Kristine E. Brickey

Even as 2024 taught me the power of prioritizing joy, so much so in fact that I have vowed to pursue this goal even deeper in 2025, there are still days where I feel life weighing upon my heart. This morning, as I enjoyed my morning ritual of coffee, word puzzles, and snuggles with Frankie in my little couch nest, a wave of melancholy washed over me.  I know it stems from grief.  I know it will always be with me, a lesson that solidified during my time with Becky Howell of Equine-led Holistic Success (formerly Meeting Place Equine). I stood in the barn aisle, listening to my body, asking my shoulder where and why the tension originated from. (Yes, I was initially rolling my eyes behind my closed lids...until I heard my body respond.) First, the word pain. I was stunned. Astonished. I'd truly only complied with Becky's directions, never expecting results from what I thought was a too hooey-hooey ask even for me!  And then, as I listened with a slightly more open mind, my s...

Oh, what a weekend! My heart is filled in ways that should not surprise me at this point in my life, yet here I am. Jammies on (it's only 4:45 p.m.). Hydrating. Reflecting on the Somatics Work 1 clinic that wrapped up here earlier this afternoon. Today, I did a demo for the group with my Mustangs. I brought both horses into the arena and haltered them, playing with them for a bit before everyone walked over. Becky Howell, the clinician and founder of Meeting Place Equine and I agreed that too many eyes focused on Cappy might be a bit much for him, so we decided to use Cinder for the 'observation' demo. I let Cappy back into the pasture.  Becky asked me to lead Cinder around while she pointed out different aspects on Cinder's body. Despite the windy gusts and crinkling of fall leaves spinning down (much more enrichments than a bubble machine!), I was tickled to hear comments about Cinder's symmetry, balance and connection. Moving close to the fence where the seven wo...

Nestled snugly in familiar surroundings, I find my breath and reflect upon the last few weeks. Four unexpected days in the hospital, terrified by words like cancer, my future went hazy and filled with uncertainty. Honestly, I went to a dark place for a while sitting in Baptist Memphis ER's waiting area. I imagined my husband and loved ones left behind, mourned all the things I wanted to accomplish with my Mustangs, unfinished writing projects, and a vanishing future. Fast forward a few short weeks to today. Clean bill of health, home from an inspirational and challenging horse behavior clinic, Cappy's successful dental procedure accomplished this afternoon, and a future without limitation. Today, I cried tears of gratitude, overwhelmed as I pondered the journey that brought me to where I am now. During the final day of the Rachael Draaisma clinic, I experienced a huge 'Aha!' when I heard her guide me to do less. Calming signals (horses offer these for multitudes of reas...

    SOOO many big things recently! Farrier was coming at 2:30 (he has been at least 30-45 minutes early every single time in the three years we've been working together) so I brought all 3 of my equines into the arena to play/halter to be ready for him. I still get a little anxious about keeping Cappy under threshold once his truck pulls in the drive & my mini donkey can be, well, quite a donkey about being haltered unless he's in the proper frame of mind. So, of course, my lovelies were all eager to come in and play, and halters were all on in like maybe 5 minutes. Guess who is running an hour behind schedule? Yup. Time to pivot!      Taking advantage of my new arena, we played with the rings (3 hard rubber rings linked together, a dog toy purchased for my horses) and both my Mustangs are now holding them in their mouths for a two count!       With plenty of time still to kill, we moved to the Reverse Round pen (RRP). For those unfa...

Ever had one of those experiences that goes so beyond your wildest expectations that you can hardly believe it is happening and you drive home from 'just a trail ride' (HA! it is never 'just' anything) and can't stop grinning and you know people are driving past wondering about the goofy woman hauling her horse and you don't even care? I hope everyone feels like I do right now at least...No, as often as possible in your lives! On Monday, July 1st, 2024 Cinder and I rode our softest ride so far. Almost nine miles in the shaded hills and forests of Waterloo's trails. Since she'd done so well last week with the neck rope, I wanted to give my Two Horse Tack halter/bridle headstall a try. Originally, I'd planned on playing around in my new arena before trying this out on the trails. The best laid plans... Knowing I needed to be driving to meet Rose around 9:15AM, I fed around 7AM. All was well. I packed my waters and lunch, had the trailer ready, grabbed ...

Life is not fair. There are always going to be people who figure out how to work the system, find the loopholes, win without actually earning the win.  This makes me a little crazy...and not in my normal, okay if people don't appreciate my crazy, crazy.  I work really hard to achieve my goals. When I do my best, when I know I have done all I could do, and then get beat to the finish, I am okay with the result. It pushes me further in future attempts. However, when I do my best but get beat at the finish because of loopholes, rules being set aside, trickery if you will...it gnaws at me, burns a hole in my calm, wakes me as I mentally twist and turn with the unfairness of it all. Turn the other cheek. Forgive and forget. Let it go. It's what the loophole seekers, the rule benders, the tricksters are hoping for in order to continue their methods, in order to keep nudging out the ones who play by the rules, who ignore bad behavior by others, who take the infamous high road. Seemin...