Horses are my life. As a person who is deeply involved in all aspects of the horse on a daily basis, I strive for a connection with each of them and work at understanding and communicating in a way that is fair, humane and encourages trust and connection. This stuff doesn't happen overnight (necessarily) - it doesn't happen immediately in our human-to-human relationships…

Once you decide to ride horses, you put into place a domino effect of consequences, which will occur whether you are conscious of them or not. It is like a rule of nature – the results are the results regardless of your intentions, desires and motivations.

And so you proceed to put your weight on horse’s back, asking him to move in tandem with your (sometimes uncoordinated) instructions, changing the weight distribution on his back and legs and (quite) possibly…

I fell in love with horses all over again this week. Yes, it was a pretty short fall and yes, it does happen every week. And no, it never gets old. Does my enthusiasm make me seem less professional?

It has been also been one of those weeks when most of my clients are having challenges with their horses. Some of the challenges are old ones and some are brand new but regardless of origin or cause- a challenge is an opportunity by another name.…

Henk writes:

I share my paddock with 4 other horses: two are Friesians (Wilby and Charlee), one is a Welsh pony (Bella), and the fourth is a Standardbred (Sunny). When it’s time to go inside for the night (and, of course, dinner!) Wilby gets to go first if he wants to. He’s the boss. Sometimes he chooses not to exercise this right, and lets me, Charlee, and on occasion even the pony, go ahead of him. Sometimes he hangs back like we’re allowed to go ahead of him, and then…

The Running Horse





A Bi-monthly Newsletter from Horse Play



Special…

Wednesday I saw a tornado.  Up close, while trapped in my car on an elevated stretch of highway in Springfield, Mass. Scary!  Funny what a random lethal event does to your head.  It’s clarifying. 

My sister, a fellow agnostic, asked me if I prayed.  The question took me off guard, and its answer surprised me a bit: I didn’t.  I’d wondered if this was “it”, and then thought, why not?  I don’t live in the area, just happened to be there at that moment as I traveled to Vermont for…

Inspired by the "Road to the Horse 2011" on DVD which arrived last week, I've decided to implement an intensive training program to get Brody ready to be ridden.  Brody's been with us almost one year now, and he came to us with a suspensory injury.  But the vet came last week for Brody's vaccinations, and gave the go ahead to climb on and ride. Woohoo!

Brody may be physically ready to be ridden, but mentally and emotionally he is not.  (And, of course, there is the…

"Respect is appropriate response to pressure."  I heard Pat Parelli say this once, and the ring of its truth is undeniable.  Whether working on the ground or in the saddle, a horse's appropriate response to pressure is essential to any activity.  Brody definitely needs (re)education on this!

Maybe lack of cooperation is his passive-aggressive platform for establishing dominance, or maybe I haven't been consistent enough in establishing my expectations and requiring him to…

The story of how a horse goes from a second chance pony, into an inspirational life changing horse.

http://horsecarezone.com/navaras-story/navaras-story-part-3-time-for-change-just-the-beginning/

Navara's story. Tell me what you think so far. I hope you enjoy

I really want to focus on strengthening my leadership, so that eventually I can safely ride Brody and take him out on the road.  Here's how I worked to establish my physical space with Brody this week.

First, Brody did not want to be haltered, especially once he caught sight of the rope and stick.  So I swung the halter towards his hindquarters and got him moving off whenever he started stepping away from me.  When Brody wheeled to face me, I turned my back to him and stand…

So good to be back after a very long winter!  I've been freshening up my groundwork skills, reviewing Parelli and catching up on all the Downunder Horsemanship (Clinton Anderson) episodes I recorded from RFD-TV.  Yesterday I decided to get back in the paddock for a first session, and I was amazed at how much Brody remembered, particularly changing direction on a circle.  We seemed to have just about picked up where we left off.  I decided to keep it short and vary the exercises a…

The Running Horse 

A Bi-monthly Newsletter from Horse Play

March - April 2011

Horse Play

EIN: 05-0506340

Website:  www.hptrc.org

Email:  horseplayri@msn.com

Message from Aidan – the Alpha Mare

Spring might be coming! Rain, mud – but mud is better than ice - then there…

I think my story is similar to many first time horse owners over 40. I’ve loved horses since I was 8, but didn’t have an opportunity to own one; so at 50+ years and with some time, money and determination to bring an old dream to life, I bought a horse. The story and dream grew to include 2 horses. I was so excited, but naïve about what it takes to look after and develop a…

The Running Horse

A Bi-monthly Newsletter from Horse Play

Jan – Feb 2011…

Last week I gave a lesson to a student of mine, Stephanie, who has a Welsh Cobmare that she has been driving and riding. The horse is very fearful and so shehad started doing the Uberstreichen Exercises and working on getting hercomfortable in her territory.

The problem I noticed with this mare was that although she was doing well withthe Waterhole Rituals™, when she was brought to the barn, she did not want…