Back in the Saddle Again
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Reboot Your Life
By Jennie Ivey

The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit, and fire.
~Sharon Ralls Lemon

Was this what menopause was all about? I'd known there would likely be hot flashes. A thickening waistline. Mood swings. What I hadn't figured on was falling into an ever-deepening funk as I moved further and further into my fifties. I'd scold myself when I'd become weepy for no reason. I had nothing to be unhappy about. I had a wonderful husband, three happy kids who are on their own, a roof over my head, shoes on my feet and no worries about where my next meal was coming from.

It wasn't that I didn't have enough to keep me busy. I had a too-big house to clean and a too-big lawn to mow. A garden to tend. Meals to cook and dishes to wash. I volunteered at church and at a neighborhood elementary school. On top of all that, my husband and I lived on a small farm. Though the cattle, goats and chickens that we'd once cared for were gone, we still had horses, cats, and Sophie, our three-year-old Boxer mix who clearly relished being a farm dog. (Keep reading)