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Telling Horror Stories
People love to tell horror stories. Once they know that I have horses, they can’t resist telling me about getting bucked off, run away with, or stepped on. Somehow this makes them very cool and the...
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An Argument Against the Whip.
There is a time-worn adage about whips. Just like bits or spurs, whips are only as cruel or kind as the rider using them. Maybe. My mentor rarely rode with a whip, but if she did, she carried two. The...
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Respecting Your “Other” Space
I assume your horse respects your space; that on the ground he stands a couple of feet away, relaxed and cool. He doesn’t shove his way through gates ahead of you, or jerk the lead rope out of your...
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Calming Signals and Equine Gastric Ulcers.
These are two of my favorite topics and I write about them often, but this post is about how calming signals and gastric ulcers can relate to each other. First, are you informed about gastric ulcers?...
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When Your Horse Falls In a Hole.
Horses fall into holes all the time. Metaphoric holes; the really tricky kind that jump up and surprise you when you least expect it. Holes might be things like confusing cues; you want to canter but...
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What Are You Saving for Good?
My parents grew up in the Great Depression and were frugal; we kept things “for good.” It was the first Easter after we lost our farm and we’d moved across four states and settled in a tract house,...
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Do You Inspire Your Horse?
Do you inspire your horse? Does he volunteer more than you ask? Are you proud of who you are in his eyes? And yes, this is a donkey. There is no better trainer for a human who wants to work with...
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Horses Are Pessimists
Your horse is a young horse or a rescue horse or the heart-horse of your life. A mare or a gelding or something else entirely. He comes in a plain brown wrapper or loud spots. He’s fresh as rain or...
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Affirmative Training and Spoiling Horses
Most of us hear voices. We might be working with our horses on an issue and floundering in the moment, because we hear a threatening voice in our heads. It could haunt us from the past; a trainer from...
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Part One: The Future for Horses, a Different Narrative about Herd Dynamics
The first story I remember about herd dynamics was that stallions lived on the rise above the valley to watch for danger and protect the herd. The mares and foals grazed like idle, hapless creatures...
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