There is a battle currently raging between those who want to see change in horse sport and those within horse sport who are feeling attacked. But there is one important voice missing in these exchanges – the voice of the horse. At the heart of these arguments is actually one […]
I’ve been watching the clouds gather. The storm has slowly been building, but most people around me seemed unaware. The first claps of distant thunder have sounded, and it got […]
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 […]
As people become more aware of horse cognition and welfare, the question of whether or not we should even ride them comes up. I have friends struggling with that question, and I ponder it myself, now and again. The question as to whether or not you choose to ride horses […]
What do you have your horse for? A pasture pet? A fine choice, but what I have to say here will not apply to you. Do you plan to drive him? Another wonderful choice, but if that is all then you can likely use the next few minutes in other […]
The first thing that a rider must learn, if he aims to become an artist, is the art of relaxation. This means detachment, serenity, enjoyment of the work for the sake of beauty, unconcern with success or failure, praise or criticism. In this sense – power of total concentration of […]
We’ve all had that day when we went to the barn with a plan. Today you would tackle that jumping grid. This would be the day you mastered a flying […]
It has been nearly a month between my first post and now. I was not ready to launch the site when it was Nash’s time to leave us; but, as my mother is wont to say, “Needs must when the Devil drives!” When I lost my Ben, companion of 28 […]
The Literate Equine 