10/30/2026
Sometime in the summer of 1985 is when I first learned to braid.
I was five years old and we were moving to Raleigh, NC from Georgia. I can remember being in the the back of strange car and driving through strange surroundings for what seemed an eternity as we looked for the new house we would move into.
In the backseat, I had all my My Little Ponies in tow and so life went on as I busied myself by practicing braiding their colorful manes and tails as my parents did all the achingly boring grown up things I couldn't comprehend.
Since then, I've spent my entire life with horses, thanks to my parents and all the decisions they made that shaped me.
Especially my mom.
Sometimes I feel like the living embodiment of her horse-starved, horse-crazy girlhood. It was always written that these animals would guide me through all of life's chapters.
The two horses featured in this little video are my mom's last two horses that she adopted shortly before she passed. As the wise, always thoughtful human that she was, before she adopted these two she first asked me if I would be able to take responsibility for them when she was no longer here.
There was zero hesitation from me and she signed the adoption paperwork the following day. She got two more years with them before she left.
We didn't expect her departure or their arrival as soon as it came, and so there was a bit of a scramble to fence off a new paddock for them and take on two more mouths to feed.
That was over five years ago now, and I cannot adequately express the joy that these two bring to my everyday. Not only are they a connection to my late mom, they are the oddest, most in love pairing of two horses I've ever known.
Tee, the little bay mare has an unparalleled lust for life. She is passionate about EVERYTHING and literally throws her mind, body and spirit into everything she does. Including keeping her big, beefy boyfriend reassured and calm. King has experienced a lot of trauma and physical pain in his life. Mom used to say that he saw ghosts because of how scared he would get out of seemingly nowhere.
They're relationship with each other and continued presence in my life connects me with truths and insights that go beyond the ordinary and would be undersold in a simple Facebook post. But those same truths and insights continue to shape me and what I know about our time on earth being .
And so I will conclude this by to some of our Partners who are also connected to their horses in deep, meaningful ways Virginia Equine Welfare Society (VEWS), Beautiful Brokenness, Nalani Horse Rescue, Labyrinth Training Center, Equine Connection Center and Wings of Hope Ranch
