• Jennifer for doing such an awesome job of lining up great, easy-to-talk-with guests like Shawna Karrasch, Christy, and Dr. Jones
• Shawna, Christy, and Dr. Jones for being fun, easy-to-talk-with guests
• Jamie for going on vacation so I could have a chance to fill in (and for providing a good example to follow)
• and Glenn for being the crazy ideas and personality behind all of the Horse Radio Network.

Our discussions varied greatly today, but here are a few of the highlights:

Intercollegiate Horse Show Association: I really lucked out with this one as one of the news stories Glenn found was the results of the IHSA Nationals held over the weekend. I was lucky because this is an organization I’ve actually had some good experience with. In our pre-show meeting, Jenn and Glenn said they didn’t know much about IHSA and gave me the opportunity to talk a bit about how the shows work.

Other news to note today was an article on hearse pulling competitions in England (dignified black percherons) and a horse whose owner put forward $18K to save her after being severely injured in a barn fire.

Mixing up training with Shawna: Shawna was the first person to do clicker-training with horses over a decade ago, bringing her experience as an animal trainer at Seaworld to the equestrian industry. She is currently training a green TB named Bugs and chronicles their journey through video on her website. Shawna, Jenn, and I had a nice chat about the importance of mixing up your routine, specific ways to do so, and how to know when you’ve pushed it a little too far.

Bone injuries on The Horse Health segment: Christy and Dr. Erin Jones talked about the type of fractures Derby horse Archarcharch sustained in the big race. I sat back and listened in because I have no experience with bone injuries. It was interesting to learn more about different types of fractures, symptoms, treatment, and prognosis.

If you missed out on the fun when we aired live this morning, you can listen to the recorded version of the show right here:

HORSES IN THE MORNING Episode 138- Show Notes and Links:

• Title Sponsor: Back on Track Products
• Hosts: Jamie Jennings and Glenn the Geek and produced by Jennifer H. (See host bios.)
• Photo: Jackie Baker and her horse Ace with Glenn the Geek.  Visit Jackie’s website Regarding Horses
• Segment:  Shawna Karrasch of On Target Training, visit Shawna Karrasch’s website.
• Segment: Weekly Horse Health Report with Christy West.  Today it’s all about condylar fractures.
• Today’s Daily Song: When I Get That Pony Rode by Templeton Thompson.  Buy her music at www.templetonthompson.com.

OK, so I’m definitely, for sure, really co-hosting the uber-popular horsey morning show. And you totally should listen live if you can. Or not – because I have some seriously big (as in accomplished) shoes to fill in Jamie Jennings. She’s smart, witty, and so on top of things.

The biggest thing I’ve got going for me? I can totally handle Glenn. I think if I just pretend that we’re hanging out in my living room with a few close friends and I have to keep him in line with Jenn’s help I’ll be good to go.

At any rate, it’s a huge honor to be asked to co-host and I’m very much looking forward to an exciting hour and a half starting the day out with a cup of coffee and Horses in the Morning. We’ll be chatting with Christy from The Horse on horse health stuff (I’m up for the challenge of grossing Glenn out. My stomach is iron when it comes to horse gore). And I’m pumped to talk with Shawna from On Target Training on ways to mix up our training to keep our horses thinking and on their toes. I’ve met Shawna in person and think she’s just the coolest. Besides the fact that she’s a horsey person, she used to be a trainer at Seaworld – my most favorite theme park in the whole world. Shamu was second only to my horse growing up.

So tune in to http://www.horsesinthemorning.com/player.htm or http://www.horsesinthemorning.mobi at 9am tomorrow!

Now that creator Glenn the Geek and HRN have become a staple of the online equestrian world, I am proud to admit that I was the very first guest ever on the Horse Radio Network on the very first show ever of the inaugural podcast The Stable Scoop! How cool is that?

It hadn’t occurred to me that I had a famous role in getting HRN started until I was in Lexington a year ago at an event with Glenn and he kept introducing me that way.

Of course, the real story is that they couldn’t get anybody else and I was a new blogger who didn’t know better than to feel completely honored that they wanted little old me to come on their podcast to talk about the 2008 Olympics. Glenn, Jennifer, my mom, and I were the very first listeners of HRN.

