I love Sunday morning when no horse shows are scheduled. Normally, I feed before 5 am and must immediately move on to the process of getting ready for my day. I have the routine down to an art, dogs out, drop their feed, feed Puppy Girl (separate so she is not eaten), outside then to feed multiple cats (can cats be in a pack?-because I am pretty sure this is a pack)  waiting on the front porch  their dry food, then hike across to the barn, ask Leo if he is hungry, watch him nod his head, dump four big buckets of horse feed, go back to the house share one can of wet food for the kittens, then take Puppy Girl outside to pee.  Then, I start my day.  Sunday is an opportunity to stop and pet a cat before I just dump kitten chow, altering the daily routine.

On Sunday, I can stop to ask Kid how his night was and take a minute to clean out his eyes. I can pick which dog gets to come with me to hang out in my room while I lay down a little longer and enjoy the still dark morning.

Even when I finally get out of bed (okay, so it 7 a.m. not that late-but a luxury for me) I can ease into the chores. It is the one day where there is a chance to catch up on some projects, rake the front of the barn, scrub water buckets and re-arrange all the tack that has gotten out-of-place during the week. Sounds like chores, but these are the chores I love.

All the horse get to go out in the grassy paddock on Sunday mornings. It is small so if it were an everyday thing, it would quickly have no grass at all. But Sunday mornings, the gates are opened and the horses gorge themselves on the fresh spring grass.

Sunday mornings I watch the sun come up lighting my barn with its shimmering rays, then stretching across to the arena where the first ride of the day will take place. It is still cool and there is usually a nice breeze.

On great Sundays, I convince the arena-loving Lauren to go out and ride the hay roads with me. I love being out in “the wide-open spaces” at least for this corner of Texas.

Later I will shower, spend some time in the air conditioning, catching up on a movie or reading.

Sundays, simple days, simple times, a lot of joy.

Thanks for riding along with me! Let me when something strikes a chord with you or just leave me a comment. Thanks!