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Establish Pace Without Neural Fatigue
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 who don’t...
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Foals Remember Their Mothers Long After Weaning
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 and her foal is that it is about...
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How Do We Conscientiously Compete?
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...
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Canter Departs
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 places to step into the gait gracefully....
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Talking Twine
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 and probably a few other names. I like to...
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Killer Birds
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...
View ArticleThe Little Known History of Duct Tape
“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 Green was the main, if not only,...
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Unplanned Dismounts
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 about half a millisecond. I landed on...
View ArticleFour Potential Horse Emergencies and How to Respond to Them
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 can prevent all emergencies....
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3 Simple Exercises to Reduce Your Chance of Concussion
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, as I could use it to validate my...
View ArticleTrain Tracks and Chariots
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 have already guessed that this has...
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What Falls Mean to the Horse
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 her equine brain learning from a rider’s fall?...
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Recognize the Signs of an Unhealthy Coaching Relationship
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 the coaches. The trainer...
View ArticleThe Etymology of Farrier and Related Words
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 few select horse words but instead fell down the...
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Progress Checkpoint
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 without voice commands. He...
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What Equestrians Wish They Learned in Math Class
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 about horses and with horses I can avoid...
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Reset the Goals
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 future. First, there are items that...
View ArticleWell, Well, Wellies
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 no matter which you chose they will...
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Reverse Gear
Young horses are often awkward in learning to back up while under saddle. It’s an unnatural movement, both physically and mentally. Most youngsters don’t yet have the musculature and physiological...
View ArticleThe Future of Equine Joint Management with Orthobiologics
You likely consider your horse part of your family—and when they show signs of joint discomfort from the natural wear and tear of training or the aging process, it’s hard to see them working through...
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