Kevin and I went on an evening ride together on Starry and Cole Train.  It was on the hot side, and since it was Cole’s 4^th consecutive day of trail riding, I thought he might be a little sluggish.  Wrong.  He was just right.  We did a lot of trotting and a little cantering—on the hard lead!  We walked all the way home to cool them off and enjoy each other’s…

Hey Horse Lovers: I know I risk sounding like a grouch (!) but holy cow, please keep a rein on your kids when they are at the barn, especially if you have gone off to ride and they have snuck back to run pellmell around the slippery aisles and in and out the doors, spooking the horses in their stalls and risking life and limb near those out on cross-ties. I get that children are high energy but maybe you could have them play near where you are riding so you can see what they are doing. Or…

Horse-Filled Weekend

Friday evening, I went for a ride by myself on Cole Train.  Since I was alone, I did a lot more cantering than when I am with other horses.  We did get the hard lead once on a sharp corner—that same corner that we were successful before.  He was doing great until we reached a sharp corner the other direction—and he switched.  Well, at least I had it for a little while.  We trotted a lot towards home, too.  The ride was about 5 miles round trip, and the…

Natural horsemanship revolutionized the way that we interact with horses.  Even if you do not follow one of the big natural horsemanship methods, you likely have some knowledge of them.  I think that even individuals who say that they do not use natural horsemanship techniques have still been influenced, to some degree, in their approach to horses by the influence natural horsemanship has had on the attitudes of the industry.  Even the non-equestrian culture has been made aware of this…

Hello All !! Just want to send this out to you ! Whatever you are worried about will magnify as energy to your horse and to your experience. Energy is magnetic in its nature and what you put out  as output returns as input especially when working with your horse. Get yourself centered to your deep calm center feel present in gratitude and love for all you are in this moment . as you breathe take in the wonderful smell of your horse in appreciation send this back through your body so that…

Good Morning fellow" mice" I offer you a new piece of cheese lol I recently attended and received my certification from Galloping Yoga course in Ottawa facilitated by Louise Cameron Sattler and held at the lovely International equestrian centre in Windover Ontario. We had an excellent program and an enriching experience together. As a Yoga participant myself for many years this is a natural marriage with horse connecting. If anyone is interested I encourage you to ask me questions  or just…

Weenie Or Wise?

“You know, no one will ever care about your horse the way that you do.” My friend said it in a testy voice. I’d gotten my first horse since leaving home and she’d heard about nothing but him for the last month. Her support was wearing thin. She missed her friend…

Bug Crazy Starry Starry Night

Cole and I went with Kevin and Starry on a ride yesterday evening.  it was a very warm evening.  All went well on the way out.  We rode to the fallen tree—lots of fast trotting and a little cantering.  Kevin wanted to see if he could clear the tree off the trail or find a way around it.  He wouldn’t take my word for it—but as soon as he saw it he agreed.  We needed professional help for this one—chainsaw and glove.  It is covered with poison…

With the Preakness Stakes right around the corner, it's difficult for some not to think of Barbaro's horrific accident in 2006. It was speculated by many that if Pimlico had a synthetic surface, known as Polytrack, the injury may never have happened. Polytrack is a combination of conventional and synthetic materials. Its unique formula is comprised…

Kevin and I had a really nice ride last night.  it was cool, and there are still no bugs—we are enjoying it while we can.  We assumed that the tree that was blocking the trail was still there, so we turned at the river crossing before it and headed back towards home.  to make it a longer ride, we planned to pass home and go the other way for a while. 

That made it a perfect day to work on trotting towards home.  we have regularly trotted towards home when we are far away, but…

Weekend Update

First off—Dante’s cough has improved quite a bit.  He is still coughing, but not even close to how bad he was when he arrived.

Friday evening found me with Dante.  Since Cole just got shoes the day before, he got the day off.  Whenever they switch from shoeless to shoes or shoes to shoeless, we like to give them some time off to get used to the change.  I spent my extra time walking Dante around.  This was the first time that I had him all to…

Winnie disagrees with this decision.

We are encouraging interested Working Horse Fans to subscribe to their Monthly Newsletter.

The Newsletter will be featuring upcoming Working Horse Sales and Auctions throughout the Country and articles related to the Industry. We will also be featuring a breeder, trainer or other Working Horse related…

From http://essentialequestrian.wordpress.com:

I thought it would be useful to write a post on marketing versus self-promotion because I often hear “self-promotion” used to negatively describe anyone trying to “promote” their training business.

From http://essentialequestrian.wordpress.com:

Saddle fit can be one of the most challenging obstacles we face as horse owners. It is both an art and a science, and if you talk to 7 saddle fitters and you will get 7 opinions. Not only does the saddle need to fit the horse, it needs to fit the rider, and finding a marriage of the two can be a frustrating, expensive, and lengthy process.

In this series I will address some of…

The Running Horse

A Newsletter from Horse Play

May-June 2013

Horse Play

EIN: 05-0506340

Website:  www.hptrc.org

Email:  horseplayri@msn.com

Message from Aidan – the Alpha Mare

Life is good here! The grass is coming in nicely, the temperature is mellow and I’m getting lots of a new food! Yum! I’m wondering when Deidre will take me out for a trail ride – hmmm? Heard the Open House is…

The Zackery Family @ Hoof-Ease would like to wish all our followers a warm, wonderful, Happy Mother's Day!

This year, our Equine "Mom Of The Year" is Zenyatta.

Zenyatta, the 2010 Horse of the Year and champion older female in three consecutive years, won 19 of her 20 career starts, including the 2009 Breeders'…

Dante is here, and he is lovely. More important than lovely—he is a real sweetheart. I got to the barn a couple hours after he did. Of course, Ellen was there when he arrived. The horse trailer wasn’t able to pull into the driveway due to its size and the fact that the street is all torn up and only one lane right now. He was unloaded right on the road, and she had to…