Relaxed & Forward Blog

Calming Signals and Color: Do Horses Understand Laughter?

  Every week new research comes out, some more ethically tabulated than others, about science proving horses are intelligent; an...
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Photo & Poem: You Know the Way

  The rhythm of hooves over even soft ground, we’ve lost time out together, rocked safe in the saddle like...
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Do Horses Fear Death?

  It's been an ordinary year. Animals died here. What could be more normal? Infinity Farm has an extended herd...
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Photo & Poem: Tea

  Stomping in the back porch to knock the dirt off my boots, there’s too much wind to work outside...
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Free Advice: Everybody’s a Trainer

"What I see astounds me. It's difficult to be around other riders who constantly give advice I didn't ask for."...
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Photo & Poem: Braced

  Black eyes sunk deep in her skull, certain she knows what will come next. The trail of scars on...
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What is an Ethical Ride?

  We are great horse owners. We love our horses. Some of us compete and some stroll around the pasture,...
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Photo & Poem: Goodnight

  Leaning on the gate. Checking water tanks at dusk, one last glance at the herd before heading in. Feeling...
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The Advantage of Less Time

It's the second big freeze here on the farm and it isn't even Halloween. Much too early for such polar...
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Photo & Poem: Spine

  He repeats it all again, a little slower and louder each time, enunciating as if she cannot hear. Certain...
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Calming Signals and the Myth of Desensitizing

  This chestnut mare is all that. Alert. Intelligent. Willing. And in possession of the quickest response time of any...
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Photo & Poem: Spotted Horse

  Both horsewomen would remember this moment. A blustering wind, not cold, but bitter. Misty clouds settled the dust. A...
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Calming Signals: What is a “Hard No?”

  I worry that humans are losing the ability to carry on a polite conversation. I'm talking about civility of...
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Photo & Poem: The Call

  To feel the red soil, fine dust to pea gravel, with each toe through the sole of my shoe....
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Calming Signals: A Vow of Silence

By now you should snort out loud when someone says their horse is ignoring them. Really, is there a more...
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Photo & Poem: Herself

  No shy curve, she takes a direct line. The big mare trots up with authority, her ears shouting orders...
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Calming Signals and Implicit Bias.

The Barnies are really hitting their stride. I started an online subscription group earlier this year called The Barn. Soon...
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Photo & Poem: Payment Due

  No more lingering in the melon-colored dusk, grazing late to the barn. The pasture is finished, even the weeds...
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