Episode Details

EPISODE 762 - J.M. Werlein - Professional Horse Trainer Takes the Reins as Author of The Adventures Of The Last Wives Club

In this episode, the conversation moves between a life built around horses and the deeper meaning found in caregiving, writing, and community. The guest shares how she grew up in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, began writing at age five, and later built a career training hunters and jumpers, working with everything from off-the-track thoroughbreds to warmbloods. She explains how horses are intuitive, social, and highly responsive to the emotions people bring into the barn, which makes training both a physical and mental discipline.

That same sensitivity carries into the personal story behind her writing. When her father developed Alzheimer’s, she began keeping notes about her parents and their experience, which eventually became the foundation for her first book, The Adventures of the Last Wives Club. The book grew out of her mother’s friendship with other women caring for husbands with Alzheimer’s, and it reflects how people keep moving forward through grief, responsibility, and change. She talks honestly about the emotional difficulty of caregiving, the need for patience, and the strange but necessary adjustments families make to protect peace and dignity.

The conversation also explores how writing became a second calling. She describes learning by trial and error, leaning on supportive friends who helped edit her work, researching details online, and writing in a way that follows the energy of the moment rather than forcing a perfect process. She hopes to keep writing more as she eventually steps back from horses, and she is already working on a horse-centered book that also touches on bullying, class tension, and the social world around barns and horse shows.

Across the episode, a strong theme emerges: both horses and people respond to consistency, honesty, and calm leadership. Whether she is training a horse, helping a student, or writing about family life, the lesson is the same: meaningful progress comes from patience, clear boundaries, and staying present for the relationships that matter most.

Key takeaway: The episode is a reminder that the best stories often come from lived experience, and that caregiving, training, and writing all ask for the same things: patience, empathy, and the willingness to keep showing up.

https://www.facebook.com/Werlein60

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