Happy 8 year anniversary Avalon Horse Farm

Today is an emotional day for me.  Today is the 8 year anniversary of the creation of Avalon Horse Farm​.  As I do every year, I have been looking back over the year at Avalon’s accomplishments, hurdles overcome and all the stories that have rolled in throughout the year.  Today I’ve also looked back over Avalon’s mission statement and my end-of-the-year reviews since we began.  Hours I have been sitting and reading and musing.

Russell’s name keeps popping up of course and I’ve been reading emails from him to me or to Avalon’s community.  I can hear his voice as I read and I am reminded of all of the dreams we shared; dreams not just for Avalon but for our entire lives.  I smile; I sigh; I cry; I laugh; I feel all the hope I still have for fulfilling dreams and also the ache that they are now mine alone to bring into being.

I am thankful for the extra hour of sleep I got this morning. I am thankful for the bright sunshine which calls to me to come outside.  I am thankful that my afternoon will be spent at Avalon with the Silver Springs Pony Club​ kids preparing the farm for our 8 year Anniversary party next Saturday, November 7. I am thankful to the folks who are reaching out to me day after day with just a simple hello.  I am thankful for memories both in writing and the ones that are just inside my own mind.  I am thankful that Russell and I said yes to the creation of Avalon 8 years ago for Avalon has been a place of deep healing for me these past 7 1/2 months.   Never could we have known how much I would need this healing space when we said yes 8 years ago but oh am I glad we did.

Avalon continues to grow and become even more amazing everyday.  The things that have been accomplished this last year are indeed spectacular.  And the dreams for our next year promise to bring more learning, play and healing opportunities to many horses and their humans.

My hope for year 8 and for every year of Avalon is that I can continue to keep the mission Russell and I set forth at the beginning alive.

“The new name will be Avalon Horse Farm.  Those of you familiar with the King Arthur stories will recognize Avalon as the place that was between the worlds.  It was not heaven, but it also was not the bustle and mundaneness of ordinary life. It is our intention and desire to create for you an experience with your horse that is outside of the bustle and ordinariness of everyday life.  We want your experience to be close to other worldly.”

Avalon – a place of healing and breathing.  A place of beauty to simply be with your horse.  This is my hope, my dream, the guiding force of all that I do.