At any rate – saying yes to that first episode of the Stable Scoop was one of the best things I’ve ever done as that first interview has blossomed into a wonderful friendship with Glenn and Jennifer (and their cat Beast) over the years.

The beauty of that friendship is that I was in Lexington for the long weekend camped out on their couch with Beast, and as a result got an exclusive inside peek at the inner workings of recording Horses in the Morning live. Barring the moment where I caused a bunch of feedback by walking into Glenn’s office with my phone, it was a great experience.

There’s a lot more to Horses in the Morning than sitting down, flipping a switch, and talking with Glenn and Jamie. Here’s the behind the scenes look …

The Plan

The award-winning Horses in the Morning is live 5 days a week for an hour and a half each day – which is a whole lot of time to fill. Producer Jennifer (Glenn’s lovely, patient wife who is more than adept at handling his antics) spends most of her days in lining up and confirming at least 10 guests for each week (2 per show). Sometimes Glenn really puts her to work and gets as many as 10 guests in one day like they did yesterday with the winners of the ESMAs.

Some shows have themes based on current events or what’s hot, like Zenyatta Day after the Breeder’s Cup and Secretariat Day when the movie came out. Other times they just look for interesting horsey people with good stories to tell. Glenn also gets up ridiculously early in the morning to look over the news feeds to talk about the latest news each morning – horse related or not.

No matter who they bring on it’s all about entertaining first and educating second, HRNs motto. And they are always looking for fun equestrians to interview, so if you have suggestions be sure to stop by the HITM Facebook page and let them know.

The Tools

Glenn's office set up with three computers

HRN uses an online service called Blog Talk Radio, a dedicated phone line, a switch board, Skype, and a whole bunch of computers for running Horses in the Morning. Because the show records with a few second delay (not noticeable to remote listeners, but super annoying if you are in the same room), Glenn and Jennifer have separate rooms in which they work – and make co-host Jamie stay in Arizona.

Blog Talk Radio is what brings us listeners the live stream over the internet and on our phones (at horsesinthemorning.mobi). The phone line is what they use to talk to each other and to take callers. Jennifer mans the switchboard for calling guests and putting callers-in on the line. Glenn, Jamie, and Jennifer use Skype chat to talk to each other during the show off-air. The chat is a good feature for Jenn to tell the hosts when a guest is ready on the line,  and for Glenn and Jamie to coordinate who’s saying and asking what.

The Preparation

Pre-show Skype meeting - look, there's Jamie!

Every morning half an hour before the show, Glenn, Jamie, and Jennifer get on a Skype call to review what they’ve got planned for the show that day. They review the guests, the news items, and any other last minute details to make sure they’re on the same page.

Then about 10 minutes before the show they get on Blog Talk Radio, Skype, and all of the tools ready to record. That way they can also make sure all of the technology is up and running right when the show starts at 9am EST.

The Show

It's HITM live!

It’s 9am and they’re off! I never knew Glenn could multi-task so well. He’s playing the opening music, Skyping with Jamie, and monitoring the Facebook page.

Jennifer runs the switch board in her office

Jennifer is in her office running the switchboard, calling guests, cheerily greeting us callers-in, and keeping Glenn in line.

My living room office with Macbook and cell

I camped out in the living room with my laptop and called into the show on my cell phone. I watched the Facebook page, listened in, and jumped in occasionally to talk to Jamie about riding western in full English regalia.

Beast hard at work

My favorite Horses in the Morning member Beast is hard at work assisting Glenn in his office.

The Wrap-Up

When 10:30 am rolls around and the hard work is over, the HITM crew gets on a Skype meeting to review that morning’s show and to discuss what they need to do to prep for the following day.

Glenn immediately gets to work on creating the show notes to post on the website. Jennifer starts confirming the next day’s guests and contacting potential future guests. Jamie gets dressed and goes outside to teach riding lessons. Beast wakes up, blinks, and goes back to sleep.

Whew! I knew it wasn’t easy to run a daily, live show like Horses in the Morning. But there’s a lot more to it than I ever would have guess. Major props to Jennifer, Glenn, and Jamie for pulling it off seamlessly (most of the time) with such grace and hilarity. We love you guys!

