Horses, Songs and Hope

Summer has gotten away from me! It has been full of meaningful work, and I’m thankful for a rainy morning to reflect. My mornings have been dedicated to training the horses and teaching lessons. Each horse and rider bring their unique set of strengths and challenges, and I’m thankful to have riders that are willing to commit to the program and give it some time to take hold. So often, it’s the horses that make the progress first; there’s some lag time for the riders to recognize and learn to maintain their horse’s new skill set. Each horse and rider bring a different combination of energy, and it takes the most effort on my part to communicate the specifics of how to get them working together in a harmonious way.

I sold my Dutch Warmblood, Kitty Hawk early this spring - she went to a professional dressage trainer near Dallas/Fort Worth who’ll continue her development and absolutely loves her. She has quickly become the barn favorite! Following her sale, I purchased a sweet little 3 yr old mare named Hanna and trained her for four months. You may have seen some of the video updates that I put out monthly on her progress; she really bloomed toward the start of month 4, and it just goes to show how much time and consistency affects development. Hanna just found her home with a military veteran who’ll be able to develop his horsemanship skills with her. I’ll be traveling to do some group lessons with him and other riders near Pittsboro, NC throughout the fall. It brings me such joy to take a horse that no one saw value in, and over the course of a summer, make her useful for a rider. The impact of my training is always felt the most when buyers come back with stories of how much fun they are having and all that they are learning with their new horse.

I became a member of Mt Pleasant church over the summer, and continue to serve on the praise team singing and playing guitar. I also enrolled in a 9 week worship songwriting class designed by Krissy and Eric Nordhoff from Franklin, TN that is just wrapping up. We meet on a Zoom call once a week to fellowship and co-write songs together. It has been a fun challenge and it has really grown my skills as a songwriter. It has been really good for me to dive back into music, studying the word, and songwriting. Better than any self help book, God’s promises and truths have the power to truly sustain us. Adam is back to work after his surgery earlier this summer, and starts physical therapy this week. We are still waiting on the Lord to bless us with a child, and we continue to work with Reply Fertility remotely. They are a restorative reproductive medicine (RRM) provider and have been so helpful in the healing of my body, and in setting us up for a successful pregnancy that just can’t be found at the average clinic. We continue to wait on the Lord’s perfect timing, trusting that He’s got this.

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, as whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” John 15:7-9

As we are approaching fall, our cows are calving. One of our cows had twins and chose to only recognize one of them, so we brought the heifer home and I have been bottle feeding her twice a day and teaching her to lead in and out of the stall. Never a dull moment around the farm!