Test your knowledge of horses and horsemanship at this great website hosted by the Canadian Pony Club: http://www.canadianponyclub.org/Games/index.php. This is an interactive quiz with questions sorted by skill level. Be quick! The clock is ticking!

continue reading.....

Freezing rain and ice-slick roads confine us to the farm tonight… and there is no place we’d rather be! Mark and I play with the horses well after dark. I trim Grace’s hooves and start teaching her a new trick, and we all marvel at how well Dolly’s hoof is healing.
I flash [...]

continue reading.....

Clydesdale Rides Trail! Putting the Natural in Horsemanship
Yesterday was a story of turning bad happenings into good results. A bit of background: Much to both mine and Dolly’s chagrin, after spending the afternoon on Tuesday last week mowing the trails through and around the Grove, I took the saddle up to grab Dolly and go [...]

continue reading.....

You remember the story of belling the cat.  We were handed a similar scenario…
The challenge: To put a flymask on a horse who is not halter-trained and is known to be headshy.
The solution: Clicker Training to the rescue!
Crockett is an Appy gelding, part of the PMU rescue herd we are currently helping with. [...]

continue reading.....

Natural horse trainers look for creative ways to use their environment to help train their horses. Cavaletti, also called ground poles, are unsung heroes in creating a bridge between horse training equipment and the horse’s environment.
Cavaletti, the Italian word meaning “little horses,” are traditionally poles stabilized by X-shaped supports at each end. The word has [...]

continue reading.....

Luna and her soon-to-be-born Gypsy Sport Horse foal joined our family on winter solstice this year.

Luna had been through four owners since April, through no fault of her own. Luna is a 4 year-old Spotted Draft mare, small despite her Shire blood. She’s sweet, sound and healthy, like so many equine victims of today’s economy.  [...]

continue reading.....

We tackled Luna’s hooves today, beginning what we hope will be an uneventful recovery process.  When we first looked at her, her owner told her reluctance to move forward was due to the added weight of pregnancy.  Forget the foal, her feet were a mess!  Every step must feel like walking on glass shards!
Flares in [...]

continue reading.....

Kathy made my day today!  During a break in her lesson she told me she’s taken up walking at the mall.  Today she walked two miles.  More importantly, she confided, “I kept thinking about what we’ve been practicing in our riding lessons.  I keep reminding myself to breathe, and put on my cloak!”
For people who [...]

continue reading.....

Breakthrough day for June!  This formerly stiff-as-a-board but quick-as-a-whip little mare learned to release to the pressure of the bit.  We’re not talking turn or tuck her head.  We are talking release negative tension throughout her entire body. This elementary lesson is June’s first step towards losgelassenheit.
…Before you say “gesundheit” let’s pull our dictionary!
The United [...]

continue reading.....

“Horse Training Success” is running a training tips contest.  We just submitted this entry:
I love all the posts that include training with treats! Do you know they actually funded a study in France which “scientifically proved” that horses learn faster when they receive food rewards? Hahaha, horsemen since the dawn of time could [...]

continue reading.....