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!
A reader writes: “HOW DO YOU CHOOSE YOUR NEW PROJECTS? Horses or ponies, what do you look for and what do you absolutely avoid?” Before I begin, here’s the disclaimer. You need to know that I still buy mistakes. I’m coming at horse-buying a little differently than many …
Spooky horses! There must be a lot of them, as more people write in about shying and general jumpiness, than just about anything else. The biggest problem with these guys is that they are very good at undermining our confidence, chipping away at it, bit by bit…. Human nature has us wanting to protect …
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 …
Thinking about groundwork? One of the best groundwork exercises I know of is refining how our horse or pony loads. Rather than wait for the next show or trail ride in the mountains, I say, let’s get the bugs out now. For the amount of hauling the average horse has to do nowadays, it’s …
‘Tis the season… Before it gets any warmer out, here are some simple repairs that you can do at home. First, though, a word of warning. There are many things that we can do to keep ourselves safe in the saddle. Some things, which I’ll list throughout the blog, must be seen to by a professional. …
Don’t fence me in… Ever since the Andrews Sisters sang, “I can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences,” hobbles have gained a lousy reputation. Why is this? Pros ‘n’ Cons Well, in the negative, hobble breaking can be violent. Depending on the horse involved, there may be a long and passionate fight. …
A good part of my riding life has been collecting all manner of books on horsemanship. Not only did I want to be with horses, I wanted to think about them, better understand them, listen to the voices of the past masters… I wanted to soak it all in. Why read? I fear …
We see a lot of information on trailer loading. Judging by how the parents were pulling in to the parking lot for a 4H clinic, I got to wondering if there shouldn’t be a discussion on how to haul? The dust was flying, trailers were rattling and you could hear horses scrambling as they pulled …