Relaxed & Forward Blog

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...
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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...
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Euthanizing and Herd Anxiety

"I’m wondering if you could address animals and grief in one of your columns. We’ve lost a horse and a...
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What’s Love Got To Do With It? [Horse Version]

We love horses. We love to say it loud and proud. We love the ones we grew up with and...
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Part of Your Horse Stays Behind

When it came time to say goodbye to my dressage mentor, a trainer that I'd ridden with several times a...
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Horses and the Pain We Can’t Stop.

The Grandfather Horse: Dirt Bath Interrupted. We've all done it. We look at that horse and...
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An Allergy, Spyglass Tunnel Vision, & a Valentine

    Most of us start with an allergy. Our noses get stuffy and our eyes are red and teary...
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The Word Inside an Exhale: EASE

It's January first. The calendar has flipped over and I'm happy with the new numbers. New Year's is an excellent...
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How a Legend is Born

What is it about horses? I think I might have drawn them on cave walls at the beginning of time,...
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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...
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Poetry Out Loud: Loss

    By request. Thanks, everyone. Loss The sun leaves just the sky behind,...
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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...
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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...
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The Next Horse: Remounting after the Hardest Fall of All

    This perfect horse of yours has been with you since he was young, or you got him near...
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Photo & Poem: Waiting for the Vet

  No days like the golden photos on the calendar from the gas company, propane topped off at the first...
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Photo & Poem: Sentient

  Long in the tooth, people say. Gray hairs dusting his temple, this gelding plays the part of good uncle,...
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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...
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Calming Signals and the Thing We Call Stubborn

In celebration of Edgar Rice Burro's birthday, he's asked me to rant a bit about the thing humans call stubborn....
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