Trainer Love: In Memory of Seri

Seri died this week. She was never my horse, but she is part of the trainer I’ve become. Seri was a horse to reckon with. This photo of her and Edgar Rice Burro was taken during a fire evacuation. It’s a testament to who Edgar is that she allowed his company. Geldings were never up … Read more

Nube’s Ulcers: What We Can’t Control and What We Can.

When Nube (nu-bay) was two and first diagnosed with ulcers, it felt rare, almost exotic. People were just learning about ulcers. Phantom thoughts worried us, but we didn’t know what we didn’t know. Ulcers were unknown in the general population, or so we thought. Maybe at the race track, but never our horses. So rare … Read more

Resolutions and Horse Dreams

It’s the twilight zone between holidays, meandering like a long, slow-motion hangover. I have no idea what day it is and I’m staring at the horizon, pretending it’s staying light longer. I’m eating leftovers and watching old movies I’ve seen before. Social media is age-shaming celebrities for not looking like they did decades ago, as … Read more

Culture Wars in the Barn

There is a recent article in the NYT about the culture wars going on in dog training that’s worth reading. (Click here.) The two sides agree on one thing: their side is right, and the other is wrong. The only winner is social media, where wildfire destruction is good business. It says something about dog … Read more

Horse Training Means Affirmative Waiting

Humans, aren’t we swell? Compared to horses, we have dim, frail senses, we’re seven times slower in our response time, and we have the focus of a toddler in a toy store. Horses might give us a paternalistic nod at this point, except for our biggest failing. We have that pesky prefrontal cortex. So, we … Read more

What It Means to Love a Horse

I’m talking to a new client who contacted me for help, asking them to tell me about their horse. They begin by explaining to me that they love their horse. I want to stop them already. I know it’s bad, but I am the very last person on the earth that anyone needs to explain … Read more

Famous Cruelty, Ordinary Cruelty, and an Affirmative Solution

  Another story of cruelty hit the international press last week. Operation X documented horrors happening in a well-known Danish barn, by using an undercover “groom” with a hidden camera. I won’t relate the gory details because you already know them. They are as nasty as you imagine. Repeating them feels like profanity. It was … Read more

Thanksgiving: Our First Horse Was a Dog

Meet my dogs, Preacher Man, Mister, and Jack. They’re in the doorway to my writing studio. It’s Thanksgiving night, which is always on a Thursday. So, for the last thirteen years, every Thanksgiving evening (and every other Thursday night) we meet here to write my blog. It’s usually the All-Horse Channel, as I share what … Read more

Euthanizing Your Horse: How to Trust Yourself

It’s colder now. The leaves are gone. The wind charges at us from the north, and the temperature drops ten degrees at three pm and keeps falling. We’ve had snow, the tank heaters are in. One of my horses has grown so much chin hair that I had to let his halter noseband out. It’s … Read more

Horse Trainers: How Do You Know Who to Believe?

It was the end of a long clinic day, and we were wrapping up. Almost done on time until this question. “How do you know who to believe?” There were people new to horses, lifelong horsewomen, and those who rode as kids and returned later in life. The thing they all had in common was … Read more