Anna Blake's Blog (319)

Calming Signals and Equine Gastric Ulcers

These are two of my favorite topics and I write about them often, but this post is about how calming signals and gastric ulcers can relate to each other.

First, are you informed about gastric ulcers? Its knowledge that every horse owner should have–no different from hoof care or dental…

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Added by Anna Blake on June 12, 2015 at 9:00am — 5 Comments

Respecting Your “Other” Space

I assume your horse respects your space; that on the ground he stands a couple of feet away, relaxed and cool. He doesn’t shove his way through gates ahead of you, or jerk the lead rope out of your hands, or perform police-like…

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Added by Anna Blake on June 5, 2015 at 9:28am — No Comments

How Much Longer Do You Think You Can Do This?

“How much longer do you think you can do this?”

This week I received a blog request. You see, the reader is my age, 60, and she’s frustrated at being asked that question repeatedly. The reader’s friend tells her that she and her husband “should get rid of over 30 equines and their farm and all the work,…

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Added by Anna Blake on May 29, 2015 at 9:30am — No Comments

The Long Goodbye: Meet Vinnie

It makes perfect sense to tell the story of an off-the-track Thoroughbred in the midst of the Triple Crown frenzy–with two weeks until the final race. Some of us love racing and some can’t stand to watch, but we all agree on one truth: Thoroughbred…

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Added by Anna Blake on May 22, 2015 at 8:45am — 1 Comment

How a Runaway Happens.

You know that feeling when a wreck is going to happen but you just can’t look away? It’s a magnetic, anxious feeling, followed by half-hearted guilt; time slows and it would feel better if you could laugh. It’s hoping for the best, but…

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Added by Anna Blake on May 15, 2015 at 9:08am — 2 Comments

To Rest in Peace.

They aren’t getting any younger. Most of us spend a certain amount of time between riding and mucking, just watching our animals get older. If you are like me, you have a few elders of different species right now who are on borrowed time. Every time the Grandfather Horse lies…

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Added by Anna Blake on May 8, 2015 at 9:06am — 2 Comments

Cowboys, Dressage Queens, and Respect.

I got badmouthed by a cowboy recently. He dressed the part way too seriously.

It’s okay, in dressage we think of ourselves as eternal students. There isn’t a day that goes by that horses don’t teach me something. I…

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Added by Anna Blake on May 1, 2015 at 9:37am — No Comments

How to Train Your Horse to Hate Arena Work.

Does your horse go better out of the arena? It seems like some…

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Added by Anna Blake on April 24, 2015 at 9:30am — No Comments

How to Listen to Your Horse.

I had a friend who visited my farm during my first years here. She arrived for the weekend with books and wine. We’d cook and stay up late. In the mornings we took our coffee out into the pasture, still in our flannel pajamas, and looked at wild flowers.

I’m sure I talked…

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Added by Anna Blake on April 17, 2015 at 9:30am — No Comments

Walter on Positive Pet/Vet Training.

Thanks for not mentioning my big nasty scab. I woke up last week with a corgi toenail inside my ear. It was attached to a corgi…running in mid-air… trying to find traction…in a fight with a sleeping Briard…next to me on the bed…at about 2 am. The Briard was totally disoriented by…

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Added by Anna Blake on April 10, 2015 at 8:54am — No Comments

Horses and Tulips.

At some distant moment in the past, probably after seeing The Miracle of the White Stallions when I was a kid, I found out that Spanish horses were started at 4…

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Added by Anna Blake on April 3, 2015 at 9:27am — No Comments

When to Dismount and Say Thank You.

“Asking your horse to hold your weight at the halt, like gossiping cowboys with their legs hooked over their saddle-horns, is much harder for a horse than moving with weight on his back. When you’re not riding, kindly get off his back.”

This quote is from last week’s blog and Cathy asked me to elaborate. I promised I’d hold it to a moderate rant.

Let’s start by…

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Added by Anna Blake on March 27, 2015 at 9:14am — No Comments

Tips for the Fat Rider. (What?!)

Are you are just too fat to ride? Then go wait in your room.

Did that work? Did you actually go? Of course not. Can we stop this now?

I have a…

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Added by Anna Blake on March 20, 2015 at 9:29am — 2 Comments

Care-giving and the Art of Mucking.

We have a shade tree next to the barn runs that gives the sweetest summer shade, but reeks havoc on winter footing. Colorado temps frequently take 40 degree mood swings in a few hours. Fresh muck can land in wet spring snow, and in a brief moment, freeze so solid that a pick ax is useless. But an hour later, the muck has dissolved, indistinguishable…

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Added by Anna Blake on March 13, 2015 at 9:33am — No Comments

Riding with Intention.

Does anyone think they can hide their feelings from their horse? Even for a minute?

A horse’s physical awareness is so acute that they seem intuitive. Most of us think our horses are psychic because it’s easier to believe than how…

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Added by Anna Blake on March 6, 2015 at 9:56am — 2 Comments

An Equine Cure for a Type-A Personality.

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Added by Anna Blake on February 27, 2015 at 9:13am — No Comments

The Grandfather Horse. Not Dead Yet.

I haven’t written about the Grandfather Horse in over a year. Most of that time, I was scared half-to-death and the rest of the time, I was laughing too hard.

I know I’m supposed to credit for whatever equine skills I might have to my trainers (I worked with the best,) and the…

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Added by Anna Blake on February 20, 2015 at 8:48am — 2 Comments

Left in the Dust: Your Ridiculously Slow Response Time.

Have you noticed that horses are incredibly quicker than we are? I’m going to tell you the good news about that, but it’s going to take a while to get there.

Horses have the fastest response time of any common domestic animal. Yes, they measure these things, and horses are quickest to perceive and respond to stimuli–partly because they are…

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Added by Anna Blake on February 13, 2015 at 9:51am — No Comments

The Stepford Horses, Dominated to Submission.

Remember the Stepford Wives–a little too submissive, a little too darkly docile? I saw horses just like them last week and I’m still in a snit. They were at a riding facility–a group lesson of fairly novice western riders. Each of the horses had a shank bit, each of the riders used spurs. The horses moved like the zombie-wives who had lost the will to live… altered into submission by their self-important husbands. If one of the horses did lift his head to see where he was going,…

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Added by Anna Blake on February 6, 2015 at 9:20am — 3 Comments

Why I Like Bad-Dogs.





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Added by Anna Blake on January 30, 2015 at 9:07am — 1 Comment

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