It goes without saying that horse accidents can leave us in grave fear. Such was the case with our young guest here. She hadn’t ridden in 6 months since her accident. She and her family were visiting from the vast cowboy country of Wyoming when they learned about Son Bride Ranch and paid a visit in hope to overcome her fear of riding again...

Our young guest has, by now, figured out there is something greater than the ride and the accomplishments therein. It's the bond. Without the bond we seek an insatiable thirst for rides which often turn up empty over time. With the bond we seek to love and to be loved. This almost always happens with the special ingredient of trust. Consequently, the ride often qualifies as a thing of Heaven. What we know for sure is that this little princess wears that Heaven on her face every time she's with this particular horse...

This little guy lost his mama… but left in the best of hands. Reminds me of our own losses. We lose someone or something so dear but we have all of Heaven rallying to care for us nonetheless to ensure our safety, growth, and prosperity in every way. He doesn’t know fully what our presence means. He doesn’t know shifts have been divided to keep watch of him. He doesn’t know his feed cost nor the sleep lost. He doesn’t know that his loss has attracted Heaven’s eye and hands on care. He cannot identify yet that this is love. And nor can we in the jaws of loss and hurt. But God knows… along with the angels he places around us who make certain that we thrive regardless. In between those teardrops, I wonder which angels are present. Just believe… they are surely there. Click "Continue Reading" to watch the video...

Think of your greatest fear on the trail, or even worse think of your horse's greatest fear on the trail. If you live in the rocky terrain of Colorado and have good horse sense, you most likely came up with two words: mountain lion. Now what does a lion on the trail have to do with listening to your horse, you might ask. What I can tell you from experience is that you'd want to know the language your horse speaks and how to read him or her well if ever in such a predicament.

We get to see so many triumphs at the ranch that it truly has become a place of victory. It's just a matter of time to see it manifest. However, the greatest of those triumphs have been known to come with the greatest of fears. Becky...who can forget her? She came to the ranch with one of the greatest displays of fear I've ever witnessed personally. She was deathly afraid of horses but had to be there to complete our basic horsemanship program to satisfy her school's work study program alongside her classmates. I've watched her back into the corner of stalls to avoid contact with horses; literally freeze in motion in the presence of horses. I've watched her shake uncontrollably; transition from one state of shock to the next. I saw her turn purple and watched fear violently paralyze her...

I'll never forget it...my first time riding Virginia. I was just a little country kid from GA who'd been recently transplanted in southwest FL. Much had changed. I'd come from a dense agricultural environment. My family had spent most of their lives on a farm. Much of what we ate, we either grew, hunted, or fished for. My two favorite hideouts and favorite places to be were the nearby sale barn and the dam supported creek tucked a little deep in Georgia's woods that I was forbidden to go to. Who can say no to a good-sized creek in the dead of of Georgia summer that had plenty of room for me to swim along with enormous carp, snapping turtles, soft shell turtles, lamp eels, catfish, beaver, and water moccasins. Yep...water moccasins were the reason I was forbidden. My grandma declared...