We see things differently than horses.  And like usual, I think we should try to be more like them.

To start, one of the easy ways to tell if a mammal is predator or prey is eye position. Predators, like us humans, have our eyes close together, aiding our depth perception and…

Is your horse a different person under-saddle?

Maybe tacking up is all good, but once you are ready to mount, he dances around a bit. But you’re athletic enough to grab on and swing a leg over, pulling on the reins to slow him down. Oh well, then his head comes up, but you’re no pansy. Sure, his trot is jolting and his neck counter-bent, but…

I’ve been trying to not write about goats all week. I wanted to write something inspiring about art and dressage. I’ve kind of been being a goat…

I’ll speak for myself. It’s only the middle of December and I’m a bit tired of this holiday season already. It probably has something to do with the days being so short. The noon sun is so low in the southern sky that a habitual twilight-squint has settled in between my eye brows.  It’s hard to find rhythm in all the hurry and fuss. Taking a nap on your nose…

Emergency vet call! One of my boarded horses is sick. He’s a draft cross, timid but kind. He likes things to move in horse time. When the vet and his tech arrived, they hurried into his run. He remembers vets and tries to be good, but needles scare him. Intruders moving fast scare…

My favorite training mentor had a habit that drove me nuts. She would be working with a horse who spooked or flipped his head or had some other issue that made him a disaster and when she climbed on, if you were close, you could hear her say in a low…

Do you ever get haunted by a situation where you wish you had said something? Mine was 18 months ago. As I drove away from a lesson, I pulled over to check my messages, facing a riding arena where a roping event was going on. It was a perfect summer night and riders were warming up. There was some light bantering passed around, followed by good-natured…

Disclaimer: I’m not a vet. Or a doctor. But someone has to talk about it.

How can you tell your horse is going through menopause? Here are some of the symptoms: His rider is usually a woman somewhere in her forties or older. Well, I guess there is just that one symptom…

These late October days are golden–sweet and rich, and as temporary as a long, crisp leaf. The sun is slow to rise and dawdles while setting over Pikes Peak. The clouds hold onto its colorful tail, long after the sun is gone. The horses and I want to languish on the tight wire between…

I boarded the first horse I owned as an adult. It gave me something I hadn’t had in the past: a barn family. It was a private…

Leafa Numbers was my paternal grandmother. We had a chat this week. She was born in 1888 in a sod shanty in Kansas.

A graduate student doing research about the settling North Dakota interviewed some nursing home residents in 1976. I got a tape of my grandmother’s interview…

Social media is a miracle. I meet new friends and stay connected with old ones. I can keep my finger on the pulse of inspiration in our world. There are pictures of puppies and foals and yes, those people who knit for their chickens. So much community to love.

But…

You’ve had this happen. Someone finds out you have a horse and they ask, “Do you know my sister’s friend, Diane. She has a horse.” Like there are eleven of us in the state.

People who own horses are a wide and diverse group. We divide ourselves by breed and riding discipline.…

I notice I wear my glasses in the shower more often these days. Unintentionally. I mention it because as I write this, it’s my 60th birthday and I had a revelation in the shower.…