Joe, Kathleen, and Benji will be at Road to the Horse
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Meet Benji, Kathleen, and moi at Road the the Horse, the World Championship colt starting competition March 5-7 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Benji will make a special appearance at the event; I’ll be signing copies of The Soul of a Horse: Life Lessons from the Herd; and – by popular demand – Kathleen will be introducing her new The Soul of a Horse Collection: note cards and mounted prints bearing her amazing photography. For spectators Road to the Horse is the best equine education that’s ever been crammed into two days. I don’t think we’ve missed seeing one on television or DVD since the event began. We’re really excited about being there in person for the first time.
I apologize that so many of you have had to ask why there hasn’t been a post for a while, many apparently fearing the worst. Only the weather has been “the worst”. It’s snowing again as I write this. Spring, Spring, Spring. Where are you? Not in February, Kathleen reminded me. But other than being really “snowed under” with work we’re all good. The horses and all the other four-legeds are doing great. The horses got their feet trimmed yesterday and Mark Taylor, our terrific natural hoofcare professional (sounds way better than trimmer), reports that all 24 hooves are fantastic despite the wettest fall and worst winter in 15 years according to locals. Not a sign of anything ugly or nasty. I give credit to movement, movement, movement. And, of course, Mark.
Brighter days are ahead as Kathleen comes in Wednesday for a long weekend and according to Weather.com she’s bringing some of those warm California temps with her. Then she’ll be back the first weekend in March for Road to the Horse. Yippee!
Hope those of you who live close can come by and say howdy March 3-5. See you there.
Joe
Thanks Sweetie, no pressure ;). I’d rather be dispensing legal advice than inviting people to share in what I see through the looking glass. It’s quite uncomfortable to stride right out of that comfort zone. But, it will be when the first tiny sprigs of green announcing the coming of spring so I welcome the newness of it all.
Wish I could be there to meet you and Benji Joe, but alas its a little far for a quick visit. One day I do hope to meet you, Kathleen, Benji and all your wonderful horses.
Glad that Mouse is alright after her ordeal with the fall thro the ice…….she must of been freezing till you came to the rescue!!!! Its a darn good thing that she has you for a member of her herd!!!!
Love to you both and HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!! :)
Hi, Joe.
I’m one of your (usually) silent readers, enjoying news from your most recent relocation. As a former Californian, we opted for a warmer location when we fled the mess that California has become, and ended up in AZ. (Not the Valley of the Sun, but a very remote area in a higher elevation. Much better!) I cannot imagine relocating to an area with 4 seasons again. (Originally from MA.)
You were right – I was getting concerned not seeing a recent blog – thinking of you in your situation with all the additional work that the cold climate presents. Glad to hear you are alive and well, and the horses’ hooves are doing great. It’s much easier in a drier climate, but then again, God designed this creature fully able to function without our intervention, so we shouldn’t be surprised at how they thrive when kept naturally.
Glad to hear you are surviving. I admire you for making such a move, although I was afraid from your description of the water hauling, and feeding, and the emergency care (and stress) of Mouse’s inadvertent dip in the pond that it may be too much for you. As we are on the downside of the mountain of life, things don’t get easier physically. ;)
Take care – I’ll be reading…
Sincerely,
Monique
Gosh, it was so good to hear from you. With all the crazy weather back there, I was worried about you and your herd. My husband says I worry more about you than him! He’s probably right as I usually know what he’s up to! Besides, I do truthfully spend my days making sure my animals…horses, goats, dogs & cats…are happy and healthy.
I love hearing from you. Your experiences and observations with your horses (and Benji, too) are always so heart warming. I’m sitting here typing this, looking out on my horses nibbling at the green grass we now have again (Valley Center), and thinking how incredible it is to be able to live life with horses. Those of us that feel their spirit are really lucky.
Looking forward to hearing about Road to the Horse, and more about Kathleen’s new collection.
So glad things are going well for you and the “kids”
Did think it had been a while since I had heard.
Really wish I could make it to Tennessee and get a chance
to meet you both – but dont see that happening.
We are finally getting some snow and its been very
cold this year. Havent minded too much – Cougar
(my dog) and I get our walks in morning & night around
the field – and the deer are here a couple times a day.
Love watching them (would rather be watching horses, but
cant always have what you want.
Hang in there – stay warm – spring cant be far off.
Maggie
Joe,
Thanks to your blog and common sense, my guys made it through some nasty weather. When Manny got cold and wet and was shivering, I towled him dry, covered him up for a bit with an old sleeping bag, made sure there was lots of good hay, and in no time he was making steam. That night started with rain, freezing rain and sleet and progressed to almost 2 feet of snow. After the snow stopped, everyone wanted back down in the pasture. Enough of being cooped up where the shelter was!
FYI – My part of Maryland ended up with over 2 feet of snow between three storms.
:o) There you are!
Kathleen, you make me laugh…I find it funny that sharing photographs is more stressful (to you) than lawyer-ing! I can’t wait to see them all. And note cards – what a great idea! We should all make note cards from pictures of our pets…alas…they may not be as good as yours. Taking extraordinary photographs is a gift.
Enjoy Road to the Horse – have to look that one up – never heard of it before. Maybe next year I will try to come. By then, I will have a 3 yr old gelding (my daughter’s horse) and a 4 yr old (Sparrow – my filly).
Love to you all, and praying for warm spring breezes!!
Jane
Hi Joe,
Just got caught up on all your latest blog entries and am so happy the incident with the icy pond turned out well. I was holding my breath there for a few paragraphs.
You know I have mentioned our move to TN and it is similar in that TN had the coldest winter in decades that year, as well. Our recently installed new plumbing froze up 3 times that year. Any time I walked into a local store, someone would invariably ask if it was cold enough for us. My good humor was wearing pretty darn thin by that time having to huddle around the wood stove in the family room to stay warm.
You’ll do just fine. Spring arrives early here in Mid TN and it is beautiful!!
Glenda
Promises, promises :)
Hi Joe, Kathleen & Benji – My daughter & I visited you at a book signing in Florida last year. We made a short slideshow of the pictures we took during the visit and it turned out really nice. I hope that you will consider taking a look at it on our youtube/99lilmissy site. You may recognize her because I was just crazy enough to take her picture with Benji, run across the street to Walgreens and printed the picture, then we came right back and you autographed it for her and you were very surprised by it. Then, you posed for a picture with her and my battery died! (what luck). I hope that you enjoy the pictures, we treasure them. Also on our youtube site, is a video audition for a commercial “Network for Animals” which I think you will enjoy. She was not selected, but still it is a good video with a good message that I think you will appreciate. I am hoping to begin visiting animal shelters if they will allow us to record videos there and have her promote adoptions via the youtube. She really wants to help these animals and you have been a great inspiration to her. Thank you, your website is beautiful.