Channel Archives: Learn

I know it’s nowhere near mud season, but it rained the other day, which got me thinking about gum boots. You can buy cheap ones or expensive “fashionable” ones and...

Last week, we assessed Baby True’s achievements and found that he’s learned a lot in the past eight months. We can use that assessment to refresh our goals for the...

I hate working with numbers. I always have and I always will. I much prefer the subjective world in which words live. With words and I can write and talk...

A few months ago, I described my first discovery ride with my three-year-old Warmblood True in his new home. He was comfy with tack, led well, and longed obediently but...

This was not my plan for this week’s post. I had intended to dazzle you with the etymology (ie, a study on the origin and history of words) of a...

While waiting outside the ring for the course walk of the combined Children’s/Adult Jumper Classic at a recent horse show, I couldn’t help but notice the antics of one of...

Last week, we talked about the inevitable: falls. We know what it means to a rider to fall, but what does that experience mean to a young horse? What is...

Today we are going to discuss train tracks. What could be more exciting? But as I’m the one writing this, and you are reading it on Horse Network, you might...

I remember the first time I read the statistic: I was more likely to get seriously injured riding my horse than I was riding my motorcycle. At first I rejoiced,...

You love your horse more than anything and want to do what’s right to help him live a healthy, happy life. But horses are accident-prone, and not even bubble wrap...

In my last article, you might have noticed that I continued north while True spun away from a Killer Bird and went south. On young horses, these things happen in...

“If women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.” If you’re Canadian and of a certain age, then you know where I’m going with this. Red...

While practicing his basic walk-trot-canter, True, my three-year-old Warmblood gelding, is captivated by new sights, sounds, and scents. He was transfixed by his first bicycle and his first child. In...

The one thing you can assuredly find in a barn is a bucket load of binder twine, also known as baling twine, baler twine, baler string, hay twine, hay string...

Young horses are notorious for trotting clumsily into a canter. It’s hard for them to balance the weight of a rider and still get all those feet in the right...

The question of “social license”—acceptance or approval granted to a particular group from the community at large—is all over the equestrian sphere at the moment. When our sports involve another...

Baby season is upon us, so I thought a post about the mare-foal bond would be suitable. The first thing we need to understand about the relationship between a mare...

My discovery ride also flagged my three-year-old Warmblood True’s inconsistent trot pace. Fast, slow, medium, whoops way too fast, and so on. This is a very common problem in young...

Horses’ teeth have always confused me. There is no definitive tooth count, many of the teeth have strange names, some have no discernible purpose and one type is untrustworthy. So,...

We’re not talking about grooming a horse here. Or priming a young person to take over the family business. We’re talking about the other kind of grooming.  The predatory tactic...