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...
Learning to Herd: How Dogs Become Family
I was raised by people who didn’t let dogs in the house. The common opinion was that dogs should live...
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...
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...
Horse Intelligence: What Are We Missing?
I love reading about science like hungry people love over-cooked greenish-gray Brussel sprouts. And that's the kind of sentence...
Life Happens: The Unplanned Dismount
"I owned horses for 20 years until divorce happened," the reader said, asking me to write about it. "I think...
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...
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...
Spring Fever, Bad Behavior, or Flight Response?
It's February on the high prairie at the fringe of the Rocky Mountains. The pond is still frozen so there...
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...
Can Horses Forgive Us?
The reader said that an essay I'd written "brought to mind how many times my involuntary predatory instincts have surfaced...
A Short List of Things Horses Do Need Us to Teach Them.
For all our love for horses, humans are still predators. We don't like to hear that. We're defensive; we've seen...
A Short List of Things Horses Don’t Need Us to Teach Them.
If Edgar Rice Burro were to title this Bev Doolittle-like photo, he might call it Beauty and the Beast. He...
Contact: Wait Too Late… Then Panic
Dear Fellow Primates: It is our instinct to grab. It is our instinct to talk in imitation-semaphore with our...
Calming Signals: “But My Mare Likes This Bit”
I arrived at the clinic grounds Friday afternoon so I could meet the organizers and check out the facility. They'd...
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...
When There’s No Room At The Inn…
Even on holidays, our family dinners don't look like other people's. Neither do our hands or shoes. We look different;...
Living the Question
"Why can't my horse behave for the farrier?" Sarah isn't the only one who asks this question. Picking up feet...
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