Author Archives: Gretchen Lida

On the morning of November 6, several hours after it was announced that Donald Trump won the presidency, I went to the barn to see my horses. While some people...

A few days ago, I turned to my partner and said, “I have strong wrists because I am a horse girl.” Then, I gestured to the crutches I was on,...

In my junior year of college, I was given a piece of advice that would change my life forever.  It was the final day of the Collegiate Horsemen's Association's Annual...

Dearest Gentle Reader, This author was among the 45 million who inhaled the newest season of Bridgerton on its opening weekend. While there is less horse riding than I would...

I hate looking at photos of myself. So when equestrian photographer Laurie Thomson posted a candid picture of me and a Gypsy Vanner on Facebook last year, I picked myself...

On one of those deliriously early, horse activity-related mornings, my friends and I decided to talk about the apocalypse. In true, dark, millennial fashion, we somehow conjured up an image...

“Arab, Brabant, Cleveland Bay, Dartmoor, Exmoor, Fell.”   When sleep eludes me, I list off horses in my head. I come up with a breed for every letter of the alphabet,...

Before the trailer pulled up in front of the boarding barn with my precious cargo inside, I would have told you I was ready for horse ownership. I have ridden...

"Do people ever think you  wear those ironically?" the chiropractor asked as I lay on her table. I was rocking a pair of navy riding pants and a t-shirt. The...

The first time I watched the 1987 film Amadeus I cried. Not because of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's untimely death. I cried because I related to Antonio Salieri, the in-house composer of...

“Well, at least the robots won’t train horses,” I joked to a fellow English teacher as we chatted about the rise of Artificial Intelligence-generated college essays and programs like Moonbeam...

"Do I have enough money for Taco Bell? No, I don't," says a trending #horsetok sound on the Internet right now. "But you know what I do have?" it continues,...

procrastination is theart of keepingup with yesterday —Don Marquis, archy and mehitabel, 1927 I opened a box of Breyer horses from my childhood the other day. I could say it...

“What if every single human being chose one threatened animal or insect or bird or fish and decided to save it? I think the world would look completely different if...

Adventurer Jesse McNeil knows a thing or two about long-distance adventures. He's hiked the nearly 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in...

The first notes of Mariah Carey after Thanksgiving usually freak me out. I float above my body and count down the days until the New Year, hoping it will be...

I have heard whispers at breed association meetings, from farriers and vets, and the infamous 56 Thoroughbred posts on social media. Someone got sick; someone passed away, and now someone's...

Horse people know more about what is going on in the sky and in the dirt than most. We have multiple weather apps on our phones and check them often....

Many of us let generational insults fly willy-nilly. "Baby Boomers are out of touch." "Gen Xers are such downers." "Millennials are so frivolous." "Gen Z are too sensitive." As a...

As a horse girl, I am sad about the Queen's passing, but I understand others' rage. A recent photo from Queen Elizabeth II's funeral finally broke my cold, jaded soul....