1,354th Friday Morning and Not Bucked Off
No, I’m not dreaming of a career as a hand model. My hands have looked like an elderly mechanic’s...
How to Measure the Heart of a Horse
Have you experienced this? Someone says something that is a throw-away comment, not meant to be anything, they toss it...
What To Do When You’ve Tried Everything
"I tried everything," my client says. This isn't something that I hear once in a long while. It's a time-honored...
Cleaning Out the Toolbox
If it weren't for manure frozen into the ice, we'd have no traction at all and it's only the eleventh...
The Thing About Dimensionally Succinct Horses
I've written "The Thing About" essays on Mares, Geldings, and Donkeys to dispel untrue myths and sing their praises. These...
Silent Night: The Truest Words Aren’t Words At All.
I was standing outside of a hotel at five in the morning waiting for my limo. Obviously, several things had...
Things We Should Refuse to Train Horses To Do
Warning: Loudmouth Party Pooper Rant. I think we all know whose side I'm on in this horse training reality show....
You Know I’m a Small Business, Right?
Do you like the writing I share? It's free, and it always will be. That's my gift to horses, hopefully....
Do You Need to Keep Your Horse Calm?
I can't be the only woman of a certain age whose parents thought she needed to be muffled indefinitely. They...
Listening is Acknowledgment: A Gray Mare’s Message
I pulled down the drive to a farm for a Calming Signal intensive. Meeting new horses and people who care...
“Why Don’t You Post Training Videos?”
Photo by Ilona Gerou It was at the dark ages of VHS, long before the...
Helmet Safety and the Ability to Buy Hay
If my horses could see the big picture, they'd still say my job is hay. They have not read one...
Leading Horses with Spatial Kindness. What?
The exercise was to halter your horse thoughtfully, asking the horse's permission for each step of the process, and acknowledging...
Are You Having a Midlife Horse Crisis?
I got an email from a reader last week. She had a hard question. She acknowledges she was naive, but...
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."...
There Will Be No Faith Healings Today
We've all seen it. Someone holding a lead rope and hyper-stimulating a young horse with a stick until he...
The Failure of Good Intentions
There was a time that I thought if I saw my horse curled to one side, itching his flank, I...
Affirmative Training: Navigating the Nebulous.
"I have a three-step process guaranteed to transform your horse into your perfect partner and it only costs ten thousand...