Relaxed & Forward Blog

Calming Signals: Repeat after me, “Not that I care…”

Because they're doing construction down the road. His previous owner says he once spooked at a llama. The wind is...
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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...
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How to Stop Taking Your Horse Personally

Bhim is a one-of-a-kind, I surely hope. People might say he's still with me ten years after he came for...
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“Why is Everything With Horses So Hard?”

"Can Competition Horses be Trained Affirmatively?" she asked. I know why she asks. This rider has been trained to think...
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Does it Feel Like Everyone is Watching You?

It's you and your horse. Sometimes people looking at him think he isn't much but that's because they don't know...
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Calming Signal Substitutions: Helping Your Horse

Most of us are old enough to remember what a rolled-up newspaper is for. Wacking the dog, of course. Because...
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Thanksgiving is for the Dogs.

Here are two of my dogs, Preacher Man and Mister, guarding the back door. You'll notice they are facing the...
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Gray Mares, Time, and Priorities

Do you notice that it gets a little easier to be yourself every day? Public speaking wasn't the sort of...
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Human Calming Signals: What Counterfeit Means

Back in the day, there was a word used when talking about a stoic horse that who seemed almost too...
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How Horses Train Us

You are a horse trainer. It does not always give me joy to say so, but it's true and other...
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Boundaries: Whose Space Is It?

Horses gallop on pounding hooves that cut the ground and then melt to a stop, whiskers floating in the light....
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Affirmative Training: Misunderstandings About Control

You have made some changes in how you work with your horse and you're both much more relaxed. You've evolved...
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Affirmative Training: A Cowboy Walks Into a Bar…

A cowboy walks into a bar. He's dusty, fresh from the barn. Shuffling his feet, keeping his eyes low, he...
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Saying Yes to a Horse When You Mean No

Sometimes something someone says sticks with you because it's brilliant. Sometimes it sticks because it's plain wrong. I was working...
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How Humans are Different from Horses

In the beginning, a filly is born. In the hospital, a baby girl human is born.  The filly stands almost...
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Calming Signals: How Do You Listen To a Horse?

What is your first memory of listening to a horse? Not standing next to a horse and being certain he...
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Whoa. A Hands-Free Halt.

She's an 18hh Thoroughbred-Shire cross. She's 30 years old and her name is Thyme.  I'll give you a minute to...
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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...
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