Last summer Image and Sylvie were living in the back paddocks with access to the run-in shelter which is part of the barn. From there I would move them in and out of their stalls without haltering. When we are not in training mode they may only get a halter on when the hoof trimmer comes.

Last summer I took young Maybelle to a stable an hour away to be bred to the stallion there. Maybelle was in that long transition from filly to mare. This was her first solo trailer ride since she was brought to Fourwinds Farm as a weanling, and she hadn't been many places at all.

It is only fitting for me to introduce River Run first. She has been here the longest, arriving in 2005. And at 27 years of age she is our matriarch and... well, guardian angel.

"If you are having trouble with something, try doing it one step at a time," I said to my barn helper whose horse was staying with us for a little while.

Fourwinds Farm is poised to start producing high quality Irish Draught foals for 2019. While I haven't had foals here in a decade, those years have been well spent. For much of that time it was all about the mares! Then in 2015 I added herd stallion Moorpark Image RID to the family.