The Horses of Castle French

In which we get some good news for the stallions, we try to hire some workers, and the farrier comes.

In which Bill's wife returns from Ireland, we get some legal advice, and the vet pays a visit. www.thehorsesofcastlefrench.com

In which someone from the past shares some valuable knowledge, a solution for the stallions presents itself, and a few angels arrive. 

In which a plan starts to come together and the we finally get the stallions out of the barn. *The featured photo is Foralarmfire in his glory days. No wonder the mares were impressed.

Sir Don finally gets out of the barn and Sara, Karina, and Frank become caretakers of the herd.

This piece is an excerpt from Chapter 12 that I submitted to a "Best in Rural Writing" Contest for The Milk House, an Irish literary magazine. I did not win, place, nor show, but I was pleasantly surprised when the editors asked if they could publish it in their online magazine. It has been altered slightly from the book to provide some background context and downplay the scope of charac...

The Thing About Bill: In which Sara realizes that no matter how much things need to change, some paths are impossible to redirect. and The Accident : In which two large objects collide, and only one is left standing. And just in case you were wondering about my key lime pie recipe, here you go: Bill’s favorite Key Lime Pie 4 egg yolks 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1/2 cup lime juice 1 cup heavy c...

In which Sara meets Bill and a few of his horses; no spiders were harmed in the writing of this chapter. And God took a handful of South wind and from it formed a horse, saying: "I create thee, Oh Arabian. To thy forelock, I bind Victory in battle. On thy back, I set a rich spoil And a Treasure in thy loins. I establish thee as one of the Glories of the Earth... I give thee flight without wings. "...

This is the complete version of Chapter 1, which began with The Stallions. If you have already listened to The Stallions and do not wish to again, simply scroll to the 7 minute mark. It takes a little time to explain how all of this went down, but we'll be back in the rescue soon.

This story is more of a side quest, the events happening both before and after Bill’s accident and the subsequent rescue. There were others trapped on that farm for different reasons, and we may never know why.

I would say that in my relationship with Bill, there were a lot of pivotal moments, but walking into his barn on a muggy August day to confront the consequences of his ruined mind was almost a bit too much to bear. Almost being the key word here. This seven minute excerpt from Chapter one is just the beginning of this memoir of a horse rescue. In subsequent episodes we will go back and forth in ti...