Life Hacks we can learn from horses

by Linda Finstad

Acknowledging horses as great teachers is nothing new.

Anyone who learned to ride on a pony will eagerly relay all the life lessons they learned from that experience.  Lessons in patience, determination, how to fall and roll and humility.…

Why write a Horse book?

For myself, the question should be “Why Not write a horse book” 

For the best part of my life horses have filled my thoughts, dreams and aspirations. 

I learned to ride at…

I am Riding Mia Again!

When I stopped riding Mia three months ago, she was not pleased with the way that my new saddle and pad combination was working on her back.  She “muttered” under her breath that she was too old to put up with such shenanigans, that the shifting saddle was just TOO IRRITATING, and that she would appreciate me not riding her until I figured out how to keep the saddle stable.  So I worked on figuring out how to stabilize the saddle on Bingo and Cider, and when I…

Retraining a Less Than Ideal Horse in a Riding School

Winter has arrived here in NC, and due to the cold, or the rain, I’ve been able to ride only twice since my last post, both times on Bingo.

Debbie had to start using Bingo with other riders because she had run out of other horses to mount her students.  She actually sort of apologized to me for putting other people up on him while I retrain him but I just shrugged it off, he is a horse at a riding school, of course other…

Maybe I Finally Got the Shims Right with Bingo

This week I finally came to the realization that, at least on horses with the croup high &/or sway back conformation, the key to getting my new Pegasus Butterfly saddle working correctly, is to shim my pad correctly.  I also established that when I made my stirrup leathers uneven (to reflect that my right leg is shorter than my left leg), my seat stays centered in the saddle without much extra work on my part.

Last Sunday I…