Blog Post

Lifemanship and Horse, a True Story 

  • By Michelle R Scully
  • 17 Nov, 2023

It's a journey y'all 


Last year my second book came out, I still can't believe a year has passed.
I called it Horsemanship and Life, a True Story because well, horses are the bookends of my life.
And I'd just gotten True, my exuberant little horse.
Learning how to be better with horses is my passion.
But lately life has taken precedence over horses.
It happens, right?
When my boys were little, I often felt squeezed trying to fit my horse dream and drive into my day.
How to find that time to spend with horses without feeling like I was short-changing my time with my kids.
Little kids need you, and I loved that.
Sometimes all that need had me wanting to staple my head to the floor, but I loved that stage of my life.
Of their lives.
Now they're both 6+' and don't want to play Legos with me.
Then they left home, and I was in the empty-nester stage of life which felt weird and after a while, liberating.
I started working full-time again, working on projects that stirred my vision juices and kept me moving forward fast all the time.
I couldn't feel my arms for years, but whatever.
Years went by and things changed again.
My little mom's dementia was determined to get a hold of her and became our family's central theme.
What to do, what could we do, how would we do it?
We're in different states which sucks, so that adds another burr under the blanket of it all.
I've learned that dementia is like a bucking horse - all you can do is ride it the best you can.
If you've followed along on my page with me, you may have already noticed that my ramblings are more about life than horsemanship lately and as always, weird little things that spark my attention in my little corner of the world.
This morning as I was feeding the horses it hit me that my life lately has been way more Lifemanship than horsemanship.
Yep, still interacting with my horses, trying to hang on to the end of the rope so I stay in the saddle, but it's been a dry spell.
My mom, dad, and I all had surgery last year.
As much as I like to think I'm all about bouncing back, it all takes a toll on ya.
Life has a way of taking a toll on ya.
Therein lies the challenge, of how to take care of all we love, without ignoring our own care.
So many of us love horses dearly, love a life with horses, strive to be all that we can with horses.
But at the same time, our lives exert different needs at different stages.
From those stages with our little bitty ones to those stages with our beloved little elders.
Sometimes doing the best we can at life is all we can do.
Holding ourselves to some stringent standard of 'shoulds' only adds on to that feeling of never being enough, never getting enough done, that cheesegrater to the brain feeling that feels especially strong this time of year.
I've missed seeing or hearing from people who used to follow along, because times do change and so does what people want to see or hear.
That's okay too, as this page is what it is and one thing you can always count on is that it will be random thoughts and weird ramblings about life in all its forms.
Yea, I have a couple books out in there, and it's always really nice to see people buying them and enjoying them, but selling something isn't why I'm on social.
As far as that goes, FB tells me when the most popular times are to post something and this ain't it.
But this is where my heart is right now, and I double down daily on the belief that whoever is supposed to hear any encouragement I try to share will.
At the end of the day, my purpose as a human isn't about how many books I sell.
My only purpose in sharing here is the belief that I'm not the only one passionate about lifemanship and it always feels better knowing you're not alone on this journey.
It feels really good knowing that there's a bunch of us out there, holding each other up, shining a light.
Sometimes all you can do is stand where you are and breathe.
Breathe.
Treasure.
Love.
Pray.
Rinse and repeat.
Sending you love from my little corner of the world to you.
I'd love to hear what stages life is teaching you right now.
xox
By Michelle R Scully March 27, 2024
Humans, horses, dogs all have their own language. It's up to us to respond in kind
By Michelle R Scully February 1, 2024

I had the best weekend with my boys.
They're young men now, but it's hard to remember to call them that. 
It's weird being a mom - our job is to raise kids up to be independent but then one day, bam, they are.
They move across the country, study abroad, make lives of their own.
Which is the plan, right?
So mom'ing is a constant state of hold tight, let go.
It's okay, I tell myself as I said goodbye with tears in my eyes, it's all good.
They're doing their thing, following their dreams, making their lives and I am 100% #theirteam
It felt good to get home (I'm not really built for big cities) and back into the groove of my own little world where Maisy and Rufus let me know they were certain I'd left and was never coming back.
Life too is a constant state of hold tight, let go only sometimes we struggle with that balancing act.
I often think of life like a scale; things add up, things fall off.
Sometimes we have too much of one thing - things we worry about, things that make us feel overwhelmed or less than.
Sometimes we have too little of something -things that help us feel calm, centered, joyful, filled with wonder.
It's like cooking without a recipe.
You've gotta keep tasting the soup.
I often tell Pat I feel like the keeper of his scale. I can see when it gets too heavy, and I am super protective of that.
 He has big shoulders and is always willing to take a little more of the load but I'm always aware that it adds up.
A little too much on one side means there's a little less on the other.
More or less.
I had a son deficit going on, I needed more mom time, and I'm so happy I got it.
What do you want more of?
What makes your eyes shine and your heart glow?
What do you need less of? Want to let go of?
What no longer serves you and needs to be set free?
It's an ongoing process to keep that scale of more and less balanced but it sure feels good when it is.
 xox
By Michelle R. Scully February 6, 2021
Honoring the wisdom of years
By Michelle R. Scully February 6, 2021
I learn more from my animals than they ever will from me
By Michelle R. Scully February 6, 2021
Thoughts on being there for our horses (and ourselves)
By Michelle R. Scully January 28, 2021
Ten years later
By Michelle R. Scully January 1, 2021
Clinic thoughts with Charley Snell
By Michelle R. Scully December 13, 2020
a love letter from a horse crazy girl
By Michelle R. Scully September 7, 2020
To the cat who choose us
By Michelle R. Scully May 10, 2020
Don't sell your saddle
Show More
Share by: