RELAXED AND FORWARD: Since 2010, an archive of weekly horse training essays. My dogs say it's their turn now. Happy to oblige, it's all affirmative. Including words from a gray mare on the fine art of aging cantankerously.
Trust: A Suspension of Disbelief.
You love horses. No, you really, really love horses. Because they are so amazing. We share videos of blind horses cared...
Circles: A Soft Bend
I'd led a sheltered life. I was thirty years old before I visited my first Saddlebred barn. I was just...
Riding the Middle: My Horse is Lazy.
My horse is lazy. He won't go forward. He doesn't listen to my legs no matter what. Do I need...
Too Much Love: Is it Partnership?
Last week I answered a reader question about Making War on Horses and it got a predictably positive reception. It's...
Making War on Horses: Is it Leadership?
By reader request: "Horses need a dominant leader; you have to make him respect you." "You can't let him get away...
Escape the Death Spiral: Asking For a Step.
Let me begin by defining a death spiral. It's asking a horse to do something he just avoided, by circling...
Photo Challenge & Poem: Waiting
The air goes still on the prairie during that instant when my finished inhale lifts gravity and just before the...
Leadership Percentages and Confused Horses
Pause here. Look in his eye. He's sensitive and intelligent and looking for a partner who's his equal. If we're...
Common Sense about Horse Communication
The first thing to remember about horses is that their senses are just better than ours. I’ve never trusted my...
Teaching Your Horse to Relax
The rider said that her mare had an undeniable "rushiness" and was always tense. The mare is five years old...
Subscribe to Blog via Email
Enter your name and email to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.