Walter likes to think of himself as amazingly athletic, incredibly fascinating, and wildly handsome, with an exceptional rack of ears. Remember Walter? He is the Corgi that came here to rescue us from the peace and solitude of the prairie 6 months ago.  Walter has…

People love to tell horror stories. Once they know that I have horses, they can’t resist telling me about getting bucked off, run away with, or stepped on.  Somehow this makes them very cool and the horses very stupid.

I tend to defend…

A few weeks ago it was cold and dark; winter is miserable horse weather. It was impossible to ride some days and the best we could do was plan our summer riding goals. Now it’s almost the middle of summer. How are those plans coming along?…

6/14/2013 by annablakeblog…

Have you ever been rescued by a horse? How old were you? Does it still happen?

I’ve been thinking about Julie. Cool name, isn’t it? I make no apologies, I was 6 years old and thought it was the best name ever. I thought Angela was a good name too.

Julie was a pinto pony. She was…

Ever been afraid of a horse? No? I don’t believe you. Fear is a pretty natural response, especially if your feet can’t touch the ground. It’s common sense, horses are big. They have twice as many legs. Horses…

“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…

“That horse has been beat!” is her opinion. Sometimes you can look at a horse and just tell. He’s showing every sign, and he has been passed from owner to owner. Abuse is always possible, but working with him, I don’t think he’s literally been beaten. Who’s right?

The horse is. It’s my As-If Rule.  His history doesn’t matter that much. If he acts as-if he has been…

I’ve been thinking about the words we use to label our relationship with the animals in our lives. It isn’t politically correct to say we own a horse; instead, we are its caretaker. That dog doesn’t belong to you, you’re its guardian. Swell.

Referring to an animal as a family member is the norm; it’s common to hear someone in the barn refer to themselves as Big Red’s Mom, or say that Bandit is their fur-child. No shortage of Fur-Daddies either. I understand the intention and if the…

I’m lucky to have a herd of horses under my care. Some people call it horse poor, but I feel rich. I’m lucky to be able to keep them as a family/herd, three of them literally related, in a large pen where they can interact freely. My herd is all ages and sexes, with a wide and extreme range of…

Ah, Spring! When a young girl’s thoughts turn to… horses. Just like old girl’s thoughts, and just like every other day of the year. Horse-crazy girls are a consistent…

Talk is cheap in the horse world, like most places. We talk about what our horses mean to us and the goals we have. Goals can be ambitious or humble but we all have a direction we are heading, even if the goal is deceptively simple- just being happy in the saddle.

That part…

We’ve had a long spell of nasty weather. Snow is one thing and wind is another, but a combination of the two is crazy-making. There is real-time erosion that happens; you can see it in the snow drifts and blown sand. It drives horses nuts and it wears away at me, too.

Horses hate…