My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
As I mentioned in my post about catching horses, I don’t generally feed treats or hand feed much of anything. Certainly, there are exceptions to the rule. I’ve been known to use bribes to load a recalcitrant horse. I’ve used grain when the horses got loose. And this spring I used treats to teach my […]
Read MoreRight now I have a horse that is so people oriented that you can’t get him to leave you alone. It doesn’t matter how large the field; he’s in your pocket. If you try to chase him off he just turns around and stares at you in disbelief. However, I have had horses in the […]
Read MoreMy TB, Freedom, is a great horse in many ways. But one of his major “holes” is that he is very difficult to load on a trailer alone. He’s resistant to loading even a the best of times. It’s funny because he’s not scared of the trailer. He plants his feet on the loading ramp […]
Read MoreOne of my trainers used to say that you train your horse every time you ride it, so be careful about what you do (and don’t do). We’ve all probably now that horses seem to learn bad habits much faster than they learn good ones, so that means you must be doubly cautious. Recently I’ve […]
Read MoreWow. Just wow. The 135th Kentucky Derby was an amazing race. When Calvin Borel asked the gelding for a move, he took off like a rocket and won the Derby by 6 3/4 lengths leaving many of us wondering, who is that horse? It’s not often that a 50-1 long shot wins a race like […]
Read MoreI like riding in fields. That’s just as well as we don’t have an arena at the barn. There is one that’s about a 10 minute hack through the woods but I’ve found that my horses are more forward and more connected when they are not surrounded by fencing. Today I read another good reason […]
Read MoreThe Quadrille today is a choreographed dressage ride that’s usually performed to music. As a ridden demonstration it became popular in the 17th century with four riders performing movements in a square. In fact, it was so popular that it became a popular dance. Riding in a quadrille is very challenging. I’ve tried it and […]
Read MoreThere was some unusual excitement on the streets of Paris yesterday when Garibaldi, 15 year old Stallion, unceremoniously dumped his Republican Guard rider and high tailed it for home. The 10-year veteran of the force spooked while on patrol. Despite a gallop of nearly 5 kilometers (a bit over 3 miles), dodging traffic and police […]
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