Whatever discipline you favor, an early lesson we all get in good horsemanship is the importance of “good hands.” This is about more than the dramatic (egregious sawing, yanking, or...
It certainly isn’t new, is it? The importance of “patience” in horse handling and training, and indeed, even in improving your riding, has been long professed. But it bears repeating because...
We all wish we knew exactly what our horses were saying to us. Is that a nicker of welcome, or just, “Bring me breakfast”? Are you walking away because you...
How and when should we invite our horses to stretch? We’ve heard of its therapeutic effects all our riding lives, but have we ever truly understood the process and how...
The word “fascia” has been bouncing around now for a number of years, but it still isn’t a term that’s commonly dropped in horsey circles. We are learning, however, that...
As the weather breaks and we finally see the snow melt from the shaded corners of the pasture, the trails begin to beckon. No doubt those of us who faithfully...
Shane Ledyard's latest novella Sycamore Whispers is a powerful, coming of age story where faith and nature play their mysterious roles perfectly in a young girl’s struggle to overcome adversity. Here the...
“I am convinced that life is ten per cent what happens to me and ninety per cent how I react to it.” —Charles R. Swindoll, “The Grace Awakening” July’s sweltering...
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 more fully present in the...
Training horses, learning how to ride them well, these pursuits can be an obsession. They can bankrupt us, disrupt other relationships, and generally make us crazy. And they can be...
Olympic showjumper. Kingsland Model. Former teen prodigy. American wunderkind Reed Kessler is well known for the many accomplishments she's achieved in her 23 years, but did you know she’s also an avid reader?...
Horses on the big screen isn’t exactly a mainstream draw, so if you wanted to kick back and enjoy a horse flick you might've been stuck watching Seabiscuit for the...
Simon O' Shaughnessy's life revolves around eventing. But when a freak, tragic accident takes the life of his friend and mentor, he finds himself struggling to defend the sport he...
In modern society, the horse ownership is often regarded as a luxury of the wealthy or the hobby of eccentrics. But high in the Himalayas of Nepal, where the way...
Rider and writer Melinda Folse is just like most of us: juggling work, family, and horses is standard procedure, and with all that she’s trying to balance in her life,...
For well over a century, Félix Nadar’s 1891 portrait of Selika Lazevski has captured imaginations. Selika is said to be a celebrated equestrian of Nineteenth Century Paris circuses,...
A cold front moves across the piedmont of North Carolina. The wind lifts my horse’s mane from his neck, causing us both to shiver. He stands like a statue as...
From our earliest interactions with horses, from our very first riding lessons, we learn about equine reactivity, about prey mentality, and we’re warned of the likelihood of the “spook.” So...
