Monthly Archives: May 2019


This face mask makes me look like a court jester!   Much better.   In all seriousness, fly masks can be a life-changer for a horse. They keep the biting and annoying insects out of ears and eyes. For horses with white pigment around the eyes, they can literally save […]

Fashion Fail/ Fashion Forward


If I’m in the room with five people, and there’s one mosquito, I’ll be the one that gets bit. Some people are like that. We give off whatever it is that the biting insects use for navigation. Some horses are like that too. Tonka is one of them. He attracts […]

Itches and Scritches


This is the state of my current home office.   This is what my new office looks like. The movers come the day after tomorrow. We’re not exactly ready. But transitions are like that. Rarely perfectly smooth and according to plan. I’m working on transitions with Tonka, too. Stretch walk […]

Transitions



It’s drilled into us dressage riders to go forward. Sometimes, though, in order to get those big strides, we have to slow our horses down first because impulsion can’t come without balance. Tonka is a case in point. His front end and his hind end go at different speeds. Tonka […]

Slowing Down To Go Forward


This might look like a disobedient buck, but it’s not. When I watched the video frame-by-frame I could see that Tonka hopped behind for a stride. Like he had a glitch that needed adjustment.     This also might look like disobedience.  Dressage riders don’t like open mouths. It’s how […]

Vitamin E and Recovery


I have a barn hack for you today! Finding the right saddle for your horse can be a journey as challenging as finding the right horse in the first place. Tonka has very specific ideas about what he wants on his back. (I wrote about that here.) Now that we […]

Stirrup Bags Barn Hack



Here in New England, it’s the beginning of horse show season. There are tune-up schooling shows to go to, and we dressage riders are mapping out which USDF recognized shows to enter later this summer. I like showing, and Tonka seems to, too.   We’ve certainly done well since entering […]

“Success” With Your Horse