Endurance Riding

Survivor. It’s the word we use to describe a person who copes well with the difficulties of life. In a tragic event, it’s the word we use to describe someone who has survived the tragedy. Survivor. It’s a pretty word. It’s a strong word. It’s easy to say. It sounds good. It makes so much […]

There are so many stories of heroes from the day the Camp Fire roared through our small mountain communities, decimating almost all of Paradise and its neighboring towns. The Camp Fire was terrifying, moving a football field a second, fueled by winds faster than my horses can gallop. It mercilessly destroyed memory-filled homes, family-owned businesses, […]

If there ever was a year to sit out the Tevis Cup, it would have been this year. I had a million reasons not to enter this year… it’s been over a year since I have actually slept any decent number of hours in a row, I am still carrying around an extra 10 pounds […]

There is a certain type of exhaustion that comes with being a new mom. It’s the type of exhaustion that sometimes causes crying fits (from both mom and baby), that I-don’t-care-if-I-brushed-my-teeth, I’m-going-to-the-grocery-store-in-my-pajamas kind of exhaustion. It’s that type of exhaustion that causes you to try so hard for sleep that you’ll do anything, anything to […]

I recently went to a film screening of the documentary Why Not Home? I knew the gist of the movie. I knew the movie would make a case for home birth. What I didn’t know was that the movie chronicled health care workers who had chosen home birth. There was a registered nurse, a nurse […]

  Giving birth is such an intense, intimate experience. It is one of those single moments in a woman’s life that she will never forget. Most women want to preserve those birth memories in some form — whether through photographs, video, or stories from friends who were there for the big moment…   When I […]

Every woman, from the time she finds out she’s pregnant, dreams, plans, and anticipates for that one big moment. The birth of her child.   I was very confident that I would know exactly when it was time. I had done this twice before, and both times the start of my labor had been exactly […]

When I was pregnant this last time, with my third child, at 35 years old, I had some very different reactions when my husband and I first announced our pregnancy. Of course, there were the typical “Congratulations!” “So happy for you!” “Wonderful news!” reactions.   But then there were the whys. Why would you want […]

There are so many things we still don’t talk about. Sure, a huge social media campaign has thousands of women admitting #MeToo. So, that is one step forward. We are less afraid now to admit it has happened. But we don’t talk about what #MeToo means. We don’t talk about how years after the incident […]

One of my students, 15-year-old Jenna Asnault, finished her first 50-mile endurance ride back in November at the Gold Rush Shuffle. Last month, she wrote a beautiful testament of her ride and her experience trying out different equestrian disciplines. Her story is both inspiring and wonder-filled. Reading it brought tears to my eyes…   Passing […]