Annie Penfield
We live among horses and dogs in Vermont—or we did. My children are adults, and now I spend weeks aboard a sailboat in Alaska. The boat is a departure from normalcy which consists of my day job, riding horses, and skiing. Horses have been a constancy and solace. I began my life on horseback, on a pony named Tradewind attached with a line to my mother. Next it was pony (Shotgun) races with my brothers and later highly prized time galloping on the heels of my father. Horses were how our family adhered and how I still do. A horse named Ruckus carried me through my teenage years, and on a super-powered horse Captain Lightfoot, I competed in eventing through the Preliminary and CIC** level, in our later years in the company of my daughter Sylvia. I turned the passion for horses into a business, Strafford Saddlery. Now, I work part-time as a saddlefitter and managing partner, and happily hack out with my husband ("date rides").
Kent and I also enjoy skinning (otherwise known as skins on skis and walking many vertical feet up) in the Tetons. (Where we met.) We can enjoy skiing as family, as not all my children ride (Graham!). This alpine passion flourished when my daughter Susanna and I skied the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt. In the company of the Swiss skiers, I realized here was an adventure I had not aged out of and I understood there would be challenges after horse sports--which seems to have landed me on a boat for now. "Moderation," espoused my grandfather. (Although, "you have to know how to fall," and "throw your heart over" were some of his other common tenets that can also land you in trouble.) Time on Rapport will be integrated with riding, skiing, and working. Somehow.
With my writing, I explore lineage (we are the expression of our previous generations) and how we endure (we are the healing of our previous generations). Everyday challenges and how we cope with them are themes I like to explore. Writing encourages me to pay attention to landscape and teaches me about myself, our ability to connect, and how to nurture humanity.
A graduate from the MFA in Writing Program from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, I have completed my first book based on my “The Half-Life" essay, the winner of Fourth Genre’s Michael Steinberg 2012 essay prize, and named Notable Essay by Best American Essays. I have a. new project in the works based on our experiences in Alaska. More immediately I am at work developing this web page with writing and recordings. (Thank you, Sylvia.)
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