10/21/2026
Introducing "Blogging with Emily James" This will be an interactive blogging series where we will share stories of our own and want to hear from you of your own experiences!
Once upon a time I dreamt of becoming a mother to a little girl who toddled about with pigtails and chubby cheeks dressed in striped leggings.
Well, those things did all materialize but what was at the end of those striped leggings were two little feet that carried that girl to a horse barn just as fast as they could.
I’ll back up just a little bit and tell you that that little girl was two years old and strapped in a car seat the first time I noticed the excitement in her eyes and nose pressed on the window when we would drive past horses in a field.
In the days that followed, her aunt lined up a trail ride for her and she would become one of the many pals of a pony called Barney. She would return to ride ‘Baw-nee’ as well as celebrate at his 25th birthday party and it became abundantly clear to me that she needed more time on a farm.
As luck would have it I saw a social media post of a young lady offering lessons and I sent off a message asking for possibly a pony ride but if nothing else some time up close with a real horse. The response later came to me that age three is younger than she normally accepts, buuut let’s give it a try.
So we travelled to Kent Bridge with our excited youngster and her newly hatched baby sister and well, as they say, the rest was history because the only way I got those TWO little girls to leave that farm was eight years later on the day the owners sold it.
While at the time I thought we were giving our daughters something they could enjoy for an hour each week, in reality it became a growing number of life lessons, conversations and opportunities that would organically present.
So all of this to say, life leads you into some unexpected chapters but as I stare out my window at the TWO horses grazing in the yard I can say with certainty that our family is exactly where it’s meant to be and the barn adventures we have been taken on thus far have been more than half the fun of getting here.
A horse barn holds so many stories that end in laughter and tears and sometimes a bit of both.
These are the stories we will retell for years to come. So let’s start sharing some of them!