If you don’t listen to Horses in the Morning … first of all, what’s wrong with you? Second of all, go listen to the recorded episodes of the show, follow HITM of Facebook, and set yourself a reminder to tune in tomorrow morning at 9am EST.

I work with a great group of guys (hi Ben, Rich, Scott, and Matt!). They are your typical manly men – all into cars and sports and lifting weights and guy stuff. Amazingly, they do listen patiently when they inquire about my weekend and get an earful about the snowy trail ride I went on on Saturday. (And only make fun of me for it occasionally). Sometimes, they even go out of their way to ask how my horse and I are doing.

It helps that I’m popular with their young daughters, who like to visit the office and look at pony pictures with me.

So ladies and you handful of horse-crazy gents, here’s a great video my co-worker Ben (not to be confused with my husband Ben) sent me this morning and I thought you could share with your guys who are more interested in horse-power than equines. It’s a funny take on cars and horses from the guys from the British Top Gear, which my co-workers insist is the best show on earth.

But really, it all started with picking up pizza on the way home from the barn last night …

Temperatures reached the upper 60s here in northeast Ohio yesterday, making it the perfect albeit it very muddy weather for a nice hack out to celebrate the warm breeze. With several inches of ice having melted on top of a thawing ground, I had to tromp through book-sucking mud to retrieve Ace from his paddock. By the end of my evening at the barn, I had somehow attracted bits of hay and dust to accompany the mud splashes up my boots.

It was pizza night with the hubby, which is conveniently on my way home from the barn. As I got out of my car, lingering barn scents wafting all around me, I realized that once again I was going out in public in what many could consider ridiculous attire.

And then I remembered this:

Boots and breeches are in!

And according to fashion icon Ralph Lauren, equestrian is always in.

Happy dance: I was totally in the clear!

Then I looked down and noticed that I was still wearing my three-quarter inch Prince of Wales spurs. And there were hay flecks stuck all over my fleece breeches. And my boots were solid mud up to my ankles. Those (and the eau d’Ace musk) were dead giveaways that I had just come from a barn and wasn’t just making a fashion-forward statement.

Thank goodness we have some horse-savvy AND fashion-savvy bloggers in Three Days Three Ways and Dappled Grey to help out the rest of us who can only recognize a good pair of jeans. I have been trying very hard to channel Courtney (3Days) in my recent shopping expeditions. I’ll be seeing her in a few weeks; I’ll dress my best and come back and let you know what she had to say on my style.

Here’s the sneak peak that popped up during Sunday’s game:

The thundering hoofs of the Clydesdales galloping across an arid plain, stagecoach, outlaw, and all makes me grin.

Our favorite crew of Clydesdales will be joined by actor Peter Storemare (most notable to me anyway for appearances on Prison Break and The Brothers Grimm). Here’s another sneak peak for the coming story …

These teasers have given me high hopes for this year’s Clydesdales Super Bowl ads.

Based on what you’ve seen in the teasers, what are your most creative guesses for the whole story line of the Wild West Clydesdales and their scruffy outlaw? Let’s write our own tale and see how close we can get!

And just for fun, here’s a short video about the making of this year’s commercials.

I hear from many viewers who tell me that I have a dream job. I travel the world riding horses with local people and filming it for the Emmy winning Equitrekking TV series, and when I’m at home, I write and produce TV shows about horses and travel, two of my passions. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it is a dream job!

Here are a few of my job’s perks, and some of the behind the scenes scenarios that occasionally make me rethink my career choice.

Perk: The Royal Treatment

Traveling to Jordan to interview Princess Alia at the Royal Stables was a once in a lifetime experience. We filmed an awesome insider’s tour to see some of Jordan’s top Arabians and got insight into the stables’ founding family and the breed from Her Royal Highness Princess Alia. The horses were beautiful. I heard stories that I’d never read about anywhere else and spent the day with great horse people. It gave me a new appreciation for the Middle East and the Arabian breed.

