Today I got to ride Mars at Lanolin Farm. Since Shannon had gotten all her horses in the small paddock, Mars decided to cooperate, let himself be caught at the first try and did not make too many faces over being groomed and tacked up. Just think, Shannon did not have to convince a running, bucking and kicking pony that it was time to be ridden. Sounds good, doesn't it?



But when I got up on Mars's back he WAS NOT HAPPY. Reluctant to move forward, extremely reluctant to walk in a…

Every summer I have to face the fact that my normally good hands deteriorate. My tremors increase, the sensitivity of my skin decreases, and my responses slow down. The horses I ride notice this long before anyone else, and by various means they tell me--hey, time to go bitless.



The first signal of my degredation comes when the horses I ride ACT like they are on full contact, but when I see my reins they are slightly sagging. My horses are still perfectly willing to…

Last Sunday I got to ride at Lanolin Farm, and I got to ride Mars again. Now Mars had been on an extended years long vacation due to the arthritis in his knees, and finally Mars got sound enough to ride. Mars does not necessarily WANT to end his vacation, he really likes hanging out with his buddy/girl friend Cider in the cool shade in the one place with a nice breeze. He does NOT want to carry me around in the hot sunshine, doing boring circles around the ring. It took Shannon…

Last July Debbie (my riding teacher) asked me to ride an Arab mare called Mia who had been abandoned at her stable. She (Mia) suffers from arthritis, and back then nobody was riding her, and as her arthritis got more painful she moved less and less. Debbie figured that I would be more patient with Mia than other riders, and being handicapped myself, that I would have more sympathy for her. Debbie just wanted to get the mare moving again, with a hope of working her up to a lesson…