Anna Blake

Photo & Poem: Payment Due

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  No more lingering in the melon-colored dusk, grazing late to the barn. The pasture is finished, even the weeds only skeletons. Overnight, the horses prefer barn-stored hay in the windbreak of a south-facing barn. The light drops fast, blood-splatter leaves in a green hedge. Pried from my hand what I hold dear, instead wrapping … Read more

When Nice People Carry Whips.

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“I just carry the whip. I don’t use it.” “I do liberty with my horse, it’s just an extension of my arm.” “I only hold one, it’s just part of the outfit.” “I would never hurt my horse.” Other riders see carrying a whip as an evil thing. A sign of human cruelty. Fine, claim … Read more

Photo and Poem: Black Bay

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  She was for sale: a black bay Arabian mare and I was looking for a beginner lesson horse. Tacked up when I arrived, I led her to the mounting block, held the reins a bit too tight, poked her with my toe as I stepped into the stirrup and then dragged my leg over … Read more

The Real Helmet Heroes. (#ihad, #riders4helmets)

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This week was ordinary in the horse world. We love horses, who have the quickest response time of any domestic animal. We love horses, who are prey animals with senses much more acute than ours and an instinct to spook, or bolt and run when frightened or alarmed. There were no freak accidents this week, … Read more

Photo and Poem: What If?

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  There is a crisp apple coolness to the air. Soon there will be frost, I tell the horses, soon the flies will be gone. The northern air makes the herd buck and snort steam, but might as well be blood on the wind for elders bearing heavy mortality, unable to catch the air, joints … Read more

The Thing About Donkeys

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I wrote about mares and the response was so huge that I felt guilty and wrote about geldings. Since then, the requests have been about donkeys, but I’m more thoughtful. Because donkeys require consideration. Because I’m bluntly defensive of donkeys. The sunflower cart photo is of me and my first rescue, Ernest. Some of us … Read more

Book Release: Going Steady, More Relationship Advice from Your Horse

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Tada! It’s here! Going Steady, More Relationship Advice from Your Horse is now available. Find the links for ordering through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and getting signed copies.   Going Steady takes up where Relaxed & Forward, Relationship Advice from Your Horse, left off. These bite-sized essays on affirmative horse training, rescue stories, and “gray … Read more

Photo & Poem: Reluctant

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  Stay outside until the sun is low, reluctant to let the day end, tidying halters, raking loose hay into stalls, dragging my feet. Not ready. Just that this sweet ordinary day, this warm season, will soon be carried off in the wind, gone to seed. Loosening my grip from what I know will be … Read more