The Rosie Journal: Spring 2026

The Prism of Spring

It’s a magical spring here where the foothills of the Oregon West Coast forest meets the Willamette Valley. The grass is growing almost an inch a day when you look at it in the morning and again in the evening. A dozen shiny, red-throated hummingbirds remind me of Dorothy’s slippers as they zip all around, sometimes buzzing my head so close I have to laugh out loud.

It’s a little dicey to be planting flowers this early because we live a little bit up in the forest at about 700 feet, but we’re always optimistic. I did find some beautiful pink carnations that smell like cotton candy. The maple leaves are unfolding and the roses probably need to be trimmed.

Speaking of roses, I have a mahogany-colored mare in my care that some of you might recognize from a video I did a few years ago in the “Rescue Horse Files.” Yes, two years ago, I went to have a quick look (ah-hem) to help with a rescue mare that was struggling. I spent an hour with her and videotaped the whole thing. There were flickers of progress as we went.

In spite of having many people in her Rescue story, she was emotionally lost and none of us knew exactly how her future would unfold.

There is an element of emotional rest that some horses really need; they can feel so lost and so disoriented that it’s tricky to really get a feel for who they are and what they’ll be until they have a little time to unwind on their own. Lucky for Rosie she had several people looking out for her best interests.

Kip and I decided she should come home and stay with us for a little while. Once Rosie got comfortable here and started to feel supported by her environment and her new horse friends, she slotted into the routine and became very easy to be around.

The $10 Mare vs. The Million-Dollar Soul

Rosie is a little bit like a prism.

• One way: You see a “$10 mare.” Long-backed, a skinny neck, smallish, and fractious. She has a choppy little trot, a scrambling canter, and tight, pointy ears. Her sensitive stomach is plagued at times with free fecal water syndrome.
• The other way: She looks like a million bucks. She has a deep mahogany coat, big soft eyes, and a neck that is tied in nice and wide at its base. I even get glimpses of a rhythmic, smooth canter when she really lets down. She also has a chocolatey, rumbling nicker that is honestly good for the soul.

The Bottom of the Stack

As the seasons have gone by, I noticed that this winter she started to stop and visit with me when I opened her stall door to let her out with the herd. I take care of my horses myself, so I’m with them about four hours a day. In considering Rosie, I’ve had to be a bit fuzzy. She originally came here because I wanted to have a look at the big picture of her life, but now I wonder: where is she going to go realistically?

When we zoom out, she is at the bottom of the entire stack of horses in the world. She’s a $10 mare in a world increasingly full of gorgeous Mustangs, well-bred Thoroughbreds, gajillion dollar Warmbloods and registered Quarter Horses with performance potential to the moon.

Rosie is not really rideable and has no experience being confident enough to function away from the herd or exposed to all but a tiny corner of the world.

As she’s standing with me visiting before breakfast, or when she comes in at night for her mash, I wonder: who is going to invest in her? And honestly, should she even be invested in? We are overrun with horses in 2026. How is anyone going to promise her a safe life for the next ten to twenty years? She seems like the ultimate example of the whole pickle we are in horse-wise in this country.

The Skill Gap

Rosie is not dangerous, per se. If she ever got hurt, I would think she would be easy to doctor. But it’s tricky because she’s not old (and she’s a mare!) so her chance at a pasture home is limited. She’ll never be the “second horse” on a property that can be left alone while the riding horse gets taken away. Her chance at a home like that is minuscule.

If we think of her finding a person skilled enough to help her become a riding horse, we run into two problems:

1. Even if she gets confident with a skilled horseman, the chances of that transferring to an amateur are basically zero.
2. Anyone skilled enough to help Rosie likely has a barn full of well-bred horses already taking up their work time, personal time and resources.

So where does that leave this sweet, kind mare who hasn’t done a thing wrong in her life? The answer is just a page full of question marks.

In my mind’s eye, I see Rosie standing in the street… maybe at the end of a cul-de-sac filled with beautiful houses… looking lost and surely knowing at some level she has no place in this neighborhood, in this town, or in this world.

My family and I have been her friends for two years. We are sort of holding her hand, waiting for her parents to pick her up. The sun rises and sets, and we’re all still standing here together.

The Return to Center

I am very sure, given the right circumstances, Rosie would make it, because the summer after she came to me, I flew in a most magical colt starter, Gary Bailey to help out.

