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 MoreRecently I read a thread on the Chronicle of the Horse forum that made me laugh out loud. It concerned items that people forgot when going to a horse event: a show, a lesson, foxhunt, etc. I’ll go first. Last fall I forgot the week that we changed to formal attire for foxhunting. I was […]
Read MoreGetting in shape to ride in a balanced half seat is painful. I can remember many lessons when my legs ached and my balance was precarious. I had instructors who insisted on perfecting my two point position. Maybe you’ve been there: arms out to the side, arms overhead, no stirrups, and endless circles and figures […]
Read MoreI’ve been picking ticks off of my horses for weeks. But this evening I found one on me. The tick was embedded and itching like crazy. I probably picked it up when I fed the horses this morning. Let’s face it, turning horses out on grass, riding in the woods, picking up manure in the […]
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 MoreI try to have a plan for each ride when I start out. Sometimes the plan changes, but I try to set my goals — or my limits — before I ride. It’s the times when I’ve tried to do more than my plan that I’ve gotten into trouble. You know, the time you just […]
Read MoreMany of have been there. We train our horses and work toward a goal only to be sidelined by an injury at the last minute. Months of work and anticipation can thwarted by a lost shoe, a tweaked tendon, an episode of colic, or a rider injury. All of that anticipation and we’re left cursing. […]
Read MoreRecently I read an article in http://www.thehorse.com, Injury Rehabilitation Underutilized by Equestrians, Researchers Say. Doctors at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, Alberta, reviewed the records of patients over 16 years of age that were admitted to the Level 1 trauma center from 1995 to 2005. Basically, they found that many equestrians are bad patients who […]
Read More