Receiving Comfort from Special Friends Long Gone Throughout my life I’ve mined my imagination when I need to escape stressful situations. I use this skill to transport myself to a happy place and time. Memory is my greatest tool as I close my eyes, breathe, and think of some places … Read More
Signs, Symptoms, and Solutions for Improving Your Horse’s Flexibility Riding a horse who has achieved a high degree of suppleness gives a wonderful feeling to its rider. A supple horse moves fluidly and freely over the ground. Its hind legs reach well under its body while bending the joints of … Read More
Portable, Short-Term Fences Help Manage Equine Properties It’s important to begin a discussion about temporary fencing by saying that this type of fence should only be used inside the perimeters of solid, safe, permanent fencing. Temporary fencing is a good way to divide pastures quickly and easily. It’s a way … Read More
Horse Care Helps Me Go On I have the flu. I’m feeling sorry for myself, which I suppose is expected under the circumstances. But I’m especially snappy because it’s winter and I run a boarding barn and make my living giving riding lessons. I’ve canceled lessons for the week, which … Read More
Treasured Tools of the Trade On my farm I rely on mechanical and electronic equipment every day to keep the place running. My tractor, arena drag, coffee pot, wheelbarrow and manure fork, and the computer I’m typing on will all eventually wear out and break. Honestly, though, I have little … Read More
Four Tips for Handling Your Horse’s Feet without Stress Imagine how it feels for a prey animal like a horse to have their foot held and manipulated by a predator species like a human. It’s truly amazing they ever let us touch their feet! If we come to the horse … Read More
Horses Don’t Always Want What People Think They Want Not that long ago the norm for top-notch equine care was to stall horses at night and turn them out in paddocks or fields in the day. We spent a lot of time leading horses in and out, stall cleaning was … Read More
Horse People, Let’s Support Each Other When I was a broke twenty-something college student, I had the opportunity to take a lesson from a local grand prix-level dressage rider, Stephanie Blockley-Clarke. I hitched a ride for my horse, Sailor, and myself with a woman from the barn where I boarded … Read More
Connections with Horse People Enrich Lives I spent a lot of time and money over this past summer working on advancing my judge’s license with USA Working Equitation (USAWE). Like working for an advanced degree in college, I’m investing in something that I tell myself will (hopefully) pay off. I … Read More
The Time to Prepare is Now Recently, I was startled awake at 3:00 in the morning by claps of thunder. My first thought was a horse in the barn was cast, so I listened in the dark for a few seconds as I tried to decide if I needed to … Read More
