Relatively Stable

Episode 6: The Art of Listening with Sue Lomenzo of True Nature Equine Bodywork & Wellness What does it mean to help a horse feel safe in its own body? What shifts when we stop working on them (and ourselves) and begin working with them (and ourselves?) instead? In this episode, I sit down with equine bodyworker Sue Lomenzo, whose approach to healing blends science, intuition, and an unshakable be...

🎙️ A Weekly Reading from Stable Roots : Not a Place but a Presence On building home space, surviving disconnection, and learning how to stay 📝 Show Notes: “Home space isn’t a structure. It’s an agreement that says, you don’t have to explain why you’re quiet today. It says, there’s soup on the stove. It says, I’ll hold your foot.” This week, I'm writing about the unremarkable ways we learn to belo...

Think Like a Raindrop: On fires, healing, and reimagining what the land — and we — are capable of What does it mean to trust the land again after fire, flood, and collapse? What shifts when we stop forcing order and begin listening — to the body, the herd, the impulse that moves like water? This bonus episode, a reading from Stable Roots , is my reflection on recent wildfires, horse evacuations, a...

THE WORLD'S ON FIRE : Let's build fairy houses In this bonus episode from Stable Roots , I'm sharing a personal essay that intertwines fire, folklore, and the search for meaning when the world feels like it’s falling apart. From the charred hillsides of Upstate South Carolina to the quiet creek beds where horses and humans find common language, this story explores how we turn chaos into creation....

Roots and Reckoning: Always Forward, Never Back The horses and the humans, each making their way in a world designed for machines. This week’s recording from my weekly writings on Stable Roots is about: The ongoing process of untangling what keeps us stuck. Learning patience from horses and the wildness within. Finding a way forward, even when the path doesn’t feel straight. The push and pull betw...

Riding Toward Higher Ground: What is inherited and what is learned In this solo episode, Kim reflects on the complex road of legacy, learning, and questions of horses and life. She shares story about a journey through the mountains, the weight of inherited knowledge, and the search for understanding, both in the horses she knows and within herself. From wild rides to slow reckonings, Kim explores...

From Loyola law school to Hurricane Katrina to a cartel scheme in Mexico, Jason Chambers was brought back to life to give us his words through poetry that brings us into a deeper connection with the natural world, inspired by his Lowcountry South Carolina coastal home, and with each other. Today, he tells us his stories. I first discovered Jason Chambers' poetry the way I find a lot of my favorite...

The Day of Liberation: What Breaks, What Holds, and Why It Still Matters If you’ve been here a while, you know that every week, I share a VoiceOver on this feed that is a narration from Stable Roots , my weekly blog where I write about horses, resilience, and the life I’ve built from both. This week’s piece is about March 4th, a date I celebrate as my Day of Liberation. Fifteen years ago, I was le...

In this episode of Relatively Stable , I sit down with US Eventing Team equestrian, mentor, coach, and clinician Kim Walnes for a conversation that goes beyond riding. At its core, this podcast is about resilience. It’s about how we navigate hardship, forge deeper connections, and ultimately heal. Kim’s story embodies that mission in every possible way. * From competing at the highest levels of ev...

What Waits Beneath the Surface: Matilda, Mystery, and the Art of Listening In this week's reading of Stable Roots on Relatively Stable , I share the story of Matilda—a big draft mare with an even bigger presence, whose lessons continue to ripple through Bramblewood Stables and beyond. What began as a dream—a nighttime visit from Matilda galloping through a dark, wooded valley, unfurled into a refl...

THE DAY OF HEARTS AND FLOWERS 💘🌿 Bear with me through the historical destruction as we make our way to love. What does Captain Cook’s ill-fated final voyage have to do with love? Not much, actually, but it serves as a cautionary tale in listening and reading the room. In this episode, I explore the long history of miscommunication—from colonial encounters to the subtle misunderstandings that sha...

