My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
People separated from their horses during the coronavirus can take heart: a study in France shows that horses are able to recognize their caregivers by looking at a photograph of their face, even when they haven’t seen those people in six months. A 2012 study was one of the first to suggest horses are capable […]
Read More
Teaching horse safety for kids (and for adults) is one of the ways we can minimize the risk of enjoying horses. As a mother, I had one of those “uh oh” incidents years ago when my daughter was about four and I had just brought home a new horse. The first day I turned my […]
Read More
We are experiencing our first winter storm as I type this post. Although it’s only December 1st, we will likely have close to a foot of the white stuff before it ends. I tucked the horses up in their winter blankets for the event. In general, I’ve gotten a lot less obsessive about blanketing, the […]
Read More
Zelda and Curly are digging their new pasture. So much so that sometimes the won’t come up to the fenceline for grain! It gets me a few extra steps when I have to hike down to the bottom of the pasture (and back up again). The other main advantage to switching the pastures is that […]
Read More
As I sit here digging hay dust out of my iPhone charging port, I contemplated all the places where hay has infiltrated my daily life: down my shirt, inside my bra, in my shoes, in my car, the pockets of my jackets. Come to think of it, there are very few places where there isn’t any […]
Read More
Freedom is not typically a cuddly kind of horse. It has to be his idea. But sometimes he tries to show me that he’s glad that I’m his human. This morning he was feeling particularly affectionate. Of course, maybe that had something to do with wanting breakfast. I’ll attribute it to Valentine’s Day.
Read More
I was reminded, today, of the first time I trailered Freedom, at the end of January in 2005. I’d agreed to take him on as a foster for CANTER New England, and had driven to Rhode Island to pick him up with a friend. Freedom had been returned from his first adoptive home — from […]
Read More
In January, I wrote about trainer Joe Herrick and his filly, Lovely Finish — both survived the Lilac Fire that swept through San Diego last December that killed 46 race horses. Both were recovering from severe burns. A few days ago, the Washington Post wrote an update story on the two, Through the Flames. Looked […]
Read More