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Noodle Obstacle

Here are photos taken by Ron with his phone/camera. This is the first time Spring Song saw the noodle obstacle. Ron and Bill walked through it and I rode through it. I did not lead her through it first. What …

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Next Challenge: Finding a Saddle to Fit It’s-All-Good

Sports psychology fascinates me, and often inspires a new line of approach on how to think about a horse, a situation, a competition ride. Proponent of positive thinking, Martin Seligmann’s definition of ‘being-in-the-zone’ has proven accurate beyond measure, and recently …

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Saving Belle and Sundance

The story of the Belle and Sundance rescue was going around Canada and around the world at warp speed. Read about their story here.
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Attack of the Invisible Bugs

It seems now that we’re out of the arena and away from the invisible monsters that live there, Luc has uncovered another invisible threat – bugs. The trouble with this new form of invisible attacker is that it isn’t always …

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Acclimatization

So, we did end up going for our first ride. Jean-Pierre took me to his son’s place, who marked trails on a map for me. I am not allowed to ride on the 20km long beach near Arromanches until after …

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The New Three R’s for Pastures: Rest, Rotate, Repeat!

Grass is one of the cheapest foods available. Are you taking proper advantage of it for your land and animals? Using a pasture management system is essential for a renewable future.

Rotational grazing has become very common over the past …

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What Clicker-Trained Horses Learn in Kindergarten

In 1988 Robert Fulghum wrote his book: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. So what do our clicker-trained horses learn in Kindergarten? Lots of fun things! Check out this video for some great examples.

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It’s-all-Good Gets an Adjustment

Challenges everywhere right now – not ‘just’ the North American Horsewoman’s Challenge. That’s an understatement, but let’s keep to the youngster right now, and he’s throwing ‘em up everywhere – my brain cells are tired!

When he arrived back at …

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Spring Song’s Intro to Loading

Spring Song had two practice sessions with Dominique’s small two-horse trailer in preparation for the trip to Orangeville Sunday July 27, 2014 where there was a show. The goal was to place her in a stall and let her absorb …

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So Many Firsts

We are experiencing firsts for everything lately that are piling one into another now: first time the colt’s worked out with other humans, first time he’s been pastured with other horses since arriving, first time he’s worked ‘flagged’ in the …

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Stand Up for Spring Song

Here’s Spring Song with Sue Parker and me at the three month and 9 day mark in our 2014 American Horsewoman Challenge journey. A magazine based in Western Canada asked for a progress report from the three Canadian women in …

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Of Body Language and Blankets

A young American has been staying with me these last 10 days, on an impromptu kind of intensive crash course (with no crashes, mind!) in learning horse body language, then adapting long lining for horse therapeutic purposes. She will put …

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Hot, Hot, Hot!

This week was a scorcher. It was hot, humid and incredibly sticky. Thinking I was smart enough to beat the heat, I headed to the barn early this week, but the sun still made it there before me. Even before …