Relaxed & Forward Blog

Calming Signals and Color: Do Horses Understand Laughter?

  Every week new research comes out, some more ethically tabulated than others, about science proving horses are intelligent; an...
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Free Advice: Everybody’s a Trainer

"What I see astounds me. It's difficult to be around other riders who constantly give advice I didn't ask for."...
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What is an Ethical Ride?

  We are great horse owners. We love our horses. Some of us compete and some stroll around the pasture,...
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The Advantage of Less Time

It's the second big freeze here on the farm and it isn't even Halloween. Much too early for such polar...
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Calming Signals and the Myth of Desensitizing

  This chestnut mare is all that. Alert. Intelligent. Willing. And in possession of the quickest response time of any...
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Calming Signals: What is a “Hard No?”

  I worry that humans are losing the ability to carry on a polite conversation. I'm talking about civility of...
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Calming Signals: A Vow of Silence

By now you should snort out loud when someone says their horse is ignoring them. Really, is there a more...
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Calming Signals and Implicit Bias.

The Barnies are really hitting their stride. I started an online subscription group earlier this year called The Barn. Soon...
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When Nice People Carry Whips.

"I just carry the whip. I don't use it." "I do liberty with my horse, it's just an extension of...
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The Thing About Donkeys

I wrote about mares and the response was so huge that I felt guilty and wrote about geldings. Since then,...
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Does Your Horse Need a Tune-Up?

  This is how it goes: Sometimes it's just fine to go lollygagging around. The time isn't right; you're hungry...
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What to Do When You See Cruelty

It was a sadly normal week in the larger horse world. Horses got hurt and humans waged war with each...
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How to Have a Conversation with Someone Who Doesn’t Talk

People talk to horses constantly. The words are unintelligible most of the time, to both us and the horse, but...
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Light Leading: The Invisible Rope

  She was born on a full moon so I named my Iberian filly Claro De Luna. She was so...
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