Endurance Riding

The older I get, the more I value the importance of two things: being outdoors and building community. Yesterday afternoon, two of my clients volunteered to help me clear some trail next door at the 500 acre ranch we have the privilege of riding on. As we are gearing up for the upcoming endurance season, […]

*Originally written on January 31, 2021, but not published until January 7, 2024. I remember learning about the stages of grief in some high school or college psychology class. But as I learn about them now, in the depths of my own grief, I realize they don’t come packaged up neatly. You don’t feel one […]

I was not planning on driving through Paradise today or visiting the place we last lived 5 years ago. I awoke feeling pretty ambivalent about this anniversary. But the kids had a well visit that had been scheduled months ago with their pediatrician in lower Paradise. So, we made the drive up Skyway. Afterwards, I […]

If you had told me a year ago that I would be riding a green broke stallion on his first 50 (which turned out to be a 55) while sponsoring not one, but two juniors (one who was riding a mare), I would have thought you were crazy… but that’s exactly what happened on Sunday […]

Today, we logged 4.69 miles. Doesn’t seem like a lot, but this was a huge milestone for us. You see, this is FV Aur Salute, a 4 year old stud colt I had shipped from Canada last fall. He is the first horse I have ever purchased sight unseen, but my gut told me to […]

I don’t have any photos from this last week as I was alone for each training session, and I believe in 100% focus and connection with the horse when I am training. That is probably the single greatest lesson horses have taught me — being fully present in the moment, something I have often struggled […]

Robert Burns, in 1785, said, “The best laid plans of mice and men, often go awry.” By the time I had made it to the Pacific Crest Endurance Ride near Ashland, Oregon on the evening of June 16th, I think I was on Plan Q. Everything had changed – from who was watching the baby […]

The morning after we found out we were pregnant with you, we were sitting at the kitchen table when a lightning storm lit up the sky. I had my hands wrapped around a mug of warm herbal tea, with Asher to my left, sitting on Dad’s lap, a front row seat to the show the […]

Redwoods. Coastal breezes. Cooler temperatures. Mist, fog, and the magic of shaded forests… Cuneo Creek was always a ride I wanted to enter, but after more than a decade of competing in the sport of endurance, it still hadn’t made it on my list (mostly because I never wanted to brave driving the long, curvy, […]

I want to tell you about a horse. A little grey half-Arab mare named Dippi. Five and a half years ago, she came into our lives as a gift from my mentor, hoof trimmer, and friend. She immediately became the favorite on our farm with her larger-than-life how-come-I-can’t-just-sit-in-your-lap personality. She was the sweetest mare in […]