The Magic of Waiting: What a sleeping mare teaches me about patience, connection, and the unseen Magic never makes a sound. Not when we hauled her home in a trailer that jerked and jolted like some kind of Morse code warning. Not when she lost Billy, her pasture mate, her constant. Not in the months after, standing alone, holding onto something unseen. And then, this weekend, she slept. Deeply. Un...

In this episode of Relatively Stable , I sit down with my beautiful friend Jane Pike —a writer, artist, creative mentor, and horsewoman from New Zealand—for a conversation that moves beyond her well-known work with horses and into the heart of creativity itself. While many know her for her work through Confident Rider , today we explore the deeper layers of her artistic and creative journey. We ta...

Horse Wisdom: Remembering us back into nature's silence Humans are nesting dolls of possibilities. There’s a rhythm beneath language, a pulse that moves through the world while we sleep, while we fill our days with words and plans and next steps. The briars keep growing. The storm-split oak decays into something new. The horses stand in the space between movement and stillness, asking nothing, exp...

Making Peace With the Trees: When the weather reveals the human animal Snowstorms, hurricanes, and the unpredictable forces of nature have a way of reminding us who we are at our core. In this episode, Kim shares a deeply personal essay exploring her relationship with weather and the ways it shapes us, uncovers our connections, and strips life down to its essentials. From the chaos of snow days in...

This week on Stable Roots at Relatively Stable , I bring you a series of prose poems—a departure from my usual long-form essays and an exploration of art, awe, and rediscovering creativity. In this VoiceOver of my blog post, “ Art Supplies ,” I reflect on the ways we sketch our lives—through words, images, and impressions. These prose poems began as fragments collected in my notebook and transform...

Instinct vs. Reason The Intersection of Faith and Science, as Told to Me by a Horse Kim takes us on a journey through the turbulence of 2024, sharing insights from her farm, her work with horses, and her own internal landscape. Against the backdrop of Hurricane Helene’s aftermath, shifting seasons, and the inexplicable cycles of nature, this episode delves into the intersection of faith and scienc...

The Ghost of Christmas Present Finding richness in the unseen You can find the full text of this week's blog along with photos and more information at Stable Roots . CHRISTMAS PRESENTS In this week’s blog, I’m sharing three views of the holidays and how the present, our presence, and the prescience of the unseen work together to weave a web of connection in the world. Want to help people rebuild t...

Podcasts are, by their essence, containers of stories so these announcements are a fitting share for the theme of my writings this week: It was a week of deep conversations and connections, sitting down with cups of tea, and listening to wise women. It was an honor to share a table and a microphone with them all. Listen to their words and join the richness. You can also find these episodes on all...

The risk of living an ungenerous life is far greater than the risk of being scammed. Tamar Reno With an academic background in Native American Studies focusing on language revitalization, Tamar has taught at a tribal college, developed curriculum for universities and cultural centers, and collaborated on language immersion programs. She has also worked extensively in the nonprofit sector. She and...

It’s the season of giving, so there’s no better time to talk about generosity — our drives, our judgements, our stories, and everything in between. This week I will dive into what happens in our brains when we’re being generous. I will talk about why people still need help in Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene even though millions of dollars in aid have flooded the region. And finally,...

You can now access me reading these weekly posts to you from the Relatively Stable podcast feed, available here and on all your favorite players: Apple , Spotify , and YouTube . Christopher and I arrived on the Big Island of Hawaii in the middle of the night after a day of flights and near-misses. When we finally secured a car and buckled in, we followed the volcanic mountain elevation down to the...

Show Notes: Welcome to the first episode of Relatively Stable ! In this inaugural episode, I sit down with Sarah Farris, my co-trainer at Bramblewood Stables and someone I’m privileged to work beside every day. While this podcast is often about horses, it’s really about so much more—life, resilience, and the connections that ground us. In this podcast, we delve into the journeys of those who have...