This week I saw a comment on a great story about a mustang that credited the horse and rider’s success, but called the writing sentimental. I had to laugh; if she thought that story was sentimental, she’d hate my…

Horses fall into holes all the time. Metaphoric holes; the really tricky kind that jump up and surprise you when you least expect it.

Holes might be things like confusing cues; you want to canter but…

It’s a shooting pain. Usually my foot is brick-tight and I can’t bend my toes. When I do manage to bend them in a natural walking angle, there’s a big red pain. I think my toes have cracked off of my foot and it feels wet–like hot acid-blood is…

There’s a cartoon of a roadside stand with a horse inside. The sign says, “Therapy.” We all smile because we’re reminded of that saying about a horse being cheaper than a therapist. I’m not sure that’s true, but after a day of dealing with traffic,…

Last Tuesday I had an 8 a.m. lesson with a boarder and her sweet gelding. He’s had a good summer; they even made it to a couple of schooling shows. This gelding had a checkered past with previous owners and when this pair started with me, he was a…

It just hasn’t been the same since Sumo died. He was my last old-goat-standing and a card-carrying anarchist. He’d been un-fencable here…

August 1st is International Helmet Awareness Day. It’s the day Riders4Helmets started, in the wake of US Olympian Courtney King-Dye’s traumatic brain injury, to raise awareness and promote equestrian…

I haven’t missed a blog posting in over five and a half years, and I won’t now, but this one will be different.

In case you can’t tell, I love this little farm. I didn’t end up here because it was my first choice. It was more a process of elimination. My life came apart and coming…

Remember riding when you were a kid? We climbed on top from a gate or a truck bumper. No bridle, no saddle, no worries. Remember the…

These are two of my favorite topics and I write about them often, but this post is about how calming signals and gastric ulcers can relate to each other.

First, are you informed about gastric ulcers? Its knowledge that every horse owner should have–no different from hoof care or dental…

It makes perfect sense to tell the story of an off-the-track Thoroughbred in the midst of the Triple Crown frenzy–with two weeks until the final race. Some of us love racing and some can’t stand to watch, but we all agree on one truth: Thoroughbred…

You know that feeling when a wreck is going to happen but you just can’t look away? It’s a magnetic, anxious feeling, followed by half-hearted guilt; time slows and it would feel better if you could laugh. It’s hoping for the best, but…

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…

Photo by Patrick McMahan

The first time I met him, he was two months old standing in a stall with his mom. He was bright and intuitive, an Andalusian/Appendix…