Mornings have always been my favorite time of the day. Being a make a list and check the box kind of person, I love getting a head start on the world, and have always had a practice of taking advantage of what feel like ‘free’ hours. As an early riser, I have always enjoyed the quiet stillness of the morning and found an early surge of productivity that comes with the rising sun. There is an inspirational quality to a beginning, to the promise of what is possible, and to the opportunity to begin fresh, revitalized, and fueled with those things yet to do.

The ranch has a magical quality in the wee hours. Our horses are nickering a greeting. They often are wearing shavings in their forelocks as they brightly claim the day and remind us that breakfast is served promptly at 7:00. The ranch is dotted with red tee shirts, polos, and sweat shirts that bear a logo and also represent a promise of a new beginning for the horses that we serve. Our babies, McGarrah, Kami, Micah, and Mathe, are alternating on the foal ferris wheel of nursing, playing, and napping, and then repeating the cycle with a few added baby bucks or stretches. The horses that spent the night turned out march beside a volunteer back to a stall and the anticipation of what has been placed in their manger. The first rotation of turnouts brings playful bucks and some sprinting, with the exception of Fenton, who spreads out in the middle of the arena, hangs a “do not disturb” sign, and begins his morning ritual with a very long and much enjoyed nap.

Our recent Fire Side Chats was full of chatter about the foals, current events at the ranch, a few new faces, and shared stories about how we had each been touched or inspired by our mutual work of serving the horses in our care. It is never lost on me, the degree to which our volunteers, members of Red Bucket, carry a devotion and commitment that is just as apparent as the red shirts and hats that we proudly wear both on the ranch and symbolically in our lives as workers, parents, and friends. Our round robin introductions paused at Tracie, who in a shaky voice and with trembling hand, passed me a large marked envelope carefully stuffed with small bills and modest checks. Red Bucket for Tracie, like many of us, is more than a few hours of generously carved out volunteer time; it is part of her life and an important and meaningful part. In sharing our horses’ stories and the impact of our work, Tracie inspired a ‘stranger’ at her part time job, Rick, to initiate a fundraiser at his place of employment where he offered to match funds for donations to benefit Red Bucket. The worn envelope was heavy with more than just the contents from within the frayed and frequently opened package! 

Later that evening, still processing Tracie’s emotional gift and the beauty of the selfless and quiet leadership, I walked the grounds of the ranch that the horses own. The evening feed crew were steps ahead of me and had pulled all of the black ground feeders out of every paddock and stall. Each of the 88 feeders had been thoroughly dusted off and was readied in preparation for the carefully prepared red bucket, an evening snack of a cookie and a few pieces of carrot, and a final armful of hay. The innocent symbolism of the rows of feed tubs left an immediate impact made more endearing by the volunteers who in a synchronized fashion worked together, serving one another as they served each horse their final meal of the day. As the daylight faded and the paddock lights flicked on, our horses munched their supper and lived the promise of a morning to come and a new beginning.