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The Lady Is A Saddle Tramp

May 17, 2023

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Shannon King and her husband lived a cozy, peaceful life in Leander, Texas. They loved the outdoors. Together they camped, explored and took on projects together – even once building a cabin from scratch for their kids.

“I thought we would grow old together, and raise our kids together,” Shannon says.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

In 2017, everything started to fall apart. Shannon and her husband disagreed on how to handle her stepdaughter’s depression. Slowly, the relationship between Shannon and her husband eroded.

“I became very scared of what was happening with our family and the marriage, and I overcompensated by trying to control that and make things perfect,” Shannon says. “That, of course, just always backfires.”

Woman smiling in a hat with her white and grey horse.
Shannon King and her horse, Dex.

One day, Shannon’s husband packed up all his things and abruptly left. Seeing their 8 years of marriage end so suddenly left Shannon feeling completely lost. She had no idea what do next – but knew she couldn’t continue on the way she was. Somewhere along the way, she’d lost her sense of self-worth and self-confidence, and she wasn’t sure how to gain it back.

She eventually came up with an idea – she was going to leave everything behind and set out on a journey. Alone.

“I wanted to come back a different person,” Shannon says. “I wanted to come back so confident that I'd never let myself go again.”

Shannon thought about the person she wanted to become and decided to get to where she wanted to be, she would tackle her longtime goal of riding through all the state parks in Texas on horseback. She’d done a few with her husband but had 18 left to go. It would be a long trip – and she would be all alone, camping in the wilderness.

“I felt, really, a lot of guilt coming out of the marriage, justified or not. And I think I needed to feel like I could accomplish something, and I wasn't a bad person. That had to start with me.” Shannon says.

Grey brown horse standing in a dessert field with mountains and a blue sky behind him.
Dex, Shannon’s companion for her solo trek through the desert.

So, Shannon prepared to set out on her month-long journey. There was just one thing she needed to find before she could start the trek: the perfect horse.

In this episode, hear Shannon’s story and how one horse and a month in the desert started her on a journey of self-discovery and healing.

And to see more from Shannon, check out her website and find her on social media.

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Learn more about the host of Home. Made., award winning journalist Stephanie Foo on our host page.

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