Horsemanship
Dear Stranger, Please Stop Grabbing Horses by the Face
August is county fair time here in the Midwest—the time of year when urban and rural life collide. This year, whilst perusing pop up barn…
Author:
Gretchen Lida
Opinion
Op Ed: The George Morris Ban Broke My Heart, Then It Gave Me Hope
I have never competed on the hunter/jumper circuit, yet even I can quote former Olympic trainer George Morris. His clever quips and biting witticisms have…
1 month ago
Memoir
Beware the Horse Girl
Not long ago, I stumbled upon an article about how women with horses should be avoided at all costs. There are multiple like this particular…
2 months ago
Memoir
The Land We Live On
Much of my life with horses has been defined by the dirt in my fingernails and the hay bits in my socks. It is a…
2 months ago
Opinion
Yes, The Wage Gap Is an Equestrian Issue
Horse husbands have been all over my social media lately. On a Facebook group, one horse owner left a desperate plea about how her boyfriend…
3 months ago
Opinion
The Body Positive Equestrian and Insisting on Taking Up Space
The best part of the 2019 Midwest Horse Fair’s dressage competition was the variety in the ring. In the strangely plush seats of the Coliseum,…
3 months ago
Uncategorized
The Tao of Mediocre Dressage
I was swing dancing one night, and the concept of tension kept spinning around in my brain. Not chick-flick tension, but the rubber-band-like feeling between…
6 months ago
Amateur Hour
On Paying for Riding Lessons
For my 24th birthday, my friend Katie bought me three riding lessons with a hunter-jumper trainer she trusted named Cayla Stone. On the third lesson,…
6 months ago
Opinion
I Will Always Be a Sucker for Opinionated Mares
Right now, I am greeted in the barn by a pair cream-colored ears perked through the bars of a stall. The ears belong to Flower,…
7 months ago
Horses in the Headlines
Op Ed: Banning Chicago’s Carriage Horses Isn’t Helping Anyone
A vote on a proposed ban on carriage horses in Chicago was postponed earlier in October. The Committee on License and Consumer Protection chairwoman said…
11 months ago
Opinion
How Do We Talk About Politics at the Barn?
“What if what we experience close up is real, and what we hear on the news from the mouths of those jockeying for power needs…
2 years ago
Life
Poetry in Loneliness
The day before Poetry sold she broke my phone. I asked her to transition up to a canter, and instead, I hit the hard-packed dirt.…
2 years ago
Art
The Horses of Poldark
On Sunday, season three of Masterpiece’s Swashbuckling series, Poldark, thunders back onto tiny screens across the United States. This 18th-century drama stars Aiden Turner as…
2 years ago
Uncategorized
The Cyber Bully Inside All of Us
Almost everything I’ve ever posted, I published under a pen name. Gretchen is my real first name, and Lida is the first name of my…
2 years ago
Life
Your Horse Is Not a Therapist (But They Are Good Medicine)
When I teach horse riding to friends and family, I use like and as like trailer hitches: they pull my students into different concepts while they…
2 years ago
Dressage
Friend of Impeached South Korean President Is Just the World’s Most Powerful Barn Mom
If you ever wanted to read a corruption case turned equestrian themed soap opera, look no further than the recent impeachment of former South Korean…
2 years ago
Hunter/Jumper
A Recap of the Kelley Farmer and Larry Glefke Case in 800 Words or Fewer
On Friday June 30, 2017, just a half a day before suspensions were set to go into effect, the US Equestrian Federation issued a formal…
2 years ago
Life
A Letter to All the Single (Horse) Ladies
Dear Single Horsewomen, If you are like me, you slightly dread those dinners with all the other equestrians. The ones where everyone sits in a…
2 years ago
Opinion
Fat Girl Riding: Body Image and the Horse World
My thoughts about my body and outward appearance and that appearance’s connection to my self-worth is kind of like one of those dangerous see-saws made…