Relatively Stable

Kimberly Carter
  • 5.0 (10)
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In Relatively Stable we delve into the journeys of those who have faced challenges, uncovered their passions, and discovered resilience along the way. Whether you're here for the stories, seeking inspiration, or simply drawn to the wisdom we glean from horses—and life—you’re in the right place. Let’s dive into the narratives that remind us how to stay relatively stable, no matter what comes our way. stableroots.substack.com

  1. 3d ago

    I'm Sorry, Please Forgive Me

    I'm Sorry, Please Forgive Me (I love you, thank you) This week, I’m thinking about all the things we apologize for that might not require an apology at all. Things like: talking to ourselves, talking to horses, taking up space, having bodies that change. Things like having feeling things we would rather pretend we don’t feel. It begins with a client asking me if it’s okay to speak to a horse and Penny, our resident Amish unicorn, once again refusing to walk over a pole. It wanders through the strange intimacy of discovering my own back in the shower and realizing that, after a lifetime spent believing otherwise, I am not weak. I am not damaged. I am capable. And then we arrive at schadenfreude. Exactly one year after learning that we would have to leave the farm we called home for twenty years, I went looking for information about the subdivision proposed for the land we left behind. What I found cracked open something I thought I had put away. This is an essay about the spells we cast when we say things aloud, the bodies we misunderstand because we cannot see them clearly, the strength that sometimes reveals itself only after the thing we feared most has already happened, and the complicated little bubbles of satisfaction that rise to the surface when life hands us an unexpected ending. There is also: horse emergencies during showers, hay in places that defy physics, a Belgian named Drax escaping through a stall window, the indignities of aging, Friday’s perpetually missing neck collar, buried horses, hypothetical hauntings, and one deeply satisfying opportunity to say: I f*****g told you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. Thank you. Written and read by Kim Carter Stable Roots / Relatively Stable Get full access to Stable Roots at stableroots.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Aug 6

    But Will There Be Riding?

    But Will There Be Riding? A social media post that took five minutes for me to write reached more than 40,000 people in a couple hours. It wasn't my weekly essay, nor a podcast. It was just a little announcement for an introvert-friendly book club held in the hallway of a horse barn. As strangers began signing up for an event built around silence, I found myself wrestling with an unexpected question: How do you protect something whose greatest value is that almost nothing happens? This week, I'm writing about social media, boundaries, horses, and why our culture is so uncomfortable with stillness. Along the way, I answer the most frequently asked question in the barn: "But will there be riding?" Often, the most important thing a horse teaches us isn't found in the saddle at all. In this episode: - Why a simple Facebook post unexpectedly went viral - The challenge of protecting quiet spaces as they grow - What horses understand about presence that humans often forget - The surprising value of doing less instead of more - Why Books at the Barn isn't really about books Referenced in this episode: 📖 Stable Roots — Weekly essays exploring horses, land, grief, wonder, and the ordinary moments that shape a life. 🐴 Bramblewood Stables — Horsemanship, coaching, farm memberships, and community gatherings in Simpsonville, South Carolina. 📚 Books at the Barn — A free monthly gathering where everyone brings whatever they're reading (or writing), and we spend an hour together in companionable silence before optional conversation afterward. If this episode resonated with you, I'd love it if you'd share it with someone who could use permission to slow down for an hour. Your support helps preserve this old farm and keeps these weekly stories coming. Get full access to Stable Roots at stableroots.substack.com/subscribe

  3. Jul 30

    A Time for Everything

    This week in Stable Roots, a rug becomes much more than a rug. As I begin clearing out the room where my father died, I unknowingly prepare my heart for the loss of a dear friend. A conversation over Middle Eastern food, a horse covered in mysterious welts beneath the moonlight, and an old hospice nurse's wisdom all converge into a single realization: we almost never understand the purpose of our ordinary moments until they're behind us. This week's essay is about grief, timing, horses, and the unrelated threads that stitch our life together. In this episode: - Why one room in our farmhouse is called The Mourning Room - The surprising connection between Turkish rugs, asymmetrical music, and the rhythm of riding horses - What Bentley's midnight medical mystery taught me about paying attention - The intersection of faith, science, and the mysteries don't fit neatly in a box. - Why the horses may understand rest better than we do I hope this story feels like coming home. Thank you for listening and for walking this journey alongside me. 🌿 About Stable Roots Stable Roots is my weekly collection of essays from Lavender Hill, where the horses, the land, and farm life reveal extraordinary truths about being human. If these stories resonate with you, I'd love for you to subscribe, share an episode with a friend, or tell me your thoughts. Every small act helps more people discover this work and supports the ongoing restoration of Lavender Hill and our senior herd of horses. Love, Kim Get full access to Stable Roots at stableroots.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Jul 23

