By Steve Stevens 

We have started a new tradition in the Stevens house the last two years. We put up a cute white fall Christmas tree to celebrate all the hard hours put in during the summer. It is a celebration of the changing of the seasons—the sun coming up a little later in the day and going down a little earlier in the evening.

We celebrate the stillness that comes with the air of fall and the turning colors of the trees.

And even the black birds that fill the Walmart parking lot as the sun falls.

For us, fall leads to our daughter’s birthday and the holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving that are so fun to experience when you have young children.

This is my favorite time of the year to ride and train horses, especially watching the sky change colors in the early evening.

The Native Americans believe that everything comes full circle: the circle of life, the wind, the earth and the seasons. I try to remind myself of this when working horses in a round pen. How we use the round pen tool to work horses is an endless circle. No matter the horse, age, experience—we continue to make circles and like the seasons, if we grow in that circle we can make changes.

We must grow to continue in the circle. We and the horse must learn to flow through the change of seasons. If we break the flow, we can break that circle of life and growth. I don’t want to sound too out there, but if you have seen as many horses as I have that have circled around me in my life, you would understand how I can be a little horse crazy.

All good horsemen know that much like in our human life, we must ride many circles to achieve straightness. At the end of the day we are looking for a straight horse and a straight line to happiness.

When riding in circles, remember how those circles connect us to the circle of life and the circle of our lives and the circle of the seasons.

Many blessings to you all. Love, ride and dream through the seasons of the fall.

The Steven’s beautiful fall tree. (Photo courtesy of Steve Stevens)