Anna Blake The gate opened and in came the first horse/rider combination. The horse was a post-prime Arabian, trotting quickly with her nose out. She was groomed to a shine, with a braid in her mane already beginning to fray. The rider was a tiny girl in jeans, rubber tall-boots and a scuffed helmet. I think she … Read more
There is a delicate quality to the outdoors just now- like the earth is holding it’s breath, waiting for the wind on it’s way from the north. Any minute that wind will bomb us naked and mono-chromatic till spring.
They say that old age is not for the faint of heart and neither is this post. Don’t expect a warm Disney story about my horse aging. Spirit is 23 years old this fall -retired for 7 years. He has hated every day of it.
I was at a dressage show earlier this season and overheard two women talking about a rider they both knew. “She isn’t driving the horse onto the bit; she just isn’t strong enough to drive him to the bit!” one said with a sharp edge to her voice. My heart sinks when I hear comments … Read more
The World Equestrian Games are in the United States for the first time, at the Kentucky Horse Park. It isn’t too late to watch it on FEI TV. Eight riding disciplines are represented, many reflecting old world skills like dressage. Reining is a comparatively new sport, born in the American west, competed on American Quarter … Read more
Autumn came this week on the calendar, agreeing with what the great outdoors has been saying for awhile. Evening chores have been so Maxfield Parrish; ethereal colors with a sweetness in the air, and a near-full moon over my prairie. The horses are changing coats for winter.
“How long do you think you will have to take lessons?” Twenty years ago and I can still hear that tone in my mother’s voice. She wondered why her adult daughter -after a life of riding- would need lessons.
Riding can be a form of meditation in the best sense- a release from day to day drama and worry. It’s amazing how much better the air is just a few feet above the ground, and moving through the air at a trot really does give you the feeling that sheets get- blowing dry on … Read more
When I was younger, I always carried sugar in my pocket because it felt so great to have my horse come to me. It was cheap vanity- until the inevitable day that I forgot to fill my pocket. My gelding stood on my 5 year old foot, begging for a treat I didn’t have. I … Read more
Let’s start at the beginning; loving horses is fine, but they don’t care about that. Horses will choose respect over love every time.