No, I’m not building a real barn. That would be easy. I’m handy with tools and I’ve been known to use my truck in some unusually creative ways. This new barn is different. It’s a “website with an online membership group” but I think it’ll be more comfortable if I just call it The Barn. Most … Read more
Not afraid of the dark.
-Written by request from another trainer. Nothing I am about to say is new, just hoping to provoke thought. “He’s an in your pocket sort of horse.” It’s a description you see in horse ads sometimes and it’s probably the seller’s intention to say the horse is friendly. Maybe a bit too friendly- fussy, agitated, … Read more
Horse Yoga. So very close- it’s your breath that I exhale. Anna Blake Infinity Farm.
I’ve traveled in all directions in the last few months- looking at potential lesson horses. I want to rescue the skinny ones. I try to guess how much retraining will be needed for others. The right horse needs to be not too old or too tall. There is a temperament I am looking for; tolerant, … Read more
Llamas are brave and curious. Mine hike with packs, do llama agility, and Sebastian was a ring bearer in a wedding. (At the reception he confused the Mother-of-the-Bride’s corsage for an hors d’oeuvre. It was an easy mistake to make.)
The least flattering time I heard this re-incarnation plan was while I was rubbing mineral ice on my horse’s inner thigh. He had torn a muscle and was in his second month of stall rest. The man who said it thought he was Columbus in the New World, and a total laugh riot.
I was at a dressage show earlier this season and overheard two women talking about a rider they both knew. “She isn’t driving the horse onto the bit; she just isn’t strong enough to drive him to the bit!” one said with a sharp edge to her voice. My heart sinks when I hear comments … Read more
Riding can be a form of meditation in the best sense- a release from day to day drama and worry. It’s amazing how much better the air is just a few feet above the ground, and moving through the air at a trot really does give you the feeling that sheets get- blowing dry on … Read more
When I was younger, I always carried sugar in my pocket because it felt so great to have my horse come to me. It was cheap vanity- until the inevitable day that I forgot to fill my pocket. My gelding stood on my 5 year old foot, begging for a treat I didn’t have. I … Read more
Let’s start at the beginning; loving horses is fine, but they don’t care about that. Horses will choose respect over love every time.
First, lets get our terminology straight. A barn rat is a child who might answer an ad with the headline Horse-Crazy Girls Wanted. (Yes, almost always a girl.) The Infinity Farm barn rat is 9 years old. Elana got here the usual way, begging and badgering parents who don’t ride. Through extended connections, she showed … Read more
Willard Crockett was the first man I fell in love with. I think I was 5, and he was certainly in his 40’s, but it didn’t feel like a pre-thaw February to September sort of romance to me. (I am aware that it didn’t feel like a romance to him at all.) He wore jeans … Read more
Being adversarial has been a common topic in lessons this last week. None of my clients are mean, none wear big spurs or carries whips that leave welts on disobedient horses. No one has a hot temper, it isn’t that. We tend towards a more passive-aggressive type of adversarial behavior. It starts by innocently … Read more