    Horse with a Pearl Earring

    Horse with a Pearl Earring What do a missing pearl earring, a flea-bitten gray mare named Penny, and three teenagers sleeping in a horse pasture have in common? This week in Stable Roots, I follow a story that began with the certainty that one of my horses had swallowed an earring and ended somewhere entirely different. Along the way, I explore why horses instinctively take the fewest steps necessary, why humans so often invent extra ones, and how living on our new farm is teaching me the difference between responsibility and carrying imagined catastrophes. You'll also meet three young women who have grown up at Bramblewood and started what I hope becomes a lasting tradition: spending a summer night beneath the stars with the horses. Watching them reminded me that preserving farmland isn't just about protecting open space—it's about making room for memories that shape a lifetime. In this episode: - The night I was convinced Penny swallowed my pearl earring. - Why horses are masters of efficiency. - The lesson of "taking fewer steps." - The surprising gift of saying yes instead of automatically saying no. - A new Bramblewood tradition born under a sky full of stars. How Lavender Hill is changing not only the landscape around me, but the landscape inside me. If Stable Roots has become part of your week, I'd love for you to subscribe, leave a review, or share this episode with someone who might need it. If this story reminds you why places like Bramblewood matter, you can also help preserve this work. Your gifts directly support the care of the horses, the stewardship of Lavender Hill, and a place where future generations can build memories like the ones shared in this week's essay. Every contribution, large or small, helps keep this land, these stories, and this community growing. ❤️ Support Bramblewood: at this link. Thank you for walking this path with me each week. Love,Kim Get full access to Stable Roots at stableroots.substack.com/subscribe

  5. Jul 16

    The Trees Speak

    A few weeks before my wedding, a tree started singing. Christopher and I were standing beside an old pond, preparing to say our vows beneath its branches, when we heard a sound neither of us could explain. We listened. Then we moved our ceremony. Days later, Hurricane Helene forever changed the landscape around us. This week on Stable Roots, we follow the language of the forest through folklore, forestry, science, and one unforgettable South Carolina forester who seemed to live on an entirely different timeline. Along the way, we explore the mystery of Dropped Bough Syndrome, Tolkien's Ents, and what healthy trees can teach us about carrying too much for too long. Perhaps the trees have been speaking all along. In this episode: - The tree that changed our wedding plans - Hurricane Helene and the forests of the Upstate - The mystery of Summer Branch Drop - Meeting a real-life "Ent" - Why foresters think in decades instead of deadlines - What trees can teach us about letting go If you enjoy these weekly essays, subscribe to Stable Roots. Every Thursday you'll receive a new story from Bramblewood Stables at Lavender Hill, along with its companion voiceover. Paid subscribers become part of the farm collective, helping sustain the writing, the farm, and this growing community rooted in curiosity, resilience, and the quiet work of paying attention. Thank you for listening. Love, Kim Get full access to Stable Roots at stableroots.substack.com/subscribe

  6. Jul 9

    The Joy of Mowing

    What if mowing wasn't a chore? This week in Stable Roots, Kim Carter reflects on why climbing onto a tractor has become one of the most restorative parts of life at Lavender Hill. What begins as a story about bush hogging pastures unfolds into a meditation on attention, empowerment, Elizabeth Gilbert's All the Way to the River, the surprising history of lawns, the secret language of roadside ditches, and why Johnson grass might have more to teach us than we'd like to admit. Sometimes the most ordinary work invites us into the deepest conversations—with ourselves, with the land, and with the seasons quietly unfolding around us. Whether you spend your days on a tractor, in a garden, at a workbench, or behind a desk, this episode is an invitation to slow down, pay attention, and discover the unexpected joy hidden in work you can actually finish. In this episode: Why buying a tractor changed more than the way I mowed Measuring an afternoon in Elizabeth Gilbert instead of hours Bush hogging versus suburban lawns The hidden history of the American lawn Reading the stories written in ditches What Johnson grass can teach us about land—and ourselves Why tangible work quiets a busy mind Question for listeners: What work tires your body but fills your spirit? I'd love to hear your answer in the comments. Stable Roots is a weekly essay and narrated podcast exploring horses, historic places, Appalachian culture, faith, human behavior, and the quiet lessons hidden in ordinary life. Subscribe for free or become a paid subscriber to support the work and receive audio narrations, the full archive, and exclusive subscriber content. Written and narrated by Kim Carter Bramblewood Stables at Lavender Hill, Simpsonville, SC New episodes every Thursday. Get full access to Stable Roots at stableroots.substack.com/subscribe

