Last week I said goodbye to my long-time horse buddy Smoke who I started riding over 15 years ago (see A Healthy Approach to Showing Horses for more on Smoke).
When I was somewhere around 8-9 years old, woman named Tammi decided on a whim one day that it would be fun to have some [...]

Posted in Jackie's Thoughts, Riding and showing 1 Comment »

With a different instructor, students riding different horses, our schedule completely thrown off, and a new working style to which to adjust, last night could have been really crazy at Pegasus Farm’s therapeutic riding program. Despite all of the last minute changes, one of our more difficult students was thriving.
Randy, the instructor I work under [...]

Posted in Jackie's Thoughts, Making a Difference, Therapeutic Riding No Comments »

My family didn’t have the funds to really show horses big-time, but we certainly got a whole lot out of showing hunters in 4-H and local C-rated shows. And for doing as well as I did, I actually kept a pretty healthy perspective on showing and success.
I rode in my first-ever horse show when I [...]

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After volunteering for several months at Pegasus Farm, a therapeutic riding center in northeast Ohio, I actually got to help teach a class on Monday night. This isn’t typical for volunteers, but I guess my years of experience teaching riding lessons and horse care has been showing, so Randy felt comfortable leaving me with a [...]

Posted in Jackie's Thoughts, Making a Difference, Riding and showing, Therapeutic Riding 2 Comments »

While I actually watch the big game for the football and not just the funny Superbowl commercials, I am always drawn to the Budweiser Clydesdale commercials. The one where the horses are kicking the football for an extra point has always been one of my favorites.

As I was walking with the volunteer coordinator at Pegasus [...]

Posted in General, Horsin' Around, Jackie's Thoughts, Training 2 Comments »