Stories from the Heart
“Adam just had a way of making you like him”
Sometimes, a horse is just special. It’s not because they did anything particularly notable as a show horse, or because they had champion bloodlines, or…
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Collaborative
Amateur Hour
Lessons from Chestnut Horses
Most people don’t get the opportunity to bring home the horse they took riding lessons on. But that’s exactly what happened the summer between my…
2 years ago
Life
A Different Kind of Olympic Heroism
Aly Raisman is an Olympic gold medalist, and was captain of the gold medal winning US Olympic Gymnastics Teams in 2012 and 2016. Anyone familiar…
2 years ago
Life
Night Check
I just came back up to the house after putting my horses to bed, and I lingered a few extra minutes to feed a few…
2 years ago
Art
A Heartfelt Roadmap to Connection
Choreographer and equestrian Paula Josa-Jones has written an intelligently observed, beautifully rendered collection of experiences and inspirations detailing her artist’s journey of learning to be…
2 years ago
Amateur Hour
Why Horses?
Living in a town where being horsey is not the norm, I have often been challenged with this question, by others and even myself. It’s…
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
Memoir
A Horseman Remembers 9/11
Like most everyone else on the morning of September 11, 2001, I can clearly remember exactly where I was and who I was talking to…
2 years ago
Life
Working with My Pony
I unhitch my Shetland and put her outside in a corral to cool down. As she grazes, I see in her the ancestral Mongolian ponies:…
2 years ago
Amateur Hour
10 Signs You’re an Amateur Spook
In my younger days I breezed racehorses alongside emus in the forests of Western Australia, galloped bareback through snow-laden fields in Canada, descended precipitously steep…
2 years ago
Stories from the Heart
Why I Had to Let You Go
Some decisions in life are never easy. For those of us lucky to have had horses or at least ridden most of our lives, there’s…
2 years ago
Memoir
What It’s Like to Ride in Central Park
Living on Long Island (only one hour east of Manhattan) riding in New York City’s famed Central Park was one of those those things on…
2 years ago
Horse Health
Don’t Be a Piranha
Recently, my gelding injured his leg. He had some puffiness and low-grade lameness, so I treated it with ice wraps and stall rest with hand…
2 years ago
Amateur Hour
Remembering to Breathe
I’m having the best horse show season of my 35 year career in the ring. Yet I’ve barely been subject to the judge’s eye myself.…
2 years ago
Endurance
Madcap Escapade: Memories of the Mongol Derby
Forty excited riders nervously wander over to the horse line to pick their very first horse for leg one of the 1,000 kilometer Mongol Derby. It’s…
2 years ago
Life
Dear Horse Crazy Show Kid…
Dear Horse Crazy Kiddo, When I was your age, I too was horse crazy. My persnickety mare and I were the same age and she…
2 years ago
Hoof Care
The Badass Women of Barefoot Trimmin’
When it comes to equine hoof care, you may have noticed that men tend to run the show. Sure, you’ll find the occasional female farrier,…
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
Training
Improving Balance in the ‘Non-Traditional’ Dressage Horse
My Connemara cross, Anna, is not known for being the most forward thinking of mounts. While she is pretty willing to do whatever is asked,…
2 years ago
Amateur Hour
Humoring a Horse Crazy Child in the Suburbs and On a Budget
If you’re a parent with little-to-no interest in horses, little-to-no money for the expensive hobby, yet were blessed (cursed?) with a horse-crazy child, you have…