Chance and I had another great show March 9th – 13th!  We packed up and headed to Del Mar, CA on Wed. for The Dressage Affaire CDI.  We had a pretty large group from the barn going with Ashleigh showing Fab, Alex showing Ari, Tori showing Viktor, and Colby showing Capri.  It was a lot of fun and we all had a great time together. …

Yesterday i was at a dressage show, chatting with a 'trainer' who I know, but never trained with. Was telling her who I was working with, and she made a snide comment. Not what I would expect, but, well, some people are petty.



So, today my little girl had another session ground driving. We talked about something they wanted to try with her. And, my trainer, as she always does, says you need to be comfortable with it, this is how it works, the vast majority of horses figure it out…

Why are we so focused on "the cure"?

It’s commendable how people have banded together to find “the cure”.  I doubt there is anyone reading this who hasn’t somehow contributed to the fight to cure breast cancer or some other horrible disease.  But I find myself wondering why…

And yet another poetic rambling courtesy of my alter ego, Shakespeare "The Equine."

Enjoy!

The Horse as Therapist -- Part II…

I am presently still off and on working in Florida until the beginning of April. I recently went out to fit one of our saddles for a client to a horse (like I always do!), but what I experienced there truly troubled me to the point that I had to write about it.



The owner and the trainer were both not present; the groom brought out this lovely, sad, little horse. I have rarely encountered such a pathetic picture of absolute dejection and misuse – probably totally unknowingly – and…

It’s generally considered good manners in the barn to graciously take the blame anytime your horse is less than spectacular, and give your horse all the credit after a good ride. But it is more than manners, it is also a rider’s responsibility.…

The Trouble with Being a Horse has just won the NABE Spring 2011 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Juvenile Fiction! I'm very excited about winning this award and it's helping to open up doors all over. Several book stores and tack stores in the US are interested in carrying it, which will be a great addition to the stores that already have it in Canada.

So far, the reviews have been (mostly) very positive and it's not just young…

We all recognize the Trakehner as a world class horse. They have excelled in the hunter/jumper and dressage ring as well in various other equestrian pursuits and made numerous appearances at the Olympics for years. They have also played influence in developing more modern types of warmbloods such as Canadian and American warmbloods. So it’s hard to believe such an elegant and versatile breed was nearly lost during World War II.



Trakehners were first bred and developed in…

There are a vast variety of horse saddles depending on the type of riding one wishes to do. The four main types of saddles are the English, Western, Military, and Asian. Of course these are very broad categories. The English saddles can be further categorized into saddles for Polo Riding, Show Jumping etc. There are a variety of other styles such as Sidesaddle, however they are less commonly used.

The English saddle is very small and horizontal, it has built in padding but…