One Neigh at a Time

09/06/2025

🥵If I didn’t have bad luck, I’d have no luck at all… maybe it has nothing to do with luck and something to do with drinking?
Have you said…
💔 “I just have bad luck with cops—that’s why I keep getting in trouble.”
The truth? Could your drinking DUI arrests, bar fights, and the fear of jail all came from alcohol.

❤️ Maybe if you put the bottle down, the handcuffs stopped. Freedom comes with sobriety.

👉 If alcohol keeps putting you at risk of jail, there’s another way. 🚦

✨ You don’t have to do this alone. Reach out, and let’s take the first step together. – Kathy, Recovery Coach 🌟

[email protected]

09/05/2025

Recovery Month is Here!
Are you ready to hop on and join me in recovery?
Excuse number #1
💔 “It’s just my weight… that’s why I keep having heart problems.”
The truth? It wasn’t my weight—it was the alcohol.

❤️ When I got sober, the chest pains stopped. My heart began to heal, and so did my life.

👉 If drinking is breaking your health, you don’t have to face it alone. Recovery is possible. 🌱

✨ Change is possible. If you’re ready to take the reins, then I’m here to walk beside you. – Kathy, Recovery Coach 💜

Meet Jax, 18 month old Gypsy Cross💜🐴

08/28/2025

🐴Labor Day will always remind me of the weekend I chose life.

Over a decade ago, I admitted I needed help. For years I drank 24/7—shaking, trembling, praying just to make it to morning. My fear of dying finally became stronger than my fear of getting sober.

It wasn’t easy. I relapsed. I carried shame. I hurt those I loved. But I kept reaching. And eventually, recovery found me.

This Labor Day, I honor those who work hard to change their lives, because you are worth it.

If you’re struggling:
You are not alone.
There is no shame in reaching out.
It’s never too late.

Meet KDPH Picking Wild Flowers, “Lily”

08/04/2025

Bridle Your Tongue – A Gentle Power

In James 1:26, we are reminded:

“If anyone thinks he is spiritual and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s spirituality is worthless.”

That’s a strong warning—one that calls us to examine how we use our words.

The Big Book of AA echoes this with its own wisdom: avoid arguing, steer clear of resentment, and recognize how easily our words can lead us—and others—back into old patterns of destruction. It even says to avoid such shortcomings “like the plague.”

Words can wound. They break trust, fracture families, hurt relationships, and sow division in workplaces and communities. But worse still—they damage us, too. Our unbridled tongue can be a sign that we are slipping from the grace, humility, and self-awareness we are working so hard to grow into.

As I reflect, I see the image of a horse—graceful, strong, intuitive—being bridled not to control or punish, but to communicate. A bit in the mouth gives us the ability to ask gently for a turn, a stop, or a shift in movement. And there are different kinds of bits: some harsh and unforgiving, others soft and kind to the horse’s sensitive tongue.

As humans, we don’t wear a bit. But we do need to learn to bridle our own tongues.

When we yell, demand, or try to control others with our words, we might get what we want in the moment—but we leave damage behind. Just like with a horse: you can force compliance through harshness, but you lose connection and create resistance for the future.

Resentment is dangerous. It leads us back to the very things we’re recovering from—addiction, disconnection, and despair. Our words can either soothe the soul or stir the storm.

So the question is:

What can you do today to bridle your tongue?

🐴Can you pause before responding?
🐴Can you choose silence when your ego wants to prove a point?
🐴Can you speak gently even when you’re frustrated?
🐴Can you use your words to build instead of break?

You don’t need a harsh bit to guide a willing horse—just a soft touch and mutual trust. In the same way, the kinder and gentler we are with our words, the stronger our relationships become.

SD Taking Care of Business once with Peace of Serenity Ranch photo by Samantha Dawn - Equine Photography,
Training w/KD Performance Horses

06/22/2025

What’s Hiding Under Your Rug?

Let the Light In. Let the Horse Help.

Resentment can kill—literally and figuratively. It can poison our peace, our joy, and our relationships. Most arguments don’t end with a mutual understanding. Even when we say we’ve found resolution, it doesn’t always mean we walk away truly free from what happened. Often, we walk away with something clenched tightly inside of us—resentment. And resentment lives in our bodies, holding a dark space, keeping us from the light that’s always trying to shine in.

But what happens when we finally hand that resentment over? When we turn it over to God?

For me, that process starts with acknowledging what I’ve tried so hard to ignore. I like to imagine it as a rug—a big, heavy rug that I’ve used to hide years of old hurts, pain, anger, and disappointments. I’ve been known to lift up a corner, peek underneath, feel the weight of what’s hiding there, and quickly put it back down because… it’s too much. Not now. Not yet.

But all of that is still living inside my body.

Over the years, I’ve learned something about my own character. I’ve discovered that when I’m hurt or angry, I tend to go silent. I punish people with my quietness. I ignore them. I make sure they know I’m upset—without ever saying a word. That same silence also gives me time to process, to think, and—thankfully now—to talk to God. But before I learned to bring these things to Him, I tried to control the outcomes myself. And it never worked.

Instead, I’d stuff that pain under the rug.

Eventually, the rug starts to ripple, even bulge, under the weight of what’s been hidden. And one day, you trip over it.

That’s when the healing work begins.

So… how can the horses help?

I believe horses feel every lump and bump beneath our metaphorical rugs. They sense what we’re holding in our bodies—every ounce of pain, every unspoken word, every hidden resentment. And somehow, they see the light trying to break through.

Horses live in the present. They don’t hold grudges. They don’t dwell in resentment. They simply are.

And when we’re with them, they invite us to be that way too.

I’ve watched people walk into my arena carrying decades of pain. They start talking, not always to me, but out loud—to themselves, to God, to the air—and the horses listen. They respond. Sometimes they’ll walk over and stand beside someone who’s cracking open for the first time in years. Other times, they’ll shift their bodies to reflect a change in the person’s energy—as if to say, I see you… and I’m still here.

They don’t fix us. But they hold space.

They help us begin to lift that rug—not to shame us, not to overwhelm us, but to let some light in.

So I ask you:
What are you holding onto?
What’s keeping you in a dark space?
What’s hiding underneath your rug?

You don’t have to lift the whole thing today. Maybe just a corner.
Let the light peek in.
Let the horse stand beside you.
And when you’re ready, give it all to your God.

You were never meant to carry this alone.

06/05/2025

PSR Ebony and Ivory “BB” Neighs,
I’m in the mood to spread some love … be curious, be courageous as you live in perfect harmony.

04/06/2025

04/06/2025

04/06/2025

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03/28/2025

Triggers don’t always show up loud. Sometimes they smell like vanilla.
Today, it was a simple scent that had someone I work with thinking about alcohol all day.
I’ve been there too—like when food is “cooked off” with wine, but the smell still hits hard.

Smells, sounds, memories—they can sneak up on us.
The key is awareness.

We don’t have to act on the thought.
We don’t have to pull the trigger.

What’s a subtle trigger you’ve noticed in your life?
Let’s name them—because when we do, they lose some of their power.

03/26/2025

Horses can help you filter out your inner wound. 🐴😉💙

03/26/2025

🌿 Is your anger coming from flesh… or spirit? 🐴

Anger isn’t always the enemy. In recovery, it can be a powerful teacher—if we know how to listen.

As a Gestalt coach, I’ve seen how horses respond to anger not with judgment, but with truth. As an example I've seen them stomp and keep their distance. Sometimes they may circle a person, reflecting the storm within. Not to shame—but to reveal.

They don’t just mirror us. They read our spirit—and if we’re willing, they show us the path back to ourselves.