The first career of author Celia Ryker was with horses. For more than thirty years, she trained horses and taught students on Southeast Michigan’s hunter jumper circuit. The characters in this book, horse and human, are based on people and animals she has known.

Celia Ryker’s first book, Walking Home: Trail Stories, was a Gold Winner in the 2022 Human Relations Indie Book Award in Travel, and Silver Winner in Motivational Memoir and Personal Determination. Her second book,

Dr. Kathy Connell was raised in Northern Illinois, and has had horses in her life since she was a child. Her love of horses led her to become an equine veterinarian. After completing veterinary school in Illinois, and an internship in Florida, Kathy moved to Michigan where she worked for fifteen years with the author’s husband, Don. Kathy then moved to Oregon where she continues to work as an equine veterinarian. As an artist, Kathy draws, paints, and sculpts. She’s recently begun carving and building wooden rocking horses.