Alayne Blickle

Alayne Blickle began in the 1990’s as a pioneer in water conservation and natural resources conservation by creating the entrepreneurial consulting business, Horses for Clean Water, an award-winning internationally acclaimed education program that looks for horse-healthy, nature-based solutions to land management challenges. She continues this work today partnering with agencies, organizations, and horse owners throughout North America and worldwide. She is a regularly contributing writer and photojournalist to several equine publications. Alayne lives with her horse trainer husband, Matt Livengood, in southwestern Idaho where they raise and train AQHA horses and mustangs on their eco-friendly horse ranch. Contact her through the Horses for Clean Water website or through their ranch website Sweet Pepper Ranch. For more information contact Alayne at [email protected] or 206-909-0225.

Old Bits: Horse Farm Management – Creating a Sacrifice Area Part 2

January 23, 2021 by Alayne Blickle

Creating & Using a Sacrifice Area: Your Start Now for Better Pastures Next Summer! Part II Probably the best thing you can do for your pasture is take your horses off of it in the winter. Confining your horses to a winter paddock or “sacrifice area” will greatly improve the …

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Keep Your Confined Horses Happier

January 1, 2021 by Alayne Blickle

Locate your confinement area so your horse will have interaction and stimulus from the world around them. Photo by Kim Roe

Winter can be a challenging time for riders and our horses. Shorter days with inclement weather can make finding time to ride a challenge. Horses confined in paddocks or dry lots during winter still need something to do. Increasing turnout time, allowing social interactions between horses, and providing sufficient forage …

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Old Bits: Horse Farm Management – Creating a Sacrifice Area Part 1

January 23, 2021December 21, 2020 by Alayne Blickle

Creating & Using a Sacrifice Area: Your Start Now for Better Pastures Next Summer! Part 1 Don’t let this mild winter fool you – the most important part of managing pastures is the time when you take your horses off your pasture. By creating and using a winter paddock or …

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Build Your Own Permanent Mounting Block – A Simple and Essential Fixture for Riding Facilities

November 2, 2020November 1, 2020 by Alayne Blickle

Helyn, Jasper & the new mounting block. Photo from Alayne Blickle

I discovered the joys of a “real” mounting block about ten years ago when I tore my right anterior cruciate ligament and several other key ligaments that stabilized that knee joint. After the requisite surgery, my wait to get back on my horse was going to be six or more …

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Footing Options for Confinement Areas – Gravel, Sand, and Hog Fuel are the Most Common Choices

September 4, 2020 by Alayne Blickle

Gravel works well particularly in wetter conditions or with more organic soils. Photo by Kim Roe

Footing is an important consideration for confinement areas. Using some type of footing, at least in the high traffic areas, will reduce mud by keeping your horse off the soil surface and avoiding erosion. Less mud equals less chance of nutrients and sediments running off and polluting surface waters, too. …

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Safety Tips for Trail Riding During a Pandemic – Getting Out is Possible if You Use Caution

August 5, 2020June 30, 2020 by Alayne Blickle

Photo by Alayne Blickle

Park with extra distance between rigs so no one is tempted to visit closely and so you can comfortably maintain a six to ten-foot distance from others. Avoid trailering with others in the same vehicle by driving separate rigs instead. Typically, this monthly column focuses on smart, healthy, and …

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Springtime Mud on Horse Properties

May 8, 2020 by Alayne Blickle

Across the Pacific Northwest many horse properties are showing the repercussions of a wet winter followed by spring precipitation. Muddy paddocks with miserable horses standing up to their ankles in filth aren’t fun for horses or their owners. Mud creates an unhealthy environment for a horse. It harbors bacterial and …

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Small Farm Makeover: Natural Solutions for Insect Control

August 5, 2020April 4, 2020 by Alayne Blickle

Swallows Eat Thousands of Flies and Mosquitoes Daily by Alayne Blickle Horse people love spring, but what gives us great hope of summer being just around the corner is the return of swallows to North America. Depending on where you live, you should begin seeing swallows in March and …

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Make the Most of Your Social Distancing

April 2, 2020April 1, 2020 by Alayne Blickle

by Alayne Blickle (From March 2020 Horses for Clean Water Newsletter) Over the 40 plus years I’ve owned horses, I have experienced a variety of what were (at the time) frightening outbreaks of equine diseases—Potomac horse fever, Equine Protozoa Myolitis, West Nile virus, and Equine Herpesvirus Neurologic, to name a …

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Installing Rubber Stall Mats – A Case Study

August 5, 2020March 1, 2020 by Alayne Blickle

Photo by Alayne Blickle.

Rubber stall mats are the gold standard in horse stall flooring. Unfortunately, they’re so cumbersome in size and shape, they can be a struggle to place perfectly in a stall. If not perfect, they end up working themselves loose, twisting, turning and creating hassles. Anita Medina and her two horses …

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Thank you for supporting the businesses that support The Northwest Horse Source

Thank you for supporting the businesses that support The Northwest Horse Source

Thank you for supporting the businesses that support The Northwest Horse Source

Thank you for supporting the businesses that support The Northwest Horse Source

Thank you for supporting the businesses that support The Northwest Horse Source

Thank you for supporting the businesses that support The Northwest Horse Source

Thank you for supporting the businesses that support The Northwest Horse Source

Thank you for supporting the businesses that support The Northwest Horse Source

Thank you for supporting the businesses that support The Northwest Horse Source

Thank you for supporting the businesses that support The Northwest Horse Source

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