Riding Lessons: Seeing Your Horse Through New Eyes

A reader request: “I hope you will someday do an article on looking at the horse’s ears and eyes to determine happiness. I see pics of people smiling on horses that are clearly unhappy or in pain or both. It boggles my mind that they are oblivious to it. Just recently saw a photo of … Read more

Forging a Path: What to Do Next With Your Horse.

It’s that time of winter when you half-think spring isn’t real. Are you frustrated with how you and your horse are progressing? As if it’s even warm enough to take his blanket off. Do you ride in the same place in the same way? Do you do the same groundwork in the same order? Do … Read more

Finding the Ground But In a Good Way

Our T’ai Chi master told us to drop our weight? I was barely legal and my fledgling art career was doing so well that I didn’t own a car. The class met in a church gym, he stood in front with his back to us and the small class mimicked his slow-motion movements. He told … Read more

Why Don’t You Ride?

“Why don’t you ride?” It’s the question we dread. Sometimes the people who ask are neophytes who don’t understand that in the arc of a horse’s life, there are many phases, many unexpected turns that change our plans, and many mysteries that take years to unravel. Sometimes the people who ask are longtime horse owners … Read more

Calming Signals: Yoga Mind/Equine Reality

The Dude Rancher and I practice yoga. We started years ago; he was having way too many headaches and my back was killing me. We each thought the other person was the problem, but we went to a Yin Yoga class at a local rec center. Our teacher, Tracey, explained in a soft voice that … Read more

What is an Ethical Ride?

  We are great horse owners. We love our horses. Some of us compete and some stroll around the pasture, but we’ll own these horses all their days and we want only the best for them. Sadly, we aren’t all great riders. Most of us could improve our hands and do better with our legs. … Read more

Riding: If We Can’t Feel It, We Can’t Fix It.

    After the last blog, a friend/trainer thought legs should have been mentioned. Or as she put it, “‘The Mechanical Leg?’ It taps and bumps and wiggles and kicks and urges the horse along just due to habit and maybe some well-intentioned but less well educated former trainer’s instruction.” She’s totally right. Over the … Read more