I Prove that I am not a Wimp

Yesterday morning it was above in the low 40’s F, thick clouds, and with a brisk north breeze/wind.  It was cold and raw, and when Darryl put Mia in the wash stall, she looked at me pointedly and I put her BOT butt blanket over her back.  Then I rushed to groom her head, ears and mane, and I put her BOT poll cap on.  Finally, Mia stopped giving me emphatic LOOKS with slightly unhappy eyes, she was just warm enough where she ached so she could relax and…

One of the essentials of owning a horse is to study, know and understand the anatomy of the animal. Most horse books contain diagrams marking the body parts and their workings.

I wonder how many of us can name the "points of a horse", know them off by heart and their functions, right down to the ergot?

To try to understand and handle a horse…

Here are some quick and fun myths and facts to read about nutrition... enjoy!

"Bran Mashes are Good for Horses"

Research studies have proven that adding wheat bran to the diet does not have a laxative effect.  Loose stools because of a bran mash could be caused rather from digestive upset because of the high starch.  Wheat bran fed long-term can result in a higher phosphorous to calcium ratio…

Next time you are in the barn take a few minutes to look at your hay.  Are you familiar with the quality of it or guessing it?  What about the nutrient content?  "Forage Is First" rule applies to all horses - their digestive systems work the best when ample forage is supplied.  But not all forages are created equal.  Was it a good year or a stressful year for…

Are ponies tougher than horses?

French researchers say so.

Speaking about the ways we can preserve the welfare and sanity of riding lesson horses, Dr. Clémence Lesimple said that poor riding technique has the greatest impact on the presence of injuries, and it also has an effect on stereotypy development. (ie. cribbing and weaving).

“Frequent…

Another Set of Eyes

When I got to the barn on Wednesday, Debbie’s daughter, Sam, told me Debbie was sick, but that she would be glad to give me a lesson.  Since a fresh set of eyes can often see things that become “normal” to my usual teacher I was happy to take her up on her offer (after checking to see that giving me a lesson would not put her behind for her other work at the stable.)  As we groomed Bingo, I was able to tell her some problems I had noticed when the little girls…

The more we ride them the better we get at memorizing them. We build upon previous experiences and observations. Our brains are actually changed. We’re learning to learn.

So, if experience goes through the routine, perhaps wisdom says, This is the way things typically go.

 Left lead skills are typically followed by a lead change and some…

Two-Point Makes Me TIRED!

Most of the past two weeks I have been really, really tired.  This started when I finally got my whole seat out of the saddle when I went into two-point.  First the muscles on the front of my thighs started burning, and I stood it for as long as I could.  Ever since I bought my new saddle I have had fewer problems getting up into two-point (I no longer have to hoist myself up) and I have had no problems sinking down on the horse’s back (I often plopped…

They’re everywhere – advertising vacations to vaccinations (if you love your horse, you’ll immunize with…)

Winston Churchill got it right- “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”

Horses are therapy.  They make us feel good.

But let’s be honest, our horses might not be feeling the love as much…

In her latest book, Riding Through Thick & Thin: Make Peace with Your Body and Banish Self-Doubt - In and Out of the Saddle,  author Melinda Folse asks a question that gets to the heart of her thesis: "How can we move beyond any concerns we have about how we look or what we weigh or whether or not our breeches are too tight and just get that feeling?"  This is not a self-help book strictly targeted at plus-sized equestrians; it is a life-changing guide…

Increasing My Stability in the Saddle    

When I got my new Pegasus Butterfly jumping saddle, I noticed that the saddle leather was more slippery than the leather in my old Stubben and Crosby saddles.  My riding teacher, Debbie, started getting after me more about the position of my lower legs.  Where before, when I was riding in the Stubben or Crosby saddles, she was pretty much content with the stability of my lower leg, she changed to correcting my lower leg several times each…

I’m a riding instructor. Wait, it’s worse than that. A riding instructor who has read the small print of her liability insurance, as if I didn’t feel responsible enough before. Beyond that, I’m certain that if one of my horses hurt someone, it wouldn’t be his fault and it would break my heart. Maybe literally.

My…

Very many seem to treat this year a something of a kidney stone, and in much of the world, according to the news, it was. But in my little corner of the world, it was awesome.

First, I spent most of the year's focus on learning to jump, and teaching Oakley to jump. To learn, I hiked up the road a ways to another barn, got on school horses that would reliably jump. One cannot…

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…