It wasn’t easy, but Gary got Rosie started under saddle and put three really solid rides on her. She was unfolding beautifully. However, Gary has a life and a job and while she got a great start, it wasn’t quite enough for me to feel safe riding her myself. She was definitely a lot closer, but not quite close enough.

So, for a while, that’s where we’ve stayed.

Over those same two years, my own world was shifting. I have spent so much time on the move… traveling across the country to study with Buck Brannaman, spending countless hours observing Gary Bailey; logging thousands of miles to satisfy my own hunger for higher education.

At the same time, I was pouring myself into the technicalities of getting Horsemanship Insider up on its feet, building a process and a platform that could truly serve other people. Plus, I have a real estate business and a teaching schedule of my own.

It was a season of outward expansion, but I found myself craving a return to center… a sabbatical-ish time where I could finally have my entire herd here at home, under one roof. I wanted to travel less and experiment more. Now, that season is finally coming together. With all my horses home and my life organized to stay put, I’ve found myself standing in the courtyard looking at her and wondering.

The Magnetism of Narnia

My personal journey; my evolution, is always leading me to wondering. I am curious (insatiably so) about what is hidden under the surface. What is there to be learned about technical training, gymnastics, physics, health, philosophy, and spirituality?

I’m pretty convinced that well-bred, confident horses tend to obfuscate some details in horsemanship. Their talent, purity and potential provides a massive data set … but, it’s sort of one side of the coin. The misfits provide a way to clear the mist on a completely separate vista. It’s an indelible truth I’ve leveraged for a very long while. I’m probably drawn to Rosie like a magnet for just that reason.

When I allow myself to look closely, it’s like looking through the water at an eddy in a river when the sunlight is just right; you can see a whole other world beneath the surface. It’s all so mesmerizingly interesting.

Over the last few days, the time I’ve spent with her has slipped by (seven hours, I think). I guess I have to live in the moment extra with this horse. The weather has been perfect, and the sensation of stepping through the wardrobe into horsemanship Narnia is as alluring as the smell of fresh chocolate chip cookies or fresh-cut grass.

The Daily Pickle

But then I’ll put her up, and my logical mind will snap back into gear. What in the hell am I actually doing??? I have a beautiful Warmblood, a gorgeous PRE, and my very own little white Lipizzan… plus… plus…plus! They are all ready to come out and be a part of my experiment at any moment.

What is the point of being with a horse I don’t even know the future of?

Every night I shake my head. I moan to my husband and my friends and still I’ve been getting her out the next day. Arg!!! What a pickle. So this morning, in my journaling time (real pen to real paper) I’ve been writing this story out to try to sort out my thoughts and maybe get my feet under me.

The facts are thus:

1. I’m mostly home for the whole summer.
2. I have time to take care of my real estate clients and play ponies.
3. The weather has turned gorgeous early.
4. Maybe exploring this will be helpful to my friends if I video and share.
5. I’m healthy and whole and inspired.

So… What’s the downside?

Well, there’s the problem of a broken heart, making fewer Bridlehorses, being a bad steward of someone else’s opportunities, and not investing as much time in my other horses.

At this point, my brain just gets stuck between the good and the bad.

I suppose I’m sharing this post because I suspect I’m not the only one standing in a courtyard with a heavy question and a magnetic pull. It’s difficult to exist in the gap between logic and intuition. Perhaps this applies to everything in life… it’s hard to know if we are getting lost or finding treasures.

Are we being impractical, or are we on the edges of finding something extraordinary? Can it be both?

I don’t know where the road leads for Rosie. I don’t know if I’ll hold her hand forever or find a way to let her go on without me. For today, the maple leaves are unfolding, the birds are singing, and a spring breeze is whispering through the forest. We are still standing here together.

I’m sure I’ll be talking about this more on our Horsemanship Remarks show with Michael Sparling (Thursdays at 6:30 AM PT / 8:30 AM CT on YouTube).

If you want to see where this all began, I posted a Vlog on YouTube from the very day I met her all those years ago.

For the members at Horsemanship Insider, you can see Rosie in action in some recent moments.

For Basecamp members, she is helping me demonstrate an item on the safety checklist, and for the Pathfinders, I’ve posted a behind-the-scenes video in The Rescue Horse Files. It is a super raw look at the reality of the situation and the process we are navigating right now.

Meanwhile, if you’ve read this whole journal entry, I’d love to hear from you! Have you ever found yourself standing in that gap between what is “logical” and what your heart is pulling you toward?

Thanks for reading! 🤪💕- Emma Daily Kline

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