When I used to teach summer riding camps for kids, we always spent a day focusing on horse care. It was always really fun showing them just how much work horses are (yes I was trying to scare them out of convincing their parents to buy a pony and put it in the backyard), and [...]

I am a perfectionist through and through (I could do a perfect hunter tail braid at the age of 12 due to lots of practice and sheer will power). The perfectionist in me wants to have a heart attack not only if my horse Ace’s mane is getting too long, but when it comes time [...]

The 2009 Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing may just be the most memorable since Affirmed beat out rival Alydar to take the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes 31 years ago. Since, no horse has won all three of these coveted races. Big Brown came close last year, the ninth horse in three decades [...]

Every Monday night I spend four hours working with riders with mental and physical disabilities. I see firsthand the exceptional relationship they have with their horses, as both horses and riders develop their wings, so-to-speak. The riders can communicate with their horses, sometimes in ways they can’t with other people. And the horses are attuned [...]

It seems like just yesterday we were all a-buzz about Big Brown, who had the potential to be the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years. But his impressive performances in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes did little to overshadow an incredibly poor and disappointing run in the Belmont. He became another in a [...]

It’s 17 days until the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby and the internet is afflutter with discussion on which horses will be in the field, who the favorite will be, and who is going home with the roses. There are videos galore, contradictory predictions, and Twittering horses and jockeys. It’s a whole new world [...]

Every equestrian discipline seems to have its own lingo, its own priorities, and its own movements. I don’t know that any is more confusing than dressage. I’m trained to ride hunters. I know all about jumping impulsion, oxers, rollbacks, broken lines, and hunter carriage. We also always worked in a little basic dressage, asking our [...]