I’d like to welcome my author friend, Kathy O’Neill. I think you’ll enjoy her childhood memories of grandparents and great-grandparents, inspiring her love of horses. Open in your browser and scroll to the bottom to leave a comment. I always enjoy hearing from my readers!

The Farm That Corralled My Heart by Kathy O’Neill

The Bay of Fundy almost cuts Nova Scotia away from mainland Canada. But at its northeastern end, a large land bridge joins Nova Scotia to the rest of Canada. My great grandparents, Harvey and Sarah, grew up in a village on the northwestern shores of the Bay of Fundy, not far from Pictou, where their Scottish ancestors first landed in 1773.

Harvey and Sarah married in 1895 and moved to Maine around 1900. They bought a farm in a coastal town and raised their family there. It was a typical New England farm with a shed connecting the house to the large barn. That way they didn’t have to trudge through Maine’s deep snows to care for their animals.

When I was a child, we lived close by, and I spent a lot of time at their farm. My memories of those days are like warm hugs—Grammie made the best donuts. While they were still warm, we’d dip them in her big wooden sugar firkin. If we got hungry later, she’d butter slices of bread and sprinkle sugar on them for snacks. I always made sure to sit with her on her sunporch while she shelled peas because she didn’t mind if I ate some raw.

Her braided rugs brightened each room, and at night we snuggled under her handmade quilts. On warm summer days I could settle into a shady corner of the porch to read and dream about horses.

Grandpa still cut and split wood for the large cook stove in the kitchen. And he was the one who picked and husked the corn. He loved to make us kids scream and run when he pulled out a squishy corn borer.

In his younger years, in addition to farming, Grandpa traveled by a horse-drawn wagon around town selling meat to people, including the artist, Winslow Homer. The horses were gone by the time I came along, but the wagon draped in silky cobwebs sat in a corner of the barn. We kids played in it, calling out “giddy up” and “whoa” to our pretend horses. Later, I began taking riding lessons on real horses.

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love horses, but those summer days of playing in the barn with its sweet smell of hay and reading horse books in a shady corner of the porch corralled my heart to love these beautiful creatures God made to survive in the wild or to be friendly and helpful companions to us humans.

My prayer is that the fun information in my book, Hoofprints of Hope Devotional, will corral young people’s attention and lead them to know how much God loves them and longs to be their guide. Life is a little like a trail ride—mostly adventurous and fun, but sometimes a little hard or even scary. I hope Hoofprints of Hope will assure them that God is always with them on their trail ride (Deuteronomy 31:8).

In Hoofprints of Hope Devotional (Tyndale Kids, September 2026), author Kathryn O’Neill sweeps kids into exciting stories about horse breeds, skills, and anatomy, plus legendary equines like Trigger, Seabiscuit, and Molly the Pony. Through these real-world adventures, readers discover the science of how God designed horses.

This children’s devotional explores four dynamic categories—famous horses, horse breeds, horse anatomy, and horse skills—showing kids how creation and faith work together beautifully.

Genre: devotional for middle grade kids ages 8-12

Purchase link:  Amazon  https://a.co/d/0cAvhhJd

From Becky: As a side note, I purchased Kathy’s book for my granddaughter, Ava. I highly recommend!

Kathy O’Neill grew up in Maine. She loves the Lord and His gifts of family, friends, art and nature. Today she lives in Colorado, exchanging walks on the beach for horseback riding in the Rockies, where the wind sings through the pines. As an art teacher, writer, and speaker, she enjoys engaging children’s and adult’s hearts and hands to discover God and their own creativity through art, history, and nature. Kathy has written for, Clubhouse Jr., DevoKids, Highlights, and The Quiet Hour. Kathy’s middle grade book Hoofprints of Hope Devotional, 52 Wonders of Faith and Science for Horse-Loving Kids released in September.

You can connect with Kathy on her website http://www.kathy-oneill.com/ where you’ll find a page about Hoofprints and a downloadable activity pack. You’ll also find links to Kathy’s blog, Facebook, her speaking topics, and you can subscribe to her newsletter.