Downside: Language Barriers

While also in Jordan, I was able to participate in the Roman chariot experience in Jerash, a well-preserved Roman city in Northern Jordan. I’d drive a horse drawn chariot around the original hippodrome, reenacting the NASCAR of over 2000 years ago—Roman Chariot Races.

Now these chariots are pretty close to what the Romans used. They are accurate in their design. They are not like the sturdy movie chariots you may have seen in “Ben-Hur,” which were made more robust for the big screen. The chariot that I drove was wobbly with thin rails holding the sides together, so when those wooden wheels got rolling, pulled by two strong horses, I shook and flew.

I tried to explain to the local who was driving with me that I wanted to take it slow, but he didn’t understood my English. As we took our first turns around the arena, we were going really fast and had a close call. We almost tipped! I shifted my weight and asked him to slow down on the straight away, but being giddy and smiling, because it was fun, just made him want to go faster. I really thought that we might crash or turn over, as we leaned into a treacherous, sandy turn and continued faster. It is definitely one of the more harrowing experiences in the new season of Equitrekking and one that had me asking “where’s my stunt double!”

Perk: Feel Good Eco-friendly Travel

Deep in the jungle of Belize, I enjoyed total nature immersion, riding horses to off the beaten path waterfalls, eating by romantic kerosene lantern, and listening to the cacophony of jungle sounds. In Jordan, I was able to camp in the beautiful Dana Nature Reserve. We arrived at night, so it was too dark to see anything around us.

In the morning, I climbed out of my tent, totally surprised by the stunning view before me- a beautiful, colorful canyon and rolling mountains. I felt at peace with the world in our exotic setting and couldn’t wait to explore on horseback.

In Alberta, riding by horseback into Banff National Park, we were surrounded by tall, jagged, snow-capped mountains, verdant forests and calming mountain streams. We passed no other people and were able to trek much farther and faster than we would have on foot, giving me a new appreciation for mountain bred horses and the national park. Sleeping in campsites, where s’mores, a childhood favorite, were on the menu and piping hot cowboy coffee, I feel in love with pack trip adventures.

Downside: Spiders, Snakes and Scorpions- Oh My!

Deep in the jungle of Belize, dinner at our remote, eco-friendly lodge was interrupted by an emergency. A car screeched to a halt outside of the lodge and a man rushed out calling for a bush healer. Someone who believed they’d been bitten by a poisonous snake was writhing inside of the car. Because the hospital was so far away, the driver wasn’t sure that his companion would make it in time and even if he did, there might not be anti-venom in stock. They needed a bush doctor to take them into the dark jungle to find a root, which if you suck it, can slow the spread of poison.

Well, that wasn’t the most enticing first night at this eco-lodge. I closed my mosquito net tight over my bed and hoped for a snake free riding day tomorrow. I was apprehensive about our jungle trek, even though it wasn’t my first brush with snakes on the road. They’d been visible at Petra in Jordan and invisible in the dark Jordanian Bedouin camp, where my flashlight showed tracks in the sand, warning me to close myself inside my tent for the night. I’d had scorpions inhabit my shower in New Mexico, spiders in Uruguay, but knock on wood, our crew hasn’t been bitten. Maybe it’s the sound of the horse’s hooves on the ground that scares them away. I’d like to believe so!

When I first came up with this idea of riding around the world and filming it as a TV show, people seriously thought that I was crazy. It’s the kind of thing that folks would say, “you can’t make a living out of that.” With determination and creativity, I’ve turned it into a business and yes, a career.

While all of the above experiences don’t sound totally enticing, I wouldn’t trade these adventures for the world. My advice to anyone who has a passion that they’d like to pursue is to go for it. You only live once and life surely does fly by.

It the furry little legs. And the tiny ears. And the infant-sized jumps. And the 5 foot strides. Be still my heart. And don’t miss the little gray at the end who dumps her rider and keeps right on going happily along. Best ever.

I dare you to watch this video and disagree with me.

So the fact that there’s about to be an amazing morning show broadcasting live online that’s all about horses and horse people gets me more than a little excited.

And it really helps that it starts at 9am, which is exactly one half hour after I intend to get to work, and 15 minutes after I actually do. Just enough time to boot up the computer, make a cup of coffee, pull up my RSS feeds, and get settled in for the day.

