Thanksgiving: Our First Horse Was a Dog

Meet my dogs, Preacher Man, Mister, and Jack. They’re in the doorway to my writing studio. It’s Thanksgiving night, which is always on a Thursday. So, for the last thirteen years, every Thanksgiving evening (and every other Thursday night) we meet here to write my blog. It’s usually the All-Horse Channel, as I share what … Read more

Calming Signals: How the Farm Says Thank You.

      It’s Thanksgiving time and I should write something special, but I feel kind of ordinary. All I can think about is how dry it is. Last week a fire started on a neighbor’s property. They got it under control quickly, but I stood with my mouth open watching. I was frozen, knowing … Read more

Thanksgiving from a Cowboy Girl

You could tell it was the 1980’s because I’d done something with my hair that made me look like a Portuguese Water Dog. A permanent wave to posterity. I was in a laundromat washing horse blankets. I wasn’t trying to save the mess at home. I didn’t have a washer. So, two horses in a … Read more

Thank You for the Eggs.

I came in from the barn yesterday with a Thanksgiving hangover. I confess I’m a glutton. I totally over-indulged in the hairy abundance of the day. We have company here for the holiday. They are in our extended herd. We use that term pretty freely around here. If you have fur, or have ever liked … Read more

Mucking for Peace.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I think we should nix all the others and celebrate Thanksgiving every month. I am fine with changing the meal sometimes, as long as the tradition of eating too much, sleeping, and saying thank you is still the order of the day. Got to love a holiday with such low … Read more

All I Want for Christmas…(is Thanksgiving.)

I got an advertisement in the mail from a local tack store this week. It was printed to look like a Christmas wish list, personalized with my name at the top. Surprisingly, there was nothing on that alleged list that I actually wanted. Disbelief still hangs heavy in the air. What would be on my Christmas wish list? Let me think… The … Read more

Gratitude for the Glorious Gift of Poop.

This is how you can tell there is a tourist in the barn: they keep their eyes on the ground and there’s lots of erratic tiptoeing. Some even squeal at the sight of manure. I call it Fecalphobia- an irrational fear of digestive waste. Thankfully, humans are the only species prone to the disease. (Nincompoops.) Everybody … Read more

Part Three: Thanksgiving Every Day.

Christmas is bearing down, getting closer every day, and I continue to defiantly focus on Thanksgiving, a week away. I know- super human. When I started writing this Thanksgiving series with a Barn/Church analogy, I wanted to highlight the spiritual connection that can exist at the barn. Part one (read) was the Beginning Meditation/Grooming and … Read more

Part Two: Thanksgiving Every Day.

Last week I had a bit of a Christmas rant (read) and declared I would celebrate Thanksgiving until New Years. I feel better already. I followed with, “And if thanksgiving is my religion, then the barn will be my church.” I know I run the danger of offending a wide range of religious and spiritual … Read more

Part One: Thanksgiving Every Day.

I saw the first holiday decorations come out a few days before Halloween. I did not burst into a rousing rendition of Here Comes Santa Claus. Christmas is not my holiday. Thanksgiving is my holiday; low expectations and high reward factors. It is a holiday that is nearly impossible to mess up. Thanksgiving begins a … Read more

Words from Edgar Rice Burro on Thanks-giving.

“Slow down. No one’s tombstone ever says ‘I wish I would have mucked faster.’” Edgar has lots of opinion when I am mucking the donkey pen. He runs to greet me- which usually results in him blocking the gate I am trying to get through. That takes some un-tangling. Once I am in, he carefully positions … Read more