Anna Blake It’s springtime in the Rockies. The time change was last weekend, so I’m waking up at three am now, but there’s more light in the evening. I can see tiny bits of green if I bend over for a close look. Earlier this week we were out in shirtsleeves and now we’re halfway through a … Read more
My first ex-husband used to tease me about my frantic love of shortcuts. I was always up early, on the run, impatient as a kindergarten class five minutes before recess. My multitasking skills were nothing short of genius, I thought. I did the work of a dozen in half the time. When my plans derailed, … Read more
We are sick to death of the violence against horses. It isn’t just the damage caused by rollkur in reining and dressage, or racing youngsters until their legs break, or the tragic mess rodeo has become, or the horses being tossed to auction for the crime of being old or lame. My personal thorn in … Read more
My Grandfather Horse was so good with latches he could have broken out of Alcatraz and made it back to Colorado, but he wasn’t special. We all brag about how intelligent our horses are when they react to the sound of our car driving up the driveway. They’re geniuses when they know it’s dinnertime, or … Read more
Sometimes it happens behind a trailer. The horse needs a moment, but the human is in a hurry. Horses and humans famously define “hurry” differently. The human tries one approach, and the horse is almost ready to get in, but since the human doesn’t read Calming Signals, they give up and try something else. Then … Read more
The worst thing about remembering a horse in the past is that maybe there are current options that your horse only missed by a few years. For all that we don’t know about horses, for all the worry and grasping at symptoms, eventually all will be revealed. The stray symptoms, the unusual events, the chronic … Read more
Nube (Nu-bay) was particular. He required my undivided attention in the saddle and on the ground. My focus had to be laser sharp. Most advanced horses require it and it was something I’d learned to do. Odd for such a young horse, but I decided it was good. It meant he would be a sharp … Read more
He was a bay gelding in his teens when we met. A Quarter Horse with a bit of a downhill slant and it didn’t help that he was pigeon-toed. And he was a saint, an unsung hero, that elite caliber of a horse who could qualify as a lesson horse. I gave lessons to his … Read more
Yet another horse trainer got tarred and feathered on social media this week. It happens all the time. People jumped on both sides of the debate, defending her and destroying her. Some knew what they were talking about, and others just wanted to vent. It’s easy to criticize from behind a computer screen. Edgar Rice … Read more
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