I’ve always thought that part of what makes riding bareback so much fun is the higher level of bonding it creates with your horse, and I was reminded of this yesterday.
It’s been cold, so I’ve been riding Marahute bareback for the added warmth.  (In reality, I’ve just been too lazy to drag my saddle and [...]

Posted in Riding and showing No Comments »

I’m still working on catching up on Practical Horseman reading, and the October 2007 issue ends with a hilarious glossary of judging acronyms. Kim Ablon Whitney explains that using shorthand is an essential skill for judges watching horses and their riders tackle the same course all day. She says…
“the trick is to come up [...]

Posted in Horsin' Around, Riding and showing 5 Comments »

The clinicians at Equine Affaire really can make or break the experience. People who are excellent riders, even good trainers, aren’t always the best teachers — at least in a public setting. The first year my mom and I went to Equine Affaire in Columbus, OH, the hunter/jumper clinics were taught by R. Scott Evans [...]

Posted in Riding and showing, Training 1 Comment »

One thing I’ve never been properly trained in is how to teach a headset for hunters and jumpers–that nice, round neck with head vertical to the ground that is so pretty (it’s not just pretty, though, it’s functional!). I know how to ask a horse for it who already knows how, but I’ve been [...]

Posted in Riding and showing, Training 2 Comments »

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 [...]

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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 Making a Difference, Riding and showing, Therapeutic Riding 2 Comments »