This story appeared in the Lancaster Sunday News, written by Pat Johnson
The day Ron Hevener called to announce the birth of Naja, he was as excited as any new father. To Hevener, Naja’s birth was evidence of just one more miracle in the unfolding events of Nahgua – a horse that Hevener says he saved “in the nick of time.” Continue reading The Luckiest Racehorse Alive
Winter’s aching fingers pinched my ears as I hurried to the barn. My toes, cozy and padded by woolen socks in a new pair of work boots, bent with each chunk of frozen mud beneath them and sent fluffy, mindless snow bouncing away on my path. A shepherd amid his flock of sheep, or a farmer in a cloud of white chickens, might have centered himself in such a universe. I was on my way to the horses that had become the center of my life. Continue reading If Animals Could Talk
“A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”- John Shedd
One of the things I like most about horses is their emotional honesty. By emotional honesty, I mean a horse’s direct connection to its natural impulses. These can be impulses of physical desire or repulsion; impulses of mental curiosity or joy. They can also be expressions of affection, loss, fear and courage. What, exactly, is courage based upon? Certainly, its ingredients include bravery, self-respect, strength of conviction and a healthy measure of righteous indignation! Courage – standing up against all odds – is intangible, admirable and beyond reasonable logic … whatever the pieces of its puzzle. Let’s take a closer look at what makes courageous people and their horses tick. Continue reading So Much Alike!
A little boy threw down the wash towel and refused to wash the dishes.
His young father, who probably didn’t like washing dishes, either, said, “OK. If you won’t do the dishes, then you must do something else.”
“But, why?” asked the boy. “Why must I do something I don’t like!” Continue reading What Are You Building?
It was one of those sunny days when you can’t sit still, when something stirs in your belly – in your blood – and you’ve got to get out and do something! The sound of a lawn mower danced on the breeze; the smell of fresh-cut grass and evergreen sap flowing through grandfather-trees surrounding the house. The weathered barn, with its slate roof, stood strong against the unspoken murmur of clouds sizzling away in the morning. Chickens ran madly from their house into the open lawns, and dogs in the kennel scolded them for … well … maybe just for being chickens. It was summer at the farm in Michigan. The unpredictable breeze off Gull Lake could wash the pastures in a minute’s whim. The horses were calling. Continue reading The Ride of Your Life
