If there is one trend that I see reflected in social media, it’s that too many people think too hard about working with horses. Whether it is the positive reinforcement folks who obsess over every aspect of a horse’s life that might be experienced as an aversive or the Dressage […]
I recently made a major life change – I retired from the organization where I’ve been employed for nearly twenty-five years. Of course my final week saw the requisite retirement party, with the twist of having it over Zoom due to the pandemic. I am not one to like that […]
I watched the trainer swing the rope rapidly in the direction of the young horse on the other end of it. The horse darted here and there, his hooves tap-dancing in the sand as he tried to figure out what was being asked of him. His expression reflected fear and […]
This book spent a few years on my wish list on Amazon. I was intrigued by it, but I was shy of spending money on modern works about Dressage. I had already purchased a couple that I found wanting. Still, the approach this book claimed to take was intriguing, so […]
Hang around a Classical riding group for any amount of time and you will learn two things: horsemen of the past were all knowing, and horsemen of today are an abomination to classical riding principles. An exaggeration, perhaps, yet close to what many experience when joining those groups. But is […]
I had the privilege of having as my early coaches two people who were not only top notch horsemen, but also outstanding judges. One was even said, by one of the most respected international judges of the time, to have the best eye for judging a horse’s performance. We would […]
A video recently popped up in my timeline of a lovely horse being ridden roughly around a substantial jump course. My heart went out to the good fellow, who consistently jumped, in spite of his mouth being yanked most of the way, and the rider bouncing on his back most […]
When I recently reviewed a study on how well owners recognized negative emotions in horses, I was pleased to see that most actually did – at least in some equine activities. However, back on Facebook, I find that so many really don’t recognize those negative signs – even when they […]
There are many who seek modern answers to questions that horsemen have been pondering for decades, if not centuries. There are those aspects that we have not fully understood until science had the tools to begin to explore them. Neuroscience is such an area, and a modern book like Horse […]
The girl was eleven years old. She was riding in a group of adults, returning after a long ride down to the creek. They’d just been galloping through corn fields, she bareback on a young Thoroughbred mare, not long off the racetrack; the adults all in saddles. She’d chosen to […]
The Literate Equine 