I’m very happy to introduce Chloe, looks like horses are returning to Bedlam Farm, a fitting thing for us, this is our Year Of The Horse. Horses have entered our lives and consciousness in a major way in recent months, we have not had a horse since Rocky, the blind and very old Appaloosa we cared for after we took over our current farm. Maria has been thinking about getting a horse for more than a year, she took riding lessons and began introducing horses into her art.

Today we went out to Thornwood Farm, the home of our farrier Ken Norman and his wife Eli Anita-Norman and we met Chloe for the second time. She was rescued from a mudhole on a farm. Maria is resuming her riding lessons with Eli and spent the afternoon learning how to groom Chloe and walk with her on a halter.

I liked Chloe a lot, she has a lot of personality, definitely has a mind of her own but is calm and affectionate and responds well to direction. Eli told Maria she needed to be a leader, and Maria had no trouble doing that. Maria is friends with Eli and is close to Pamela Richenbach, co-director of Blue-Star Equiculture, the horse rescue and organic farming center in Palmer, Mass.

We’ve visited Blue-Star many times – we are both enchanted by the place – and Maria is going to spent a few days there next week. When she gets back, she will start grooming Chloe regularly and then will take riding lessons from Eli. We have 17 acres behind the farm and Maria plans to ride Chloe there and on the trails beyond. We’re both excited, this will be a great addition to the farm.

As many of you know, we lost Simon, Lenore and Frieda this winter. It’s time for us to put our lips to the world and just live. We need light, life and love on the farm, I told Maria today and she agreed. We are planning on getting a puppy this summer, and I am open to finding a small house dog to go along with the puppy and Red. Possibly a shelter or adopted dog.

I think Chloe will be at the farm by May. We need to make sure Maria and the pony are comfortable with one another – Chloe is used to being ridden and is very steady – and that she and the donkeys can get along. Lulu and Fanny are both female, we don’t expect the same kind of problem we had with Simon and Rocky. But you never know until you try it. Chloe will come and be separated from the donkeys for a few days, then they will be together. We expect some biting and kicking, then hopefully things will settle down.

She is a powerful new symbol for the farm in Spring, and after this challenging winter. The horse thing is very powerful with Maria right now, and it is also affecting her art in very beautiful ways. So a time for rebirth and renewal. Here, we do not mourn our losses for too long, we celebrate the opportunity to live our lives as fully and meaningfully as possible. I’ll keep you posted.