Visiting Freedom

After Zelda died, I had an overwhelming need to visit Freedom. He’s been retired in Virginia since October of 2021, after I broke my ankle for a second time. Too much time had passed since I’d seen him and although I’d gotten regular updates from the retirement facility, I needed to touch him again and […]

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New Edition of Black Beauty to Benefit Horses in Need

Black Beauty illustration by Cecil Aldin

How many times did you read Black Beauty as a child? I’m not sure I can even count that high! Unlike the pure equine fantasy novels of Walter Farley (I longed for him to write a book about a girl as I read and re-read The Black Stallion and the Island Stallion series), Black Beauty […]

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How to Help Ukranian Horses

How to Help Ukranian Horses

As war rages in the Ukraine, horse owners around the world have asked how they can help Ukranian horses and their owners. There have been heart breaking posts on Facebook as families flee the devastation of war. Recently we heard from a friend in Ukraine, that several of the people that own horses are walking […]

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Social Media Helps Bring Whisper Home

On December 22nd, between 4-5:30 a.m. someone stole Whisper, a 32″ miniature pony from her family’s farm. The gate couldn’t be opened by a horse. Rachel Johnson found her own horse loose just after 5:30 a.m. on a road near her house, but the mini was gone. There was half a candy cane where the […]

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Bad Sport: Horse Hitman

The new Netflix docuseries “Bad Sport” revisits some of outrageous sport scandals in recent memory, including episode 5, which covers the horse killings for insurance scandal of the 1980s. While the memory of the killings — and the people it brought down — are still fresh in my memory, for many younger riders, this may […]

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Andy Kocher Claims Electric Device was a “Clicker”

Andy Kocher

A year ago, the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) accused show jumper Andy Kocher of using “electric spurs” on his horses. In April, Kocher was suspended by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) Tribunal for 10 years, fined and forfeited winnings from eight competitions where photographic evidence showed signs of the cables running up his breeches — […]

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Trust

Trust

Trust. The trust on this horse’s face says so much about his relationship with his human as the people around him work to rescue him. Almost 25 years ago, Fritz, a Boston police horse, fell into a sidewalk construction hole that had been covered by a steel plate. Police Officer Frank Pomodoro rushed to his […]

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Kevin Lemke Fined and Suspended for Abusive Behavior

Kevin Lemke

Kevin Lemke has been fined $4,000 and suspended for four months by the USEF after “unsportsmanlike behavior using excessive force with a horse”. The rider was caught on video, at the Desert International Horse Park in California on January 30, reprimanding his horse for refusing an (off camera) jump by hitting the horse hard six […]

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