Horse Intelligence: What Are We Missing?
I love reading about science like hungry people love over-cooked greenish-gray Brussel sprouts. And that's the kind of sentence...
Life Happens: The Unplanned Dismount
"I owned horses for 20 years until divorce happened," the reader said, asking me to write about it. "I think...
She Said Her Horse Was Pensive.
L. and her gelding, Andante, are boarders here. I always ask how the ride went as they return to the...
A Short List of Things Horses Do Need Us to Teach Them.
For all our love for horses, humans are still predators. We don't like to hear that. We're defensive; we've seen...
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...
Living the Question
"Why can't my horse behave for the farrier?" Sarah isn't the only one who asks this question. Picking up feet...
Calming Signals and Whiskers
I always thought of grooming as part of the warm-up for the ride. It's the price paid up front, a...
Who’s Risk-Averse?
This week a stranger asked for my prayers. She posted a photo of an incredibly young girl with a crushed...
Human Calming Signals: What’s Your Barn Persona?
How aware are we when we pull on a persona? We're usually aware when we tidy one up to make...
Real-Time Communication: The Land of What-If
My horse always pulls his head away. My horse never wants to go first on the trail. My horse always...
A List of Inedible Treats for Your Horse
It's funny how something someone says can turn over in your mind for years after. I had a visitor, and...
How to See It Like a Horse
My friend was tracing her Arabian's family tree. She'd driven north of Denver to see her horse's sire and ran...
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...
Is Affirmative Training Denial?
It was during a meeting in an online class called Back in the Saddle. We'd shared videos of the week's...
What Will Happen if You Don’t Ride Today?
It's really hot here. How hot is it? I'm not saying. People get competitive. You'd just say it's hotter where...
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...
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...
Photo & Poem: Aged-Out
Aged-out with his horse, he said, like a sell-by date in the grocery store. We all stop riding, just a...
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