Hey there Reader,
You may already know what I am about to share if you happen to follow me on Facebook or Instagram, but since I know the algorithm doesn't always serve us well and some of you have chosen to not play the scroll game at all (good for you!), I wanted to share with you my heartbreaking news that my boy, Kodiak Jack, took his final gallop into his eternal home yesterday. This is what I posted:
My remarkable Kodiak Jack, gallop free. Be at peace, my beloved boy.
That is all I ever wanted for you. It was a privilege to love you and become your human . . . and student.
As I noticed your little blinks and ear flicks, you taught me how to listen quietly.
As you revealed your pain, you taught me to pay attention to my gut.
As I responded to you gently, you taught me how to treat myself tenderly.
As I witnessed your confidence, you inspired me to become more resilient.
As I faced your resistance, you taught me how to find my feel.
And the culmination of all those lessons . . . that day you walked me straight over to the trailer, stared at the rig, and looked back at me. I knew you were ready. I knew I was, too. The next week, you loaded like a champ, and off we went on our first fear-free trail ride together! What a gift! (Thanks to Zoe's hospitality! And Kaitlyn's years of training both of us!)
But it was that ride, after our liberty play in the arena, when you invited me to tack up and go for one more wild spin. I didn’t know it would be our last as we cantered around and I giggled like a crazy horse girl — but looking back, you knew.
This was God's gift to us, to end with the same principles we began -- connection built through trust and love.
“Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.”
I want more, but I will spend until eternity grateful to the Lord for what we had, Kodiak Jack, as you turned toward home the final time this morning, December 29, 2025.
You won this race, sir. Well done, Kody, my boy. I pray your forever is filled with as many bananas as you could ever want. As I always promised, I will always love you, forever, my boy. And your love for me will continue with those who dearly loved us -- Kaitlyn and Janelle, our barn family, my beloved husband, and our children, my dear friends, your precious herd mates.
I also shared that if you would like to honor Kodiak Jack's memory, please consider giving to the Amy Johnson Research Fund at New Bolton/Penn Vet to support research in the field of equine neurological disorders.
I'll be sharing more of our story soon and what God has been doing in me during this season of hard, as I begin to share some new things coming in the weeks ahead for StableMinded.
1 Corinthians 15:55-56
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
While I didn't understand the foundation of what was being laid, and still don't fully, God is comforting me with the promise that He swallows up the sting of death with the promise of eternity. This is not our forever home, and this death of Kody, alongside other deaths that have deeply impacted our family this week, is a sobering reminder.
Life is but a breath. Take a deep one. And exhale love to those around you.
Held in His grace and not without hope,
Founder of StableMinded.us
P.S. Even in the midst of the hard, I've been able to devote time towards a few projects that have been on the back burner, like working on the brand new Stableminded Podcast. More about that to come, but for now, check out the trailer