A Meditation with Lilacs
The wind touches my skin, Asking if I can, for a moment, be still. How can I connect with anything, if I don’t notice the delicate lilac...
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crissimcdonald
Jan 26, 20231 min read
On Loan to Us
As humans we will take about 700 million breaths in our lifetime. Horses will take around 450 million. What is this invisible thing that...
crissimcdonald
Jan 10, 20230 min read
They are not mine
Horses galloping across the snow.
crissimcdonald
Jan 10, 20234 min read
Rivers of Change
“What people have the capacity to choose, they have the ability to change.” Madeleine Albright Things are changing in the horse world....
crissimcdonald
Mar 18, 20224 min read
The Devolution of the Pushbutton Horse
About a decade ago, I went to the Scottsdale All Arabian Horse show. I was excited to revisit a place I had happy childhood and early...
crissimcdonald
Feb 16, 20224 min read
What Sustains You?
We were working in Arizona last month, doing a series of clinics. After the warm day had cooled to a crisp desert evening, my friend Lori...
crissimcdonald
Feb 2, 20214 min read
Truce
When I started learning about horses, it was from a place of deep and abiding love. The way of being with horses that I fell into came...
crissimcdonald
Oct 4, 20204 min read
Sanity in a Wheelbarrow
I confess: cleaning stalls, scrubbing water troughs, and slinging hay have been my lifelines to sanity this year. Add in horsehair in my...
crissimcdonald
Aug 24, 20204 min read
Thinking, Judging, Feeling
Despite several big worries that have been gnawing their way through my psyche today, that hot bath feeling of peace visited me. A part...
crissimcdonald
May 5, 20205 min read
Bree Returns
I didn’t know I needed to see Bree until I saw her again. Five years had passed since she and I had the accident that put me in the...
crissimcdonald
Mar 29, 20204 min read
Shedding A heavy coat
Rocky and Crissi. It’s that time of year. Our horse Rocky is so itchy, he’s rubbing up against pine trees to scratch the hair off. I took...
crissimcdonald
Jan 14, 20205 min read
The Best Tools
There’s an expression currently making its rounds in the horse world. “It’s another tool for my toolbox.” Having answers to our horse’s...
crissimcdonald
Dec 21, 20195 min read
The Season of Acceptance
There are things I like about this time of year. The Christmas lights that festoon the trees lining our downtown main street are magical,...
crissimcdonald
Nov 12, 20194 min read
Excerpt from “Continuing The Ride.”
In the summer, I like to keep a few pots of herbs and vegetables on our south-facing porch. The growing season is short where we live,...
crissimcdonald
Sep 9, 20194 min read
You Already Have Timing and Feel
As I was brushing our horses yesterday, I noticed that despite the rivulet of sweat running down my back, their short summer coats were...
crissimcdonald
Jul 20, 20194 min read
Your Horse Isn’t Distracted
After learning about the horse’s brain at a recent seminar and getting to hold a horse brain, I felt a thrill much like roller coasters...
crissimcdonald
Jun 29, 20194 min read
Living In The Center
As we stood at the gate to the horse’s paddock on a sunny afternoon, my nephew said: “Aunt Crissi, I want to pet every horse in the pen!”...
crissimcdonald
May 20, 20193 min read
A Gratitude of Horses
Thorny was an old cowboy my parents knew, and the first person who introduced me to horses. I was still in diapers, holding on to the...
crissimcdonald
Apr 16, 20193 min read
The Whole Horse
It was a warm and sunny morning as I chatted with Jaycee about what she would like to work on with her horse Scamp. “I’ve been making him...
crissimcdonald
Mar 6, 20194 min read
Removing Mental Hobbles
Life–and horses, for that matter– both have an uncanny knack of knowing just when you need a little insight and humility. We recently...
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