  7. Jun 25

    Granny Magic

    Granny Magic: A witness statement from the Blue Ridge Mountains What if the old women knew something we've forgotten? This week, I'm taking you back to one hot summer afternoon when I ran into a burning kerosene heater, my cousins called Aunt Daisy, and she "talked the fire" out of my burn with a prayer passed down through generations. That memory opens the door to a much larger conversation about Appalachian folk traditions, the rise of cottagecore and grannycore, the tension between faith and science, and why so many of us are suddenly longing for the wisdom our own grandparents often left behind. Along the way, I share the story of my remarkable Aunt Winchester, explore the rituals that still survive throughout the Blue Ridge Mountains, and offer my own witness statement about mystery, prayer, healing, horses, and the things I've experienced that I cannot explain away. Whether you believe every story or remain wonderfully skeptical, I hope this episode reminds you that paying attention has always been one of humanity's oldest forms of wisdom. Because perhaps the real magic was never in the rituals themselves. Perhaps it was in remembering how to notice. In this episode: - The day Aunt Daisy prayed the fire out of my burn - The mountain women who carried healing traditions through generations - Why cottagecore and grannycore have become cultural movements - The relationship between Appalachian folk practices and Christianity - Talking fire, stopping blood, weather signs, moon lore, dreams, saints, and horses - Why I believe science and mystery belong in the same conversation - My own witness statement about living in a world that is far stranger than we've been taught If this episode resonates with you, I'd love to welcome you to Stable Roots, where every week I explore the intersection of horses, history, grief, faith, psychology, and the stories that shape the way we live. Love,Kim Get full access to Stable Roots at stableroots.substack.com/subscribe

  8. Jun 18

    Shut Up and Listen

    The Ability to Be Taught Why horses care less about what we think we know. What if the most important learning skill isn't intelligence? This week, Kim Carter begins with a one-minute drone video of horses running across a field in Upstate South Carolina and follows an unexpected thread into a much bigger question: What does it mean to pay attention? From horse-crazy barn rats and child labor law research in the pre-internet era to a stubborn girth buckle, fragmented attention, working memory, and the surprising science behind learning styles, this essay explores why children often learn differently than adults—and why horses may be some of the best teachers we have. Along the way, you'll discover: • Why research has largely debunked the idea of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners • What psychologists mean by working memory—and why instructions sometimes seem to vanish before we can use them • The surprising reason adults often struggle more than children when learning something new • How modern life trains us to divide our attention into smaller and smaller pieces • Why horses consistently reward curiosity, presence, and the willingness to be a beginner At its heart, this isn't a story about riding lessons. It's about competence, attention, and the increasingly rare ability to stop what we're doing long enough to receive new information. Whether you've spent your life around horses or have never touched one, this episode offers a fresh perspective on learning, listening, and why some of the most important lessons in life begin when we're willing to admit we don't already know the answer. Featured topics:Attention • Learning Styles • Working Memory • Neuroplasticity • Horses as Teachers • Child Development • Adult Learning • Focus in a Distracted World • Personal Growth Key Quote "The best learners are people willing to breathe through their discomfort and listen. And if we're lucky, the horse is patient enough to wait for us to remember how." Get full access to Stable Roots at stableroots.substack.com/subscribe

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About

In Relatively Stable we delve into the journeys of those who have faced challenges, uncovered their passions, and discovered resilience along the way. Whether you're here for the stories, seeking inspiration, or simply drawn to the wisdom we glean from horses—and life—you’re in the right place. Let’s dive into the narratives that remind us how to stay relatively stable, no matter what comes our way. stableroots.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Kimberly Carter
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    78
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Kimberly Carter
  • Show Website
    Relatively Stable