Author Archives: Gretchen Lida

The Witcher is a Mare Man

When I was a preteen I could name all the essential horses in Lord of the Rings. But even then, I knew not to expect much equestrian nuance in high...

Pick the Horse

"You look cute in that," the person I love said when he first saw me in barn clothes. There was hay in my hair. The ratty t-shirt and jeans I...

The Healing Art of Brushing Manes

In March, the New York Times profiled an equine-based life-coaching facility with a star-studded client list in the Ramsay de Give penned essay: "Can We Learn Anything From Horses?" The Equus Experiential...

After You Fall…

"Gretch, you fell from six feet going 25 miles an hour," my horse trainer said as I stood up and limped back to the mounting block. I dusted the arena...

On Horses and Uncertainty

After 20 years of riding other people’s horses, I finally have one of my own. As I latched her stall door for the first time, a familiar sense of worry...

Falls Happen, Protect Yo’self

When Benjamin Franklin proclaimed that, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” he was referring to fire prevention in Philadelphia. But, this sage piece of wisdom is...

On Buying My First Nice Helmet

I just bought my first expensive helmet. Then I spent the entire drive home from the tack shop panicking about how much money I had just spent. Up until that...

Hooray for Carrie Seim’s Horse Girl

In the opening scene of middle-grade novel Horse Girl, Wills earns one of the most essential badges of honor for every budding equestrian—she falls off. Clyde Lee, her not-so trusty...

Against Fearlessness

My biggest fear around horses was never falling off—it was getting trapped.  For years, entering a box stall with a horse sent my inside screaming. Adrenaline sizzled through me the...