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.
Making Peace with Anxiety
A caption for this photo? "Dressage rider doesn't grasp the fundamentals of team penning." How about "Dressage rider brings a...
Calming Signals and Living on the Ulcer Continuum
Forty years ago, we didn't know about ulcers. Some horses acted crazy and we tried to train them out of...
Long Dark Night of the Soul: Colic
Andante's nickering. I've pulled the hay out of his run and swept the mats. He has a baritone voice, a...
Why Training Techniques Don’t Work
It's Sunday night and the clinic has ended, but there might be a horse or two that can't seem...
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...
Affirmative Training and Trust During an Emergency
You started with horses the same way most of us were taught. You tried to show them who's boss,...
Horses and Common Sense.
Not long after I moved to the farm, a friend brought her two young kids out. We all walked the...
Let Perfection Go. Try Consistency.
Here is a shortlist of the things horses don't understand: Sarcasm. Exploitation. Shaming. Guilt. Drama. These are human behaviors that...
The Next Horse: Remounting after the Hardest Fall of All
This perfect horse of yours has been with you since he was young, or you got him near...
What the Nightmare Revealed
Everyone did what instinct dictated. The beach was so peaceful. Deserted with not so much as a footprint when they...
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