"To many, the words love, hope and dreams are synonymous with horses."
~ Author Unknown

Hi,

The rider who submitted her photo and question for this weeks' blog has asked about a common issue I see quite a bit when doing clinics: getting a straighter back.



Depending on your physiology and your body's compensating patterns, your version of this problem might be completely different from your friends'. Even two people that look like they have the same posture in the saddle, might be that way for slightly different reasons. Of course, mounted posture takes into…

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world and all there ever will be to know and understand."
Albet Einstein

Love horses, love life!

SPANA (Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad) is one of the world’s oldest international veterinary charities, providing practical care for around 380,000 working animals a year in 8 countries in Africa and the Middle East.

Millions of people around the world still get their income from a working animal, be it a donkey, mule, horse or camel. For thousands of years they have been the only truck and taxi that millions of…

For anyone that is opposed to horse slaughter, I have just received some very good news from the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition.



I am copying it here for those who want to read



Great News for Horses!



Natural Meat Company Shuts Down



We are pleased to inform you that Natural Meat Company (formerly Natural Valley Farms) in Neudorf, Saskatchewan, closed its doors in mid-February. No more horses are being slaughtered in that facility!…

April 4-5: Chance and I completed our third NAJYRC qualifer and came out with a 65% average! He was very well behaved and had two very steady tests. We also performed our freestyle for the first time and earned a 67%. This was Chance's first freestyle ever and he wasn't quite sure what to do but he listened to me and performed a clean test. I am very proud of my boy! This show leaves us with a 63.9% average for the team. In three weeks we are going to the Del Mar National Horse Show and if…

Laura Connor's 13th summer suddenly switches from boring to magical flying

mayhem when her favourite Pegasus model, Flash, comes to life during a

violent thunderstorm. Follow their adventures as fantasy collides with

reality and Laura tries to keep her two-hand-high, walking, talking, flying

equine a secret from the rest of the world!





Laura Connor had long ago accepted that horse ownership was out of the question for her, but she did have one…

Laminitis. What a horrible thing. Just 4 months ago I had heard of it but had never given it much thought as it didn’t affect me since I owned a large Clydesdale mare, it is just a pony thing isn’t it?



I’m sure the last thing you want to hear is another sob story about a wonderful horse that has been put down for some reason or another. It’s sweet to read all these articles about wonderful horses who were amazing and special and had quirky personalities that made them unique.…

Following up from last week, once the horse is giving you a nice rounded stride over the second plank of our simple combination, by adding a second jump you will start to train your horse to make the link from trot to canter.



Placing the second jump is quite important — the length of one canter stride for the average horse is 12 feet or 3.6 metres. But, I want it to be a little closer on take-off to the second part.



Remember the aim is to turn a galloping machine into a…

Hi Guys,



One of the biggest mistakes riders make when we're trying to overcome horseback riding fears is that we direct our efforts toward the conscious mind. You know--willpower, iron-jawed determination. The problem with that strategy is that you can only make short-term, temporary changes when you direct your efforts to your conscious mind. To make permanent changes, direct your efforts to the part of your brain that truly determines your actions--your subconscious…

There is no doubt about it...we need to put our top equestrian brains together and come up with a new design for the horse's head with six main aims:



THE DESIGN BRIEF



1 We need to desensitise the area around the poll.

2 Make the top jaw narrower or the bottom jaw wider so they are both the same width.

3 Move the exit point for the motor and sensory nerves that is just under the cavesson noseband.

4 Fuse and strengthen the delicate ends of the bones at the…

This week's quote from Theodore Roosevelt is about character.

How do you define character?

Click here to print the quote and painting to do list for March 5-11.

Hello,

This weeks' participating rider sent in a very technical description of her question. You can see her description in the comments section of last weeks' blog. She gave me some excellent and specific information, but I wanted to hasten to encourage you that you don't have to be as technical. Just a description of what's happening when you ride that you'd like addressed with some unmounted suggestions, and a few photos suffices..even if you don't have a photo, we can still work…

Have you ever wondered what kind of jobs exist in the racing industry?

Try this list on for size...





Track Manager

The track manager is the queen ant. He or she makes sure that all parts of this operation run smoothly and that an exciting program of racing is presented to the public.





Race Secretary

The race secretary manages the track's racing operation. They structure and oversee the day-to-day program of races and…

Aries -March 21 - April 19



Happy Birthday dear Aries.Last year started with you going for it in your career, this trend continued for all, or most of last year, where you focused mainly on your career. You experimented with different aspects of dealing with your horse, and sometimes you felt almost as if you had a grasp on everything, so you began to coast for awhile.This year your focus will change as you have achieved most, or all of your goals.You do have many interesting feats…

Hi Everyone,



A few recent posts have prompted me to add this note reminding everyone that there is no advertising or advertorial allowed in our Blog section - or any other member content section of Barnmice. Any posts that we consider commercial will be deleted.



Just to be extra clear:

No posts or photos about commercial products or services.

No notices about commercial websites.

No links mid-blog or discussion taking readers to a commercial site.…

Let's spend some time developing the correct technique and right jumping habits from the very beginning...



When you are ready to start jumping your horse, the first thing you must do is work out a way of getting the him to the fence so that he can jump it correctly.



Presenting your horse appropriately is the only way to help the horse improve his jump.



I surprise you, having said in earlier posts that canter should be a horse’s preferred pace, but I aIways…

Hi Guys,



It's completely reasonable that occasionally you'll be afraid when you ride. After all, you're dealing with a reactive (reactive means bolt, spin, buck, shy, or rear!) animal that outweighs you by a lot! But you can destroy those fears by adopting an attitude of gratitude.



The first thing you need to remember is that ninety-nine percent of the things you fear never come to pass. So why waste all that energy worrying about things that will probably never happen.…

I’m often asked about my thoughts regarding the paradox of a rider or horse owner/enthusiast trying to develop a true bond with a horse while the horse is in a boarding stable and therefore primarily "in the care" of others.



For many people it seems almost futile to put the time and effort into becoming so conscientious about your own approach to your horse when you have little or no control over how the staff and/or volunteers at the boarding stable are behaving with and handling…

This Will Rogers quote makes me chuckle! "There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."



The painting accompanying the quote is one of my favorites of my three Quarter Horses, DJ, Echo and Ollie. Ironically, the three were recent escapees from my electric fence enclosed mini pasture. Yes, a neighbor rang my door bell the…