If such a thing existed, would you donate to an equine behavior/welfare research fund? I'm just curious. Funds for equine research are hard to come by --- especially funds for behavior/welfare research. I'm thinking of setting up such a fund in my will, but doing so means I won't be around to see the results. I would hope, though, that once such a fund existed, other people would donate to it, so that research in the field could be advanced. I thought it would be interesting to get comments…

From 2004 – 2007, Dawn and I lived on a ranch in northwestern Nebraska, doing work with our nonprofit.  There was an area at the ranch that had several houses and other buildings, and the main horse pastures were in that area.  The area around the houses had several apple trees that bore many apples each year.  The ranch had high game fence around most of the pastures because…

Smart. Clever. Dull. Clueless. We all have stories of horses that connect the dots and others that …don’t. So, really, are some horses sharper than others?

As a trainer, I’ll swear to the value of having a well-defined, systematic approach to training. I’ve also learned (sometimes the hard way) that the cookie cutter has to be adapted somewhat for…

I've dealt with a lot of spooky dressage horses, and I find that often shying gets worse because riders do one or all of the following things.



1. Hit or kick him to make him obedient.

2. Make him walk straight up to scary object and face it straight on.

3. Forget to go around your ring in both directions.

4. Force him to go close to the scary object.

5. Patting and soothing him while he’s shying.



Let's understand the nature of…

Hi Julie,



I've got a question about our five-year-old Paint gelding. My wife swears that he prefers men riders to women riders. I'm almost to conclude the same thing, even though I really am skeptical about that. It seems the women who have ridden him, including my wife, have had him act up consistently, and are fearful of him.…

Please Like Me! The Power of Non-Demanding Time

Develop the Partnership you have always dreamed for!

You can force horses to do many things, but forcing a horse to like and trust you is impossible. A horse…