If we are lucky, we find a way to construct our lives around the things we love most, and if we’re blessed, we get to do those things for many, many years. Heather Smith Thomas, prolific writer and author of the new book Good Horse, Bad Habits, illustrates this ideal so well. At 70, she is still at her desk typing in the wee hours before chores need to be done, and in the saddle moving cattle a large part of each day. Hers may not be an “easy” life in comparison to some, but it is one filled with the joys of family, beautiful landscapes, and of course, horses.

As part of the Trafalgar Square Books (www.horseandriderbooks.com) “Horseworld by the Hour” blog series, Heather shares with us the details of one typically busy, but utterly satisfying, summer day.

“I usually spend 6 to 10 hours a day at my writing—during whatever time I am not working with the cattle or horses,” said Heather. “My writing has become a full-time job that I can do at odd hours. My husband and I had 180 cows for more than 30 years, but during the past dozen years or so, we’ve sold most of our cows to our son and his family to help them get started in ranching. Now my husband and I have just a small herd, and depend more on my writing income than the cattle income.”

Get an inside glimpse of Heather’s life on the Trafalgar Square Books’ TSB blog.

And be sure to check out the rest of our “Horseworld by the Hour” blog series, with a peek inside 24 hours with bestselling TSB authors Clinton Anderson, Janet Foy, Doug Payne, Daniel Stewart and Lynn Palm.

Good Horse, Bad Habits by Heather Smith Thomas is available now from the TSB online bookstore (www.horseandriderbooks.com) where shipping in the U.S. is FREE.