Monthly Archives