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.
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...
Affirmative Training: Can You Take a Hint?
It's a story that I've heard quite a few times. You've heard it too. The horse was getting a...
Deconstructing Fear with Affirmative Training
Something is off with your horse, but you can't tell what. You might be leading him or you might...
How to Be a Safe Anchor for Your Horse
For us long-timers, if we've been lucky, it feels like we're always standing in a ghost herd. They're good company...
Horses and Common Sense.
Not long after I moved to the farm, a friend brought her two young kids out. We all walked the...
Photo & Poem: Soundness
Centering myself behind the horse as he walks away, bent forward with my hands on my knees, staring his hips...
Spring and Horses That Fly Like Kites.
Left: A breathtaking view of Pikes Peak from my pasture. Right: An aerial view (from the...
What the Nightmare Revealed
Everyone did what instinct dictated. The beach was so peaceful. Deserted with not so much as a footprint when they...
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...
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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