Further Adventures with My New Saddle

This week I rode three horses using my new saddle.  Doing so made me appreciate my Corrector saddle pad even more than before!  While my new Crosby looked like it fit the horses’ backs, withers and shoulders much better than my other English saddles, the two horses I used it on without the Corrector shortened their strides at the walk, did not move their backs as much, did “stabbing” trots, and otherwise indicated some…

“I’m here, I thought to the horse. We’re here. Please, tell me who I really am. Please tell me I’m OK.”

With those words, Shawna Ervin asked for help from Cisco, her horse partner in Tapestry’s Horse Ibachakali program. The way Cisco answered her plea for help…

My dad used to say that anyone who cannot explain what they are doing so well that anyone can understand really doesn't know what they are doing.

No. That is wrong.

There are a great many people who know very well what they are about, yet who cannot explain anything very well at all. Knowing what you are…

Bingo Seems to Like My New Saddle!

I have had a saddle quandary over the years, many of the horses I ride have backs that are wider than my ancient saddles can handle.  I got these saddles for my Anglo-Arab way back when Thoroughbreds were THE sport horse breed, and while my Stubben Siegfried and Crosby Wide Front saddles were wide for their era I dare not use them without my Corrector pad on the wider backed horses I ride now.

Several months ago, I learned that years ago…

Bingo Shows Some Signs of Understanding   

Everyone at Debbie’s stable was upset when I arrived Wednesday morning, because the 30 or so year old pony, Lily, could not get up.  For a week or two, with two people pulling and pushing, they had been able to get her to stand, but on Wednesday they could not get her up on her feet at all.  Debbie, of course, was with Lily, waiting for the veterinarian to arrive, all the way back on the other side of the riding ring.  Mia was brought in for…

We scoop it. We dump it. Heck we even use it to fertilize our gardens. Yep, I'm talking about horse manure. There's a lot more to horse manure than just cleaning it up. We can tell a lot about our horses and their overall health from their manure. The Color, Consistency and Control of their poop can offer much insight. (Parts of this article…

Is your pasture lush and green or sparse and weedy?  Maintaining an established pasture is easier than you think.  There are several key ingredients to basic pasture management: soil, fertilizer, weed control, and rotation. …

Bingo

Wednesday I got to ride Bingo, a nineteen-year-old buckskin gelding, who is possibly a Paso Fino/QH cross, around 14 hands high, for my lesson with Debbie.  Bingo had been owned by another MS sufferer who could no longer afford to support a horse.  He had been trail ridden some and ridden in a field.  Recently Debbie has been using him for lessons for two little girls.  Right now he is not very fond of being ridden in the ring.  Since Debbie had doubts about how he would react…

So you have a new horse, everything in the world is right and all is well. But, oh, wait, the horse is green? Hasn't been broken in and is completely untrained? You don't know what to do or where to start. How do I train the horse? What methods do I use? Who do I call? Should I just send the horse to a trainer? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! You scream in utter despair.…

Sooner or later, it happens.  Maybe you are at the barn and others are about to mount up and ride, or you have been invited by your horse friends to go ride at a clinic or on a trail ride.  You give excuse after excuse so that you don’t have to ride never admitting the real reason.  But you know the truth:  You are afraid to ride.  Perhaps you had a bad fall from your horse or you saw a bad horse accident.  Maybe the fear seems to have come out of nowhere.  All you know is that…