All Blog Posts Tagged 'anna blake' (78)

A Recipe for Patience.

I want to start by saying I used to consider patience the exact same thing as procrastination. I had no time for patience. It was a dull, slow-witted thing, so foreign to me that I couldn’t even figure out what it was that people did while they were being patient. You know? Patience…

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Added by Anna Blake on August 22, 2014 at 8:30am — No Comments

You be the Judge.

“Too bad about that half pass to the left.”

My horse and I were leaving the arena after my test, reins long and my trademark competition smile: Lips stuck on my gums above my teeth. I had a great horse.

The comment was made by a woman who felt no sympathy at all for…

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Added by Anna Blake on August 15, 2014 at 9:00am — 2 Comments

Dressage: Cackling at the Canter.

Beach attire for the serious dressage rider.

In the 80’s, I marched with the Ladies Against Women. Do you know the organization? They were a national group…

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Added by Anna Blake on August 1, 2014 at 9:00am — 4 Comments

Breaking up is hard to do. Is it time?

It was lunch break and the clinician came into the lounge to eat. She was an experienced competitor and focused clinician with a reputation for being a bit cantankerous.

A few of us were there eating and after a moment an auditor asked if she might have some advice about her…

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Added by Anna Blake on July 25, 2014 at 8:30am — 5 Comments

Creaky Old Horses, and the Women Who Love Them.

I have a Grandfather Horse. People say he looks good, all things considered. I notice the standard for looking good drops a little more every year, just like his back. The same is probably true for me…

He has his very own veal pen at night;…

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Added by Anna Blake on November 22, 2013 at 8:00am — 4 Comments

In the Gloaming…

It’s been quite a year so far. We had fires the first half of summer and floods the second half. It’s like 2013 was determined to stand out from day one. It’s been year of erratic weather in our lives as well; lots of reluctant change and no shortage of loss. Some of the changes have been nothing but good, and even that doesn’t always mean easy.

On top of that, this year had serious velocity. Such speed that weeks were the length of days, and…

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Added by Anna Blake on November 15, 2013 at 9:04am — No Comments

Does Your Horse Answer by Rote?

“Répétez après moi.” It’s what the high school french teacher said and it’s what we did. We repeated words after her, and soon, we repeated canned conversations back and forth. They included lame greetings, followed by asking where the library was. It was the…

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Added by Anna Blake on November 8, 2013 at 8:42am — 2 Comments

An October Romance.

It was innocent. They were looking for companionship, that’s all. Each had suffered a loss and they were drifting a bit, hoping to find a friend. Nobody said anything about falling in love.

Sumo came to Infinity Farm as a kid with his twin…

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Added by Anna Blake on October 11, 2013 at 8:35am — 1 Comment

Better Saddle Conversations.

Think of riding as a conversation.

The first challenge is that we don’t all speak English. And it isn’t only the horse I’m referring to. Humans use language, but we define words differently, and sometimes, we may not be perfectly honest, even with ourselves. (I know, hard to believe.) We might say yes when we mean no. Insecurity might create a mood swing…

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Added by Anna Blake on October 4, 2013 at 8:28am — 1 Comment

What to Do When Nothing Works.

We all have those rides where the simplest thing, the thing we do all the time, becomes impossible. The horse is resisting the aid, he just won’t do it. Now what? What do you do when nothing works?

First, get really mad. Swearing is…

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Added by Anna Blake on September 27, 2013 at 8:38am — 3 Comments

No Small Feat. (Ruby Ranch Horse Rescue.)

Meet Archie.

He got introduced by that name, but I prefer being a bit more formal with him, as a sign of respect. Archibald feels more suitable.

Here he is passing time with a couple of boys in my herd, but I…

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Added by Anna Blake on September 20, 2013 at 7:58am — 5 Comments

The Battle Cry of An Old Gray Mare.

“Do You Work Out?” I find this question difficult to answer. I’m never sure what they are asking but it was even worse when I was single. Then I thought it was a code phrase for another question.

Are you asking do I go to a mirrored room and…

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Added by Anna Blake on September 13, 2013 at 8:25am — 1 Comment

This Too Shall Pass.

The temperature had plummeted to 70 degrees, with a light breeze. Welcome, September. There was almost an hour of daylight left, the clouds were bubbled and layered, and the air was very sweet at my altitude.

I’m a horse and a half tall,…

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Added by Anna Blake on September 6, 2013 at 8:16am — 1 Comment

Farm Animals in the Zoo?

A friend and I spent the day at the zoo last week. Colorado Springs has a wonderful zoo, on the side of Cheyenne Mountain with lots of natural habitats. As zoos come and go, it’s a pretty special place.

The art of keeping wild animals in cages has improved over the last few decades, and some species tolerate it well. Other species would be extinct…

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Added by Anna Blake on August 30, 2013 at 8:33am — No Comments

The Feel of Forward.

Forward: A good ground covering gait that pushes from behind, is very uphill, and free. Oh, so free. Sigh. We know all the words. We’ve all read the books, watched the videos, and taken lessons.

It’s the natural way of going for a horse, and it sounds simple enough, but not necessarily that easy once you are in the…

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Added by Anna Blake on August 23, 2013 at 8:36am — 1 Comment

Bits: Metal on Bone.

The first thing she said in her lesson was that this horse had sent her to the emergency room more often than she could count.

(I don’t mean to sound self-serving, but really, you just now got around to talking with…

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Added by Anna Blake on August 16, 2013 at 8:52am — 4 Comments

Grouchy about Groundwork.

I’ve let loose a few decent rants about groundwork lately. I should apologize about the goose-shrill tone in my voice, but I’m not sorry for the sentiment. Groundwork is so crucial to good horsemanship and too many of us tolerate bad ground manners, in our horses and in ourselves.

It’s our fault. We’re always busy, always late, always distracted. We have a slam-bam-thank-you-‘Mam approach: Grab them, toss the halter on, pull them out of…

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Added by Anna Blake on August 9, 2013 at 8:35am — No Comments

How to tell if you’re turning into a Horse.

To anthropomorphize is to attribute human characteristics to animals or inanimate objects. In other words, make animals over in our image. Is there a word for making ourselves over in theirs?

There are so many ways that I am totally human. I walk on only two feet…

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Added by Anna Blake on August 2, 2013 at 8:36am — No Comments

Enjoying the Present (Senior) Moment.

WMUnbearableSweetness

How many friends have ridden my Grandfather Horse over the years? I lost count a decade ago. He is even older than his age implies, but…

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Added by Anna Blake on July 26, 2013 at 8:26am — 1 Comment

Dog Day Dressage: Notes from Nuno.

These are the dog days of…

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Added by Anna Blake on July 19, 2013 at 8:37am — No Comments

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