Category Archives: Life

To me, horses have always symbolized life, love and friendship, because that is what they’ve brought me. However, they’ve also brought me vet bills, bruises and heartache, but that’s horses...

The paddock boot has long stood the test of time, regardless of season, age or riding ability. They are a constant in every equestrian’s closet, trunk or tack room. But...

A friend from my writing life now has a horse-crazy kid. She reminds me of all the moms and dads I have met along the way; those parents who now...

Late last week I sat down in my barn aisle and cried. I had just finished my morning chores—feed, turnout, clean stalls, water, set stalls for the night, sweep the...

When we adopted Ping Ping in November 2018, it was only 15 days before she would have aged out of the system in China. Orphans there must be adopted by...

I love facts. Little bits of random knowledge that make me sound clever (at least in my head). When it comes to horses, I like to think I know all...

My friend Jera just got an Alaskan Malamute puppy named Winston Churchill. Sometimes I go with them on their evening walks. As owner and dog trot across the crosswalk toward...

Started during a “COVID-driven brainstorm,” Melissa Rafano’s EQ Retreats is taking on a life of its own. Described as “an equestrian-focused weekend getaway where we celebrate our common love of...

Life is weird right now. Which I know is probably the understatement of the century. But despite all the current weirdness (or maybe because of it), I've discovered there’s a...

Do you treat your tack trunk like Mary Poppins' bag? Have you ever struggled to find that one hind boot 10 minutes before your class? Or left a trail down...

It seems Queen Elizabeth is living her best lockdown life, holed up at Windsor Castle with a stable of horses and her husband Prince Philip. While the Royal Windsor Horse...

Right now, somewhere in North America, there is a girl sitting at home caught between awkward adolescence and the evening bell. She wears her paddock boots to the park, and...

Robert Redford’s character in The Horse Whisperer. Teenage Amy Fleming from the popular series Heartland. Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet. Horse trainers are highly romanticized in popular entertainment. The reality,...

I’ve been a proud member of the US Pony Club since I was a wee kid riding a naughty pony named Pickles. My devotion to this organization has seen me...

Every December, I sign up for the best PPO (preferred provider organization) insurance plan I can afford because if I get chucked off a horse and need to go to...

In the time vortex of horse show life, days morph into weeks and hours disappear into minutes. "Real life" takes on a distant otherworldly quality. And the singular, all-absorbing pursuit...

Some events so fundamentally alter your life that everything is forever changed—from the way you think to the way you ride. Monday, February 4th, was one of those events. The...

The pony and I are having a hard time. She’s been pulling me in a cart for seven years now. Out of nowhere she’s gotten anxious and persnickety, not wanting...

When I set out to write RIDING HOME ~ The Power of Horses to Heal, I wanted to share the profound emotional healing one can experience from today’s equine therapy. I...

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 with her story has likely...