Today was a great ride for us both.  I came in about the same time and he had already been fed, so I pulled him out and tacked up.  We went to the round pen to warm up and let some of his energy out.  We trotted for about 10 minutes, a nice relaxed trot, and then picked up a canter both ways.  His canter was much slower and I even had to kiss to him to keep him moving!  He was very distracted by the horse and rider on the other side of the arena, but did not fuss over it.  I put on the reins…

I rode all three horses this week.  That was good.  But losing an hour of sleep last weekend has made my mobility slightly worse, something that happens to me each Spring time change. 

Cider had obviously enjoyed her three week vacation.  Through the years I’ve ridden her I’ve noticed if Cider got an extended time off I essentially have to retrain her--this means halt, this means turn, this means back up, etc..  Now I know that it takes only three weeks for her to…

Don't cry for the horses that life has set free. A million white horses forever to be. Don't cry for the horses now in God's hands. As they prance and they dance in a heavenly band. They're ours as a gift, but never to keep. As they close their…

The Conversation

First, I have to tell you about me and telephones.  I just can’t join this world where everyone seems to be attached to their smart telephone.  My main phone is my land line.  Believe it or not, my home has the old fashioned rotary phones that came with the house.  I am certain they are older than I am.  The voice quality is great, and my…

Owning a horse in college can be a challenge, with its significant time and financial demands. Luckily, you don’t necessarily have to own a horse in college to keep riding. Try out these tips to keep riding while you’re in school.

Join a College Riding Team…

Today is the fine example of lack of consistency....   I got called at 0715 this morning, after getting off work at 2300, to come in at 1030 instead of 1500.  My drive is about an hour as it is.  So in 2 hours and 15 minutes, I need to feed my 3 horses, clean stalls, try to work with Mossy,  and get showered and ready for work!  Of course I forgot my saddle as I was rushing out the door to the barn, not like I had time for that anyway.  I did get him out for a little, we free lounged in just…

Started out the morning the same way and time.  Fed him some breakfast before pulling him out and tacking him up with a saddle and bridle.  We went to the round pen again to let him work out some energy and relax a little.  He finally came down to a slower controlled trot, yet still looking around at everything.  We cantered bother directions and when his canter became slightly slower I brought him to a trot like a reward for slowing down.  He seemed alright so I put on my helmet and…

We started retraining in preparation for Mossy’s upcoming bootcamp in May with Rachael Hill-Jordan while work is having an outage.  Fed at 7am and scooped stalls while he ate some of his breakfast.  He doesn’t seem to mind much that he doesn’t get his…

With the completion of your barn, there is no better way to celebrate than with a barn open house. A barn open house can be open to friends and family, but it can also be a useful tool to bring in clients and boarders. When planning your barn’s open house, consider the following tips and ideas.

Check Your Insurance

Before you…

The Risks of Getting an New Horse

Choosing a new horse, whether you buy him or he is given to you, is a very risky endeavor. All the riskier when you are like us, and plan to get a horse for keeps. Ellen and I are just not the kind of people who can pass our animals on to an unknown future. It doesn’t take very long, and we are so attached to our animals that we can’t let them go down an uncertain path. So, when we choose, we choose carefully.

Who am I kidding. We were all…

8 y/o 16 hh Thoroughbred JC name Court Composer.  His last race was in June 2014, and I got him in July.  He has quite a bit of energy and quirkiness to him, but he means well.  We are boarding at the closest barn with an indoor, which is an all western barn.  The owners are amazing and loving, but they do not like Mossberg due to his unpredictability, and high energy.  The guy barn owner has tried to talk me into selling him numerous times, saying he is concerned the horse was injured in…

When planning your boarding barn, you will want to take measures to set your barn apart from other boarding facilities. If you’re opting to provide horses with the ultimate in care, safety, and luxury in your high-performance boarding barn, then consider adding the following amenities to your plans.

Stable-ity Grids

Mud is a frequent…

A Free Horse

Now, just because a horse is free, doesn’t mean taking him is a smart thing. I've done this free horse thing before. My first horse, a Morgan named Brandy, was given to me by my aunt. I had ridden him a number of times when I was a kid--mostly in the arena, and I thought I knew what I was getting into. My aunt sure knew what I was getting into, but she wanted to get rid of an expense.

He was way, way too much horse for someone of my little experience for trail…

Things on my mind          

This year has been a tough one for me, medically.   Don’t worry, yet, there may be nothing wrong with me.  No reason to panic until it is time to panic.  I just had a medical screening test that had positive results, and there have been complications with getting to the bottom of it.

I know that I shouldn’t get too worked up about it, and most of the time, I was doing fine—but I am still human.  My imagination sometimes gets the…

Is there a more frustrating and exhausting experience when riding to match that of being on a horse who is not paying you a blind bit of notice?!

You are on board kicking and pumping away, while you horse is just meandering along...  Ignoring you completely and acting as though he is on a relaxing Sunday outing.

This week on Daily Strides we are focusing on helping you overcome the inertia and begin getting some movement happening underneath you, by…

A New Adventure Begins I have been looking for a new horse since last spring when Cruiser flew off to greener pastures. I would have liked another Morab, since Cruiser and Cole turned out to be such wonderful horses, but that didn’t seem possible. The Great Recession seemed to have wiped out the Morab breeders. I found plenty of older Morabs from before the recession, but I didn’t want in older horse. My second choice was a Morgan. It was a close second. After experiencing Cole who is mostly…

When you are designing your barn, you will want to carefully consider whether building an indoor arena will be part of the process. Indoor arenas maximize the amount of time you are able to spend riding during the year, and boarders are willing to pay higher prices to board at barns with indoor arenas. If you will be building an indoor arena, be sure to account for…

Ok, honestly, who cleans out the trailer tack room after the last show?  But isn’t  that spring show motivation to unload the moldy ribbons and rusty bobby pins before loading the horses and hitting the road?

Wow – it made me think of how this wisdom applies to other aspects of life. As a leader for a community divorce recovery group, I see so many…