How to Have a Conversation with Someone Who Doesn’t Talk
People talk to horses constantly. The words are unintelligible most of the time, to both us and the horse, but...
Photo & Poem: I Cannot Know
We became strangers. I thought I knew her so well; that place just back from her ears where her...
Photo & Poem: Sentient
Long in the tooth, people say. Gray hairs dusting his temple, this gelding plays the part of good uncle,...
Aggressive or Assertive?
She was a breathtaking draft-cross mare who I met at Duchess Sanctuary this year. There was just a presence about...
Photo& Poem: Go Fish
Mom took us kids in the station wagon to the church bazaar. Homemade women’s goods for sale; boring cross-stitched...
Brain Science as a Training Aid
It was a two-day-long science class and we were promised a brain dissection. I signed up immediately and have...
Photo & Poem: Dwindling Light
His swayed back so warm in the late afternoon but he doesn’t lie down. His shoulders bear his weight...
Confidence Lost and Found
We thought having a horse would make everything perfect. It's a dream most of us were born with; we...
Photo & Poem: Hand
One draws attention, standing by a tolerant gelding and playing the horse whisperer, tickling withers, teasing his whiskery muzzle....
Affirmative Training and Spoiling Horses
Most of us hear voices. We might be working with our horses on an issue and floundering in the moment,...
Be-Here-Now: Focus on Safety (Helmets and Response Time)
You're standing in a tennis court just behind the baseline, being mildly uncomfortable in your tennis togs because the...
The Thing About Geldings
I'm the sort of horse-person who hears about a castration and pops a cork for a toast all around. I...
The Thing About Mares
A Przewalski mare and foal in Scotland When Larry McMurtry wrote Lonesome Dove, he gave Woodrow...
Be-Here-Now: Focus on the Task
Does your horse get restless or bored when standing with you? Does he pull the rope, trying to graze when...
Photo & Poem: Asking for Her Eye
She knows my presence before I see her. Under the tree in the far corner of the pasture, no...
Leading from Behind and Green Grass
Pia, a lovely intelligent mare who has no issue with grass. *Public Service Announcement* Your horses...
The Argument for Curiosity: From Fear to Courage
Cadence teaching contact. I rarely have any idea where I'm headed. I get in a car...
Photo & Poem: Birds and Horses
Fences mended with twine until there’s more time. Scrubbed water tanks filled fresh, drank down to half by noon....
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