I thought you’d enjoy seeing a photo of this beautiful foal, born at Gunston Hall in Lexington, KY. He’s about five minutes old, and hasn’t even gotten to his feet yet. His mom is sure working hard to get him up, though.

Newborns are always a reminder that God thinks life should go on.

By the way, I included this photo in one of my “Extra Flake” email devotionals. If you would like to receive them, you can sign up here. There’s no cost. Each day you’ll get an email with a short devotion, scripture and prayer.

If you are An Extra Flake subscriber, I’d love to hear your opinion on a few aspects of receiving the “Flakes.” Would you mind sharing it with me on this survey?

Thanks so much.

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By the way, I thought you’d enjoy seeing this handsome fellow.

Introducing a new friend, stallion E Z's Gentleman, now standing at stud in Indiana. Doesn't he have a beautiful, intelligent face?

Scripture:  The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.                               (1 Samuel 16:7)

Prayer: Lord, some days it’s harder than others to keep smiling. Remind us that you’re standing behind us, whether we feel on top of things or not.

A note to subscribers at Inspired by Horses — After a year off, “An Extra Flake” devotional emails are again available by free subscription.

As horse people, it seems God “speaks” to us through a life with horses. For some, it’s a big “aha” they could write a sermon about. For me, it’s as if God winks at me – a flash of insight that is informative and reassuring at the same time.

The Flakes are my way of sharing those insights with horse people so they’ll more fully sense God and his activity in their lives – so they’ll recognize his love and faithfulness and feel assured that though life is sometimes difficult, they’re not alone.

I think that horses help us realize we matter to God.

Cover image of An Extra Flake - The First Bale book

We are really excited to tell you that “An Extra Flake – The First Bale” is ready for sale.

This 5.5 x 8 inch book is full color and contains an introductory message from Maureen as well as 32 “flakes,” each consisting of a devotional though, scripture, short prayer, and of course, a photo – all for $12.99.

We received so many notes asking whether we’d considered making a book out of the inspirational emails – the “flakes” – that we “baled” some into this beautiful gift book.

We hope it’s a great encouragement to you or to the people you give it to as a gift. When you purchase 5 or more books, I’ll include an extra one free. You can place your order here.

The Closing ceremonies of the World Equestrian Games was over three weeks ago, and I am just coming up for air. But that’s not surprising, considering what a big event it was!

The World Equestrian Games was held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY from September 25th through October 10th. During that time, horses and riders/drivers from 58 countries competed in the World Championships of eight horse sports – Reining, Jumping, Dressage, Three-Day Eventing, Driving, Endurance, Vaulting, and Para-Dressage. In addition, there were over 300 horses, horse acts, and clinicians exhibiting in the Equine Village, and hundreds of vendors in the Trade Show. The official numbers tell us 507,000 people attended – that’s a half million! – over the course of the 16 days.

The AIM team (Affiliated International Ministries) involved over 750 people who volunteered specifically in the AIM hospitality and support services. We know of lots more who were official WEG volunteers. I’ll do a blog post letting you know all that we were up to – we had musicians and performers from England, Australia, Norway, and India – as well as lots of drivers and helpers of all sorts. I am so proud of my team – people from far and wide who showed true Christian hospitality and helpfulness. They pitched in to make it a great event for everyone.

I’ll resume writing the “flakes” emails shortly. Thanks for your nice notes and encouragement during the WEG.

Cindy Stewart stopped by to visit with Molly the Pony.

In case you’ve been wondering what’s happening with Inspired by Horses, I can tell you it’s been “lots.” I’ll write about all that soon, but I’ll give you a hint by telling you I’ve been spending a lot of time in Kentucky.

Last weekend was the famous Rolex Three-Day Event. We shared a beautiful booth at the trade fair with Equestrian Ministries International, and Molly the Pony also joined us. Molly had visited children’s hospitals in Louisville and Lexington the week before.

It was such fun to watch people meet Molly. Many had heard about this famous Katrina survivor, who now wears a prosthetic leg. But they were surprised to find out how pretty and personable she is.

Kids, of course, loved her because she’s a pony. Adults were initially intrigued by her leg and amazed at how well she can get around. But then they got to know Molly herself and went away truly inspired. It was great fun.

We are looking forward to spending time together again later this year at the World Equestrian Games.

If you’ve seen the movie, The Money Pit, you know our house when we bought it. We loved it, but we didn’t know what we didn’t know.

The first weekend, the well went dry. The house is in a beautiful setting, so we had paid what to us was a small fortune to plant fairly big trees, since we didn’t want to wait years for little ones to grow.

So there we were, 9 p.m. Saturday night, locating a plumber to check the well pump. Pump was fine. The well was too shallow for the drought we were in. Throughout the night, we watered trees, waited for the well to refill, then watered again. Then, of course, we had to have a new, deeper well drilled. I’ll spare you the details of the rest of the house, but suffice to say that though the bones were good, it was of an age that everything broke.

