When Impatience and Cruelty are Normalized
Sometimes I find myself standing in front of people talking about horses' feelings. I'm almost embarrassed; I was raised to...
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...
The Season of Letting Go
The autumnal equinox is about change. There's a miserable fog today, dense and so uncommon on my high prairie. Chilly...
How to Attend a Clinic
Gray Mare memories: It was one of the first clinics I ever attended. The clinician was famous; I signed up...
Being the “Good” Horse Isn’t Easy.
People want to tell me about their challenging horse, the quirky one, the scary one, the kill pen (scam) horse....
Calming Signals: Thoughts About Spooking at Nothing
There are two kinds of spooking. This is the first: It was midmorning on the ranch, and we were riding...
Reverse Anthropormophism: Building A Better Relationship
Do you ever go to the barn and pretend to be a cowboy? You'd wear the shirt that matched your...
Calming Signals: What Normal Looks Like
Do you ever think about what horses give up in living with us? Humans have a way of always seeing...
Are You Having a Midlife Horse Crisis?
I got an email from a reader last week. She had a hard question. She acknowledges she was naive, but...
Horses Are Like Bad Boyfriends (Or Why the Wrong Answer Might Be Better)
Horses are like bad boyfriends because they only want to talk about themselves. Wait, let me explain. First of all,...
Bit Contradictions: A Confused Conversation
"Slower, please." "Here we go." "Don't bang..." "Almost ready." "... my teeth." "Good..." "Not good." "Stand." "Let go." "Back up."...
Is Your Horse Mentally Exhausted?
No other animal is quite like a horse; never fully wild and never quite domesticated. Engaged with us but never...
There Will Be No Faith Healings Today
We've all seen it. Someone holding a lead rope and hyper-stimulating a young horse with a stick until he...
On The Road for Horses: Adventure, Drama, Dog Hair.
Aftermarket radar. I hope you didn't worry I'd get lost. I installed radar and didn't...
Our Horses, Ourselves: Simple Steps to Having More Confidence
Want to do a kindness for your horse? Perhaps show your affection in a "love language" that suits horses? Did...
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...
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...
How to Focus Simply.
I had just finished a lesson when another woman I knew at the barn came up to me with a...
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