus, he was incredibly frustrating, and was big enough to overpower me.  Sound familiar?  Anyone who's dealt with a draft horse knows what I'm saying. So, how is it that now, I'm crazy about draft horses?  Enough to write ...
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I was a bit of a horror, as far as teenage daughters go. My mom and I fought, almost daily, for many of my early teenage years.  I was a pain, to say the least, with a strong personality in a house of sweet, tender and quiet family members.  I was always right and very independent at far too young.  I wasn't respectful of the boundaries laid before me, but I refused to lie-- so I would lawyer my way into proving that my point of view was right.  The result was never ending fights, that seemed to merge ...
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I was 23 when I found out I had cancer. Melanoma skin cancer, in fact. The funny part is, I was never a big tanner.  I didn't care too much about looking brown and beautiful-- I was just too lazy to cover up.  I was always out riding in an outdoor arena or working outside.  I wasn't a tanning bed layer, a bikini wearer, or a sun bathing beauty.  I was always too on the move to care about that stuff. But cancer caught up to me anyways.  And it was doing a 5 minute mile, apparently. You can actually ...
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"Some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle and end.  Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.  Delicious ambiguity..."     - Gilda Radner I've read and re-read this quote over the years.  It's kept me comforted on dark nights, and moving forward when the path ahead feels unknown.  Though every time I read this, the words feel new-- like I'm discovering that it's okay not to know, again and again. I first read this quote in a card.  It was a ...
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It all started when I moved to Montana. I’m not new to starting life in new places. I moved to New Hampshire in college, I lived in Ireland on a study abroad and moved to Wyoming a week after graduation. Each time, I knew no one. I started fresh. I took a leap. And I thought Montana would be just like all of my other leaps. When I moved, I worked from home and lived alone for the first time. My goal was to finally start my life in a place that I’d been wanting to live for years. To ...
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I grew up in Maine, in the northeast corner of New England. As a whole, Mainers pride themselves on being practical people; intellectual dialogue, democratic compassion and love of nature abounds. The concept of ‘religion’ is looked at with some skepticism, though the majority would consider themselves spiritual in some way. The people are smart and empathetic, and won’t hesitate to offer advise in times of emotional crisis. I came to depend on that insight as as I rode life’s roller coaster of changes. Getting advise from my important people would tip the “decision scale”, and point me off in ...
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Want a horse but can’t afford it? You’ve got some options. Recently, I wrote an article called 10 Reasons Your Daughter Should Own a Horse, which detailed all the benefits of horse ownership for teenage girls. Now, I’ve been compelled to address the next logical step in the consideration process. There are lots of benefits to owning horses, but the first blockade to ownership is the financial investment that has to be made. Horses cost a lot of money, no matter how much of a great influence they may have on your son or daughter. If owning a horse is ...
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After living in Wyoming for a couple years, I moved home to Maine for a few months to figure out my next direction. One afternoon, I went into Eddie Bauer, and wandered around the store. A young boy, about six years old, was with his mother and grandparents and looked bored almost to tears (like any typical 6 year old boy in an adult clothing store, I’d say!). As they walked out of the store, the little boy looking relieved, I smiled at them and said sometime encouraging words to the mother. All three adults looked at me like I ...
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Let me preface this conversation with some important information: I’ve always liked being touched. I like to be hugged, I like to have my hair braided and my back scratched. I’m just touchable, it’s how I was born. That said, I didn’t realize how inappropriately touchy the general population of men from New England are, until I moved away. Ladies, it might surprise you, but start paying attention when you go out; you may realize that you’re getting touched a lot by strangers and you don’t even recognize it. Let me start at the beginning. After graduating college in New ...
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I was one hell of a teenager: utterly independent, debated everything and sought full control over my own life by the time I was 13. Looking back, it was actually my horse that kept me safe and out of trouble, when my parents could only do so much. There are many reasons that your teenage daughter might want a horse. There’s also many reasons that as a parent, you may think it’s a bad idea. There’s pros and cons to every situation, I know. Cons: first off, horses are expensive-- they’re actually black holes for money, let’s be realistic. This ...
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In college I started to write letters. I wrote to friends who were starting their new lives around the country. I wrote to my Grammy at home and my Grampa in South Carolina. I even wrote to my parents. At first, I wrote because I loved the idea of snuggling up with a blanket and a cup of coffee and writing in a window nook as the sun rose. Even still, I’ve never done that, by the way.... Secondly, I love mail, and (just like with many things in life) the only way to get it is to give it ...
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