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Do you ever wonder just how much your dog actually understands? I’ve long suspected it’s far more than she lets on—and that obedience is, frankly, optional.

This week, I got proof.

Yesterday morning my mare came in missing a shoe. This is not rare. She has perfected the art of pulling them off, and my farrier—who possesses the patience of a saint—usually comes out to tack it back on. That is, if I find the shoe. If I don’t, we’re looking at a more expensive and time-consuming remake.

Naturally,...

I recently learned that Dorcas (Galley) Hoar, a woman accused of witchcraft during the notorious Salem Witch Trials, was my 10th great-grandmother (according to Ancestry.com).

The revelation couldn’t come at a more appropriate time than the beginning of October, Samhain, Halloween, and the witchy season. Of course, poor Dorcas was not a witch, although she ended up copping to the charge in order to save her neck. Instead, she was a woman who did not fit in with the Puritan community and...

I recently learned that one of my favorite authors, Paulette Jiles, passed away on July 8, 2025. The news hit me harder than I expected. Jiles—brilliant chronicler of both history and humanity—gave us News of the World (later made into a film), Enemy Women, Stormy Weather, and The Color of Lightning. Her words could transport you straight into the saddle, the storm, or the heart of another century. And as a fellow horsewoman, she earned my admiration twice over.

Her death came during a week...