I hope the new decade is off to a great start for you and your four-legged friends. In addition to rebuilding the Stables and dusting off stories from the Loft Book Club archives, I’ve been pondering the future of the GHC blog and have decided on some big changes, along with what’s next. So here goes…

I’m very excited to announce the GRAND RE-OPENING of the Girls Horse Club Stables! The stables are one of the original features created when we launched back in 2001…

If you’ve been around GHC for more than a year, you may recall the Loft Book Club, an area of the site that housed a HUGE library of fiction and poetry written by and for horse girls. I thought it would be fun to sift through those archives…

Sometimes when I’m stuck and need some inspiration, I’ll find an interesting image, imagine a story taking place in that scene, and write about it. It’s a good exercise to get the creative juices flowing…

While GHC is on a break, I hope you’ll have fun interacting with horses and horse girls in the real world. But on those days when it’s not possible to get out, or you’d like to get out but don’t know what to do, here are some ideas (in no particular order) to help you…

As we approach the Girls Horse Club hiatus, I find myself musing about lessons learned from horses. If you’ve been riding and/or training for a while, you’ve probably experienced ebbs and flows in your progress. There are times when you’re moving forward in a steady flow, completely in sync with your horse. There are other times when you’re just plain stuck…

Fiction competition prizes are on the way to their new homes…

I LOVE FALL. I love the change to crisp days and cold nights — perfect for curling up by the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa and a good story. I love watching the trees change from green to orange, red and gold before shedding their leaves to the earth. I love seeing animals prepare for the change, their coats growing thick and fluffy…

We had strong and speedy interest for this position — thank you! — but two candidates surged ahead based on their long history as exceptional GHC contributors and leaders. Since there was no way I could choose one over the other (and there’s no doubt we’ll have plenty to fill whatever time they’re able to give) I decided to go for it! Please give a HUGE welcome to our very first Junior Editors…

While pondering what’s next on the horizon for GHC, I came to an important conclusion: For our virtual barn to flourish and grow, we need more participation from the community (aka YOU) above and beyond sharing and commenting on stories…