When we moved in, we thought Jed Clampett had nothing on us. We actually had a “cement pond.” After repairing what seemed like “everything” at the house, we had a first swim. My husband swam one length of the pool. Big smile. Then he went to climb out of the pool, only to have one of the rungs of the ladder give way. And on it went.

Swimming pool in winter

I thought how life seems to have the same trajectory our house did. People often hit a breaking point someplace in their late 40s or 50s. The original stuff isn’t working consistently and we don’t yet have the resolve, insight, or resources to move past that. Being at the breaking point isn’t fun. In fact, it’s scary. But then, bit by bit, we get on top of it, learn to work with aging equipment, and the spring returns to our step. The trick is in learning that the breaking point is a chance to rewire, to get new glasses and see the world in a fresh, albeit, different way.

It’s at this stage many people rekindle a dream of having horses, or their emphasis with horses changes. It may be less about sport and more about enjoying nature or relationships. Or less about going faster and jumping higher, and more about quality of performance. The shift is invigorating, breathing new spirit into old passions. Life becomes exciting – beyond the breaking point.

As I write this, I’m working through two totally separate emotions. The first is overwhelming sadness about the earthquakes in Haiti. In 1983, During the first months of 1983, I was in Haiti with the Christian Veterinary Mission. I worked as a vet tech on various animal husbandry endeavors about half my time in the countryside and the other half in Port-au-Prince. Haiti was desperately poor, and life there was difficult no matter how you looked at it.

“Overwhelmed” is the best word to use when you talk about Haiti – Overwhelming poverty, spiritual activity of the bad kind, hunger, desperate catch-22 problems. No where to start to fix things apart from the grace of God.

Yet I was so impressed with the Haitian people, their great sense of humor, their ability to not take themselves too seriously despite the dire seriousness of life.

I recall walking up a long mountain with several Haitians (Haiti is mountains and more mountains). The interpreter had gone ahead into the village. Someone asked me a question like, “What’s your last name?” or “Who’s your best friend?” Whatever the question, I answered mistakenly with the word for “donkey.” They laughed good-heartedly and brayed for hours.

When we got to the village, they asked the interpreter where I came from. They didn’t believe I was American, because Americans don’t smile as much as I did. What they didn’t know was that my non-stop smile was me gasping for breath.

I learned a lot from the Haitian people. I was offered a job in Haiti, and if I had been more heat-tolerant, I would have seriously considered it. Despite all Haiti’s problems, you “couldn’t not” love the Haitian people. And now these series of earthquakes leave those same people in overwhelming distress.

Switching gears, I’m excitedly packing for Lexington, Ky for a “visioning” meeting at Asbury College. A group of “big picture thinkers” are gathering and praying about how God is leading in the horse industry, and what our part may be. Many of you have written to me with horse ministry hopes and dreams, some of which you’ve had for many years but now feel a restlessness to pursue.

I would appreciate your prayers for this trip, and that we would hear from God on this matter. My goal is to help raise the tide that will float many boats.

And please keep Haiti in your prayers, and give to an appropriate agency that can get relief supplies where they are needed. (The Christian Veterinary Mission will use the funds right.)

Thanks for listening. Email me with any thoughts you’d like to share. Don’t forget to hug your family and your horses.

A weird thing happened during Christmas week. My jeans shrunk. Every pair. I know, because, like Johnny Cash looking for his “cleanest dirty shirt” I had to try on nearly every pair I owned to find one that fit right. I don’t guess it happened overnight. But while I was being social and munching Christmas goodies, my jeans were shrinking. That is going to change.

I think sneaky is the way to get it done. There are some people who can leap into a swimming pool, regardless of the temperature. Not me. First the toes, then stand on the top step, then I ease my way into the water.

I’m going to ease my way into the traditional “I’m going to eat healthy this year” diet. But if I leap into it, still in sugar overload, my resolve won’t last long. So I’m going to back off the carbs, drink more water, and by Friday I can skip dessert without feeling deprived.

Smart horse trainers know that “sneaky” can be a good way to teach a horse something new. Begin with the familiar, then add a few steps and a reward. Want a really cool hips-over movement? Begin with a relaxed but forward walk. Then, at just the right moment, pick up one rein and the horse will turn his neck softly and swing his hindquarters over. Release…You did it!

Sneaking a bite.

It’s important not to let frustration defeat you or the horse. Sneak up on the changes you want to make. Celebrate the successes, and don’t let the “not so much” moments throw you off track.

If you get stuck – as we all inevitably do – remember God is cheering for you. He knows the road ahead. So, for 2010, let’s try sneaking up on it.