As we age, horsemanship can involve facing fear after illness or injury. It's about honouring old dreams and being open to new realities. My mantra is living well and riding better. Hi, I'm Lee... I invite you to saddle up and ride!
Oh, my darlings. So many heartfelt messages have winged their way to me, so that you might share the burdens of fear and pain. I’ve read them all. I understand. At the end of this blog, I’m going to ask if any one of you has the courage to openly share and comment here …
I’m going to share this with you. It is my personal mantra, one that I tell myself when there is so much jangling noise going on inside my head that I am no longer present. Not for my horses, or for my self, or for our mutual safety. It is simple, it is …
Fit to be tied! We’re coming across an increasing number of horses and ponies that flatly refuse to tie. An annoying habit, halter pulling is a costly one… not to mention, it’s dangerous. The best way to avoid making a halter puller is to start him young, bringing the weanling into the tie stall …
Horse health has come a long way, even since my childhood. This got me thinking about some of the old ways, versus the new. How some were good, commonsense practices while others, not so much. Not all that long ago, horses were considered workers, essential to a family’s livelihood. Their good health was necessary, …
If I could name the biggest problem with owning and riding horses, this would be it. Plainly put, a herdbound horse or pony is more interested in his friends, than he is in you. It’s an especially shadowy thing to nail down because the degree to which he acts out will often depend on the …
There comes a day, for most of us, where our foot struggles to reach the stirrup. Maybe our heart is trying not to see the end of the road, the place where we will have to make some hard choices. Maybe our hips are hurting so badly after every ride that we can barely swing …
The horse world is full of beautiful people, God bless ’em. Books and magazine photos are of lithe bodies in sexy, fringed armitas or show jumping togs. They dream, they achieve through sheer grit and hard work, they go and DO. They are winners. Getting Good at Getting By Many of us strive …
Turned out or turnout? There’s a world of difference. I’m in the snug house, watching the horse herd run the quarter mile down from the big hill. Many of them are in their twenties; more than a few of them are gaining ground on thirty. A small Welsh pony, with trademark jauntiness, shows his …
It’s a misconception that I’m a fearless old bird, willing to climb on anything that strikes my fancy. Not so! Life has a way of taking the wind out of our sails and the reasons aren’t always what we might imagine. Afraid to ride? A fear of riding can stem from long periods …