Relaxed & Forward Blog

Undomesticated Women, Anecdotal Evidence from the Road

Amanda and Stable Relation at the Pan Am Games. I don't know if I told you......
Read More about Undomesticated Women, Anecdotal Evidence from the Road

Focus is Active Listening. Horses Do It Naturally.

I had a friend who used to write me little vignettes about the antics of her and her horse at...
Read More about Focus is Active Listening. Horses Do It Naturally.

Do You Have Coyote Eyes? How to Look Without Looking

Can you tell when someone's looking at you? Or maybe a child in a waiting room, or it could be...
Read More about Do You Have Coyote Eyes? How to Look Without Looking

Peaceful Persistence, a Horse Training Manifesto

  What does "not conceding" mean? Oh, I can't wait to bray about this, says this trainer whose spirit animal...
Read More about Peaceful Persistence, a Horse Training Manifesto

Calming Signals: What If Horses Are Meant to be a Mystery?

I'm not sure when I started sitting on horses, but I hadn't started school. You couldn't really call it riding....
Read More about Calming Signals: What If Horses Are Meant to be a Mystery?

Legacy: We’re Riding for the Next Horse

Driving home through northern Colorado yesterday, I passed the Berthoud off-ramp. Otherwise known as the Grandfather Horse off-ramp. I've only...
Read More about Legacy: We’re Riding for the Next Horse

Bhim: Through Life Drama and Training Plateaus

It's been six months now since starting Bhim's Training Diary online. But time is a fluid thing for a horse....
Read More about Bhim: Through Life Drama and Training Plateaus

Nube: Ulcer Nostalgia and What I Didn’t Know

I get nostalgic for the days when I didn't know what I know now. I miss the bittersweet, marginally innocent...
Read More about Nube: Ulcer Nostalgia and What I Didn’t Know

Human Calming Signals: I Want my Horse to be Fearless.

  So, you want a horse that doesn't spook? Don't we all? Great, you wanna look for something over 25...
Read More about Human Calming Signals: I Want my Horse to be Fearless.

A Message from Heaven (for my professional friends)

I am a woman who possesses an interesting range of enviable skills. Getting surgery is not on the list. One...
Read More about A Message from Heaven (for my professional friends)

Training Tip: Improving Your Eye

Sometimes we look back at how we kept horses as kids, and it seemed so simple then. None of them...
Read More about Training Tip: Improving Your Eye

Affirmative Training is Fine, But What-if…

  A few years back, a pretty well-known trainer made a statement about using force with horses. Flat out, the...
Read More about Affirmative Training is Fine, But What-if…

Calming Signals: What Are You Really Afraid Of?

What are you afraid of? Maybe this question. Take a breath and check your shoulders. Are they down where they...
Read More about Calming Signals: What Are You Really Afraid Of?

Nube: We Cheat at Trailer Training

Nube was a beanpole of a yearling. If he and Ernest weren’t trying to get me bucked off a horse…...
Read More about Nube: We Cheat at Trailer Training

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...
Read More about 1,354th Friday Morning and Not Bucked Off

Worried About Everything? Protection From the Unexpected

"Want to go on a trail ride with me? The last time I was out, my friend's horse slid into...
Read More about Worried About Everything? Protection From the Unexpected

Nube: An Iberian Stall Toy for the Donkeys

Daryl, Daryl, and their other brother, Daryl. In the first months after coming to our farm,...
Read More about Nube: An Iberian Stall Toy for the Donkeys

How to Measure the Heart of a Horse

Have you experienced this? Someone says something that is a throw-away comment, not meant to be anything, they toss it...
Read More about How to Measure the Heart of a Horse

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your name and email to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.