Monthly Archives: July 2019

In my last blog, I wrote about how I felt that something wasn’t quite right with Tonka. He wasn’t lame. He was still letting me on (when he’s really hurting, he doesn’t), and he was game to do what was asked. But something was amiss. Was it how I was […]

Self-doubt Leads To…

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We all do it. We question whether we’re doing right by our horses. We question whether we’re riding them in a way that’s fair to them. We worry that their lack of physical perfection is due to something we’ve done, or haven’t done. We agonize over any pain or momentary […]

Self-doubt and Second-guessing

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Between the stone wall and the marsh, there is a blueberry barren.   Wild lowbush blueberries grow there.   I’ve been picking them by hand, separating the ripe from the unripe. Bent over. Where there are ticks and deer flies.   By the time my small basket isn’t even half-filled, […]

Sharing The Blueberry Harvest

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Susannah called me in because she wanted to be able to tack up her mare, Fawn, without her horse showing signs of worry. The first thing that I do is watch the baseline behavior, and then tease apart the components. Here is how Fawn reacted when Susannah stepped towards her […]

Standing Still For Saddling

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Susannah has an OTTB mare named Fawn. Fawn raced, not brilliantly, then was purchased by a family inexperienced around horses. A few years later Fawn went to a similar home. Then Susannah bought her. After a few months of getting to know Fawn, Susannah was ready to get to work […]

Catching A Horse Is In the Details

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I was concerned about the twilight years for the Goat Boys. They’re not going to last forever, and one was sure to die before the other. What was going to happen to the remaining lone goat? I thought about adding to the herd before Pip and Caper were too old […]

The Plan Is Working!

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It’s a cliché to say that life is a complex, intertwined web, but when you live in a place that looks like this, the cliché comes fully to life.   I’m a human with dull senses. The spotting scope that we have in our window helps, but still. Although some […]

Seen and Unseen

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I had the BEST compliment the other day. I pulled into the line at a drive-thru coffee shop. There were pick-up trucks in front of me, and more behind. When I finally got to the cashier/barista, she smiled at me and said, You need to teach the guys how to […]

Horse Women and Their Trucks, Part II

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On Sunday, Tonka and I went to a dressage schooling show. There will be no photos of us with a ribbon. Our score was one of the lowest that we’ve ever gotten – a 61.25 % I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care. I like those blue ribbons. […]

When A Low Score Is A Win

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