Relaxed & Forward Blog

Photo & Poem: Forever Now

Walking past the mare, I let my hand follow the shape of her body, her hair so short it has...
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What Will Happen if You Don’t Ride Today?

It's really hot here. How hot is it? I'm not saying. People get competitive. You'd just say it's hotter where...
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Photo & Poem: Her Place

A stick pony to start, with a wooden head and twine for a mane. The tiny girl stomped unevenly, imagining...
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Calming Signals and Living on the Ulcer Continuum

Forty years ago, we didn't know about ulcers. Some horses acted crazy and we tried to train them out of...
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Photo & Poem: Midsummer

Midsummer, the mare stands square, hooves flat and neck low, her muzzle faced into the corner of a dark stall,...
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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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A Funny Thing Happened During the Euthanasia.

We've been having llama line dances here for over twenty years. It happens at dusk and it is boundingly beautiful....
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Photo & Poem: As if Love

She declared that she loved her horse as if loving took a sort of noble skill rare to our kind....
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Things My Dogs Don’t Care About.

I'm the kind of person who has big dogs. I always have been, not that my dogs care. I have...
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Photo and Poem: Three-Quarter-Ton

  Driving home from the feed store on a back road, easing my foot from the gas pedal, the three-quarter-ton...
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Long Dark Night of the Soul: Colic

Andante's nickering. I've pulled the hay out of his run and swept the mats. He has a baritone voice, a...
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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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Why Training Techniques Don’t Work

  It's Sunday night and the clinic has ended, but there might be a horse or two that can't seem...
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Photo & Poem: Words

“You’re not wearing that, are you?” Voicing her anxiety first, was my blouse revealing something more than unconventional taste? Welcoming...
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Deconstructing Fear with Affirmative Training

  Something is off with your horse, but you can't tell what. You might be leading him or you might...
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Photo & Poem: Sunset to Dark

Talking with her while I walk the farm, I say look what you’ve done with the new grass. Earth sends...
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Affirmative Training and Corrections You Regret.

People tell me that when they're with their horses, they aren't always perfect. They sound apologetic, you'd think I wore...
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Photo & Poem: No Gloves

The woman doesn’t make a good first impression. Her hair is dry as straw under a ball cap from Tractor...
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