Horse Trainers: How Do You Know Who to Believe?
It was the end of a long clinic day, and we were wrapping up. Almost done on time until this...
Nube: How a Horse Taught Me a Canter Cue
The short version is that my horse poked me in my sit bone, which isn’t possible, is it? But let’s...
Nube: How We Met
one year later... I was forty- nine years old, and my upcoming birthday was hanging in...
How to Attend a Clinic
Gray Mare memories: It was one of the first clinics I ever attended. The clinician was famous; I signed up...
Bit Contradictions: A Confused Conversation
"Slower, please." "Here we go." "Don't bang..." "Almost ready." "... my teeth." "Good..." "Not good." "Stand." "Let go." "Back up."...
A Different Leg Cue
"My horse won't go forward!" the rider says. Many trainers respond with the traditional battle cry, "More leg!" What does...
Relaxed & Forward in 2022. Now What?
The lockdown at the beginning of 2020, followed by months of quarantine, was a wonderful opportunity for a thoughtful assessment...
Why Don’t You Ride?
"Why don't you ride?" It's the question we dread. Sometimes the people who ask are neophytes who don't understand that...
Virtual Dressage and Girls in White Shirts
The FEI passed good rules this year, and the Olympic judging held to the high side. Dressage had things to...
Boundaries: Whose Space Is It?
Horses gallop on pounding hooves that cut the ground and then melt to a stop, whiskers floating in the light....
Is She Still Going On About Helmets?
Riding Habit 1801 Yes. I've been writing in support of helmet use since the start. I...
Why Horses Don’t Multi-task
Imagine what it means to have senses as keen as a prey animal. Feel the roar of nature even on...
Take a Cue from Your Horse
He was a bright young gelding. Alert, athletic, and so willing. One day he would become the kind of breathtaking...
A Short List of Things Horses Don’t Need Us to Teach Them.
If Edgar Rice Burro were to title this Bev Doolittle-like photo, he might call it Beauty and the Beast. He...
Contact: Wait Too Late… Then Panic
Dear Fellow Primates: It is our instinct to grab. It is our instinct to talk in imitation-semaphore with our...
Poetry Out Loud: Horse. Woman.
This blog will get back to some sort of new "normal" soon. What a year, huh? For now, just a...
Do You Need Riding Lessons?
It was a conversation about riding lessons. My friend said she thought it was strange that I'd worked so extensively...
What Horses Want to “Talk” About.
What is it about the snout of an old horse? Especially a pink and black muzzle? How can it...