This is how you can tell there is a tourist in the barn: they keep their eyes on the ground and there’s lots of erratic tiptoeing. Some even squeal at the sight of manure. I call it Fecalphobia- an irrational fear of digestive waste. Thankfully, humans are the only species prone to the disease. (Nincompoops.) Everybody else is fine about bowel relief.

People who live with horses don’t get emotional about poop. It’s such a normal part of the day-to-day…

Ranger Tests Us

It’s not often I mention that Ranger is having a problem, and that’s because he is a fairly consistent horse.  Every now and then, he throws in something to keep my sister, Ellen, on her toes.  Well, he did it, again.

One day, back in November, he acted very strange during tacking up.  We…

A Small and Unexpected Miracle

Years ago, I’m not even sure when, I found a lump in Cruiser’s throatlatch area.  It didn’t seem to hurt him, so I waited until the next time the vet came out to ask her what it was.  She said it was a tumor on his thyroid, that there was nothing we could do about it and it wouldn’t do any harm.

 …

I stopped in to see Cooper first before heading out for my riding lesson. The cross ties were too high and short for him so I ground tied him to groom him a little. He was very good when I was there and as soon as I left the room and left him with my husband he started to walk away. My husband is too soft with Cooper and our dog LOL

The barn manager says that Cooper has such good ground manners, I was happy to hear that. One woman that was there says she thinks she sees Morgan in him.…

This was my last lesson at Five Star Ranch with Cooper. I have learned so much in the short time we have been riding together there. I will miss the lessons on him but it was getting too much driving there on a work night and putting gas in my truck.

I moved him to a new barn yesterday that is 15-20 minute drive from home. There are no trails but that is ok as I am not that interested anymore in doing that. I hope to be able to see him more often and not dread that long drive all the…

It was a chilly night—right around freezing—perfect for riding horses with winter coats.

I rode both horses in the arena last night.  My ride with Cole wasn’t consistent, and I just couldn’t seem to get my body in sync with his at the trot.  Remember, he has a huge and impulsive trot which can be tough to sit and I consider impossible to post.  I have found that you need to plug into the side-to-side motion while keeping the movement slightly forward, too.  This gets the best…

I was fortunate enough to have attended the Philippe Karl clinic 2 yrs ago and I must say I think it was the best clinic I have ever attended (... and I've been to many!) I love the philosophy of his teaching and the harmonious intention that is paramount with all his teaching! I also attended this year, a clinic with one of his graduate student from his School of Lightness and she was fantastic as well! We need more clinicians like this! And we need our "top rider" to attend them!! I'm just…

I worked both horses in the arena, last night. Cruiser is being consistent and each ride he’s improving slightly. At this rate, he will be 30 years old by the time I get him where I want him. We worked mostly on straightness. He has been bending to the right when going to the left. This never used to be so prominent, so I think that some of it might be the stiffness of old age. If Cole had the same problem, I would know it was more me than Cruiser. We added small circles to the right to our…

The Best Trail Riding Month of the Summer—November



After a record amount of precipitation this year, where we were rained out weekend after weekend, vacation after vacation, we finally had a good month for riding. Usually November is a crummy trail riding month. What a treat it was. Ellen and I even had vacation time that we were able to get out and cross the river.



I was able to put on a lot of miles with Cole. Much of it was with Ranger. He is behaving beautifully with…

I am amazed when I travel to barns to do a saddle fit how many saddles do not properly fit the horse or the rider.  The best way to explain proper saddle fit to the customer is to use the comparison of starting to train in a pair of shoes that do not fit.  Would you be able to run comfortable in shoes that are too big or too small.  Now imagine that you want to ride and train your horse in a saddle that is either too big or too small.

NEWS FLASH::

 Santa takes the World Champion horse show 

(C) by Roberta Edstrom…

There are no shortcuts in the training of a dressage horse. Yet we are forced to watch the modern contrivances that are dressage in name only. In the late 19th century, Anna Sewell wrote the story of “Black Beauty” to challenge the inhumane conventions of her day and perceived as “beautiful”. Will we ever hear the story of the 21st century dressage horse and his suffering for the same faddish notions of beauty and elegance? From overchecks to rollkeur, man has run the gamut of abuse to…

One person was away, so 2 of us joined in on the 7 p.m. lesson.

It was really rushed as I didn't find this out until 4:30 and still had to go home after work to change. But we made it and we were tacked up and ready to go in record time, for me anyway!!

There were 9 of us in the class. It was a little chaotic at first but close to the middle of the night everyone was working great together and hardly any collisions. I would laugh everytime Cooper would try to get real close to…

Henk writes:

Lil's husband, Robert, brought his camera out to our paddock the other day, so I thought I'd share some of his pictures with you.…

I hope to make a few more videos for each year, will take awhile as I have tons of photos and videos and trying to pick a few is sooo hard :) 

Thanks Jackie & Shirley and everyone else for all your encouraging words over the years I have been with Barnmice!! I am looking forward to growing with you all over the next years and reading your blogs and accomplishments.

My family knows that I have loved horses since I could walk & talk but some of them can't see how a horse…

Something Really Cool



Lately, life has been incredibly weird! I find myself at odds (personally) always asking for money even though I know it's pretty much the nature of non-profits. I try to stay as positive as I can and always send blessings and thanks to everyone, everything and the Creator everyday but sometimes...



So let me tell you a really cool story - last month a lady contacted us saying her son - 8 years old at the time - was having a birthday party and in lieu…

In the interest of using my vacation time up before the end of the year, I took another 4-day weekend off with my sister.  We had icy cold weather, very hot weather and weather in between—but what we didn’t have was rain.  We were able to cross the river on all 4 days.  It was great to ride so much.  The horses were good, for the most part.  Cole did get a little funny towards the end of the ride, Sunday, but that is all.  I think he was remembering the day before when his lunch was in his…