Horses In The Morning is the latest creation of the infamous Horse Radio Network, purveyors of all things hilarious and horsey in weekly (and now daily) podcasts.

Fun fact of the day? I was the very first guest ever on the Horse Radio Network when Glenn interviewed me on episode 1 of The Stable Scoop during the 2008 Olympics. That also makes my mom and I the very first listeners ever.

Bragging rights aside, I’m more excited about Horses In the Morning than anything HRN has launched yet.

Jennifer, Glenn, and Jamie

Here’s how HRN describes the new show:

A light, lively, entertaining daily look at the horse world and the people in it.  Hosted by Jamie Jennings and Glenn the Geek and produced by Jennifer H. The show will include entertaining conversation, out of the ordinary guests, numerous regular horse related segments, listener call in, contests, giveaways and so much more.

You can listen to Horses In The Morning live right here on Regarding Horses. The button in the sidebar will open up the live show in a new window that can play in the background as you read RH, play on Facebook, or actually do some work. Or, if you can’t listen live, the shows will be available on demand on the HITM website as well as on iTunes and Zune. Fun fact number two of the day? I will be on HITM twice a month to talk about what’s hot in the equine blogosphere!

The Inside Scoop On Guests & Prizes

One of the benefits of being the first HRN guest ever is that I quickly became very good friends with Glenn. Which means that when, half way through writing this post, I decided I wanted the inside scoop on some of the guests and prizes for next week, I called Glenn up and got it! (Thanks Glenn!)

Week One Guests

Glenn, Jennifer, and Jamie have some really fun guests and segments planned for the kick-off week of Horses In The Morning. Tune in (again, that little button in the sidebar will launch the player) next week for:

Jessica Phoenix and Gina Miles on Monday. Jessica Phoenix was the eventing spotlight rider for the 2010 Radio Show and had one of the most memorable moments at WEG. I hope Glenn doesn’t razz you about it too much, Jessica. Way to stick a difficult landing.

Secretariat Day Tuesday. Tom Foley who played jockey Jimmy Gaffney will be on the show, HRN friend Michelle will be doing a movie review, and callers-in are welcome to ring up the show to share their thoughts on the movie and the Big Red horse.

Equitrekking’s Darley Newman and Clinician Richard Shrake on Wednesday.

Reese Koeffler-Stanfield and Fran Jurga on Thursday. I am most excited about Thursday, because as any long-time reader might remember, I love Reese! She’s bubbly, fun, and a great horsewoman. She’ll be doing a regular cooking segment on the show. Equine journalist Fran Jurga’s will be doing a regular horse almanac segment, sharing “this week in horse history” information.

Win Cool Prizes

I figured as an HRN affiliate and very-good-friend I may not be eligible to win any of the super cool prizes. But Glenn informed me that since I’m not in any way on the HITM payroll, I most certainly am!

Daily/Weekly Prizes For Kick-Off Week

I don’t know how the daily and weekly prizes will be determined, but I do know they have some cool stuff on the docket for this first week:

• various gift certificates
• etched wine glasses (donated by Kentucky Performance Products)
• Uncle Jimmy’s Hangin’ Balls (they’re horse treats)
• Custom stall signs
• and more!

Big November Prizes

Horses In The Morning has two amazing grand prize giveaways for the month of November: a $500 Equestrian Collections shopping spree and any Vespuci Bridle worth up to $500! All you have to do is call in to the show during the month of November to be entered into the grand prize drawing at the end of the month. My question for Glenn is, if I call in every day do I get extra entries?

So, that’s the inside scoop on kick-off week of the Horses In the Morning daily online radio show. Do you like getting the heads up on guests and prizes? If so, I can call and badger Glenn every Friday morning for the inside scoop on the coming week …

So besides the fact the Guy McLean was doing some pretty amazing tricks on horseback and with three other horses at liberty in a tiny round pen, and besides the fact that he was riding a super cute, agile, amazing Australian stock horse, he totally won me over when he recited this full poem (in that fantastic Aussie accent of course). It’s the supposedly true story of two Australian cowboys and their horses, with mentions of Snowy River, and a harrowing run down that ridge we all know and love. Give it a listen!