I Did Not Have to Warm Up My Bit

It got up to 80ºF a few times this week. I wore my summer riding clothes, the horses were not buried under exercise sheets, and all the horses are shedding out rapidly.

My…

My New Bit Gives Me a Chance to Improve My Riding

After looking at an ad for a Wellep bit for over a year, I finally had enough spare money to buy it. It was described, and the picture showed, a Wellep Mullen mouth Full Cheek Snaffle. The web site's title was Wellep Western Bit, which confused me because on the Wellep bit web site there was no mention of Western bits! I finally ordered it and…

Is it an AHA moment in a horse’s understanding? A sign of submission or a sigh of relief?

Always one to ask questions, I think a little differently about the licking and chewing thing  than I did in earlier years training horses. We recognize this mouth behaviour in a horse after stopping to take a break in an intense training…

The Cold Wind Just Drained All of My Energy

Our extremely persistent moderate drought is easing. The ponds are filling up again, our local river has stopped looking like an easily fordable creek and we are seeing persistent mud again. This is good in many ways, at least the soil will have enough moisture to grow the first Spring hay crop! So I do not complain too much about the rain. Of course…

   It's been a rather strenuous month, for me. Oakley has had it easy. The weather has been giving 30 degree swings, from 10C to -20C and back, which, of course, leads to melting and flash freezing into ice that is treacherous to move over (I don't ride over to the arena, we walk). I did manage to cover the path with freshly-used bedding from the compost pile during one of the brief warmish spells, so the footing, while frozen, is not ice.

   You see, I learned to work the tractor,…

You might jump to the conclusion, that they don’t have a Bible.  But let’s assume theses teens and I will let all the adults off the hook for now, do have a Bible and in fact they also attend church.  

They are filled with good intentions and know in their heart of hearts they ought to spend time in God’s word.  So I ask you again why don’t they read the Bible?

The answer is little more complex however I stumbled on a simple…

Applying science-based learning principles for any horse training scenario, Dr. Sue McDonnell suggests how to de-stress 5 common stressful vet treatment procedures. It's common for equestrians to unintentionally train avoidance responses using pressure and release in the wrong timing. “We put pressure, the horses react, we back off because we have to because they're big or we weren't prepared, and the horse almost immediately gets into an avoidance cycle,” she said. “Recognize when something…

It Seems Like I Cannot “Feel” My Upper Back

All through my riding career, most of my riding instructors (at least the good ones) have gotten after me for “slouching” in the saddle. As long as my MS was not too bad, I could work around my slouching back, but it has held me back my entire riding life.

You see I did not KNOW…