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...
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...
Distraction: A Simple Answer for Bright Shiny Things
Is your horse distracted? Is he always swinging his head at every noise? Does he knock you with his...
Calming Signals and What You Can’t Unsee.
Our Barn Rat first met horses when she was three days old. She started earlier than some. Now, she's...
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...
Photo & Poem: Forever Now
Walking past the mare, I let my hand follow the shape of her body, her hair so short it has...
Photo & Poem: Her Place
A stick pony to start, with a wooden head and twine for a mane. The tiny girl stomped unevenly, imagining...
Photo & Poem: Midsummer
Midsummer, the mare stands square, hooves flat and neck low, her muzzle faced into the corner of a dark stall,...
Affirmative Training and the Rhythm Method
Remember when you first heard the term The Rhythm Method? I was almost certain it had to do with something...
Photo and Poem: Three-Quarter-Ton
Driving home from the feed store on a back road, easing my foot from the gas pedal, the three-quarter-ton...
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...
Photo & Poem: Sage Under-hoof
An elder red mare and her rider babysat us as we climbed in and out of ravines, my young horse...
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 Corrections You Regret.
People tell me that when they're with their horses, they aren't always perfect. They sound apologetic, you'd think I wore...
Photo & Poem: Breakout
Our horses are not young, neither are we. We negotiate with winter, bartering against the wind that our horses...
A Calming Signal Way of Being
I have to credit a decent mid-life crisis for changing the course of my horse life. Not that I...
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