Life with horses isn’t really a choice for most die-hard riders. Ask anyone and they’ll give you a list a mile long of injuries and challenges that should have kept them out of the saddle, but didn’t. I’ve often wondered …

I had an interesting conversation with one of my young riders’ parents the other day which sparked a somewhat philosophical evaluation. The philosophical discussion centred around the fundamental differences between the sport of horseback riding and other more widely understood …

For those of you who have been following along since I first put pen to paper you’ll know we are now entering into dangerous territory. Fall is approaching! Need I say more? For those of you who are joining me …

When I declared at the beginning of the summer, “I’ll be needing my weekends off”, I think I might have been misunderstood. Perhaps what I should have said was, “I’ll be needing every weekend off for the entire summer to …

“To school or not to school?” For those riders attending this past weekend’s show here at Edenview it was a question that was at the forefront of almost everyone’s mind. Why? Because the answer was an emphatic: “No! You do …

I don’t envy the parents of competitive riders! Looking around on show day reveals just how emotionally and physically demanding the sport of horseback riding can be. Show moms and dads have the arduous task of trying to help their …

If riding is the sport of kings then horse shows could be construed as their kingdom, and the show levels a class system designed to keep order within the kingdom. As riders work their way up or down the show …

Some weeks I feel like the woman in the classic poem There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. Owning and caring for a multitude of horses can be an exhausting, expensive process and that feeling becomes super …

I was caught off guard this week when I saw a picture of myself standing between two of my young clients. OMG I am SO tiny! I’ve been told this my entire life, but I’d never really and truly realized …

This week marked our first show of the season and despite Mother Nature’s best efforts to ruin the weekend with torrential rains on Saturday and temperatures in the single digits on Sunday, we managed to have a great weekend! Saturday’s …

Question: Am I the only one that’s being carried away by the vampire sized mosquitos that have somehow managed to overrun every square inch of the “great” outdoors this year?

By the “great outdoors” I am actually referring to the …

I always hesitate when it comes to discussing the dynamics of relationships, especially when it’s targeted at horse and rider combos. It’s a touchy subject fraught with controversy and, let’s face it, horse people are known to be an opinionated …

Exuberance is the buzz word that is often used in describing the first few outdoor rides each spring! Someone should come up with an appropriate phrase to adequately describe the physical/psychological change that occurs in almost every horse’s brain during …

Each year I’m charged with the nerve wracking job of choosing the ribbons that will serve to distinguish the Edenview show series from its competitions. These colourful strips of fabric are ruffled, glued, and pressed to within an inch of …

One of the interesting things about running an equestrian facility is the overwhelming diversity of happenings. Every day brings with it new and interesting challenges, but there is also a seasonal cycle of events that works to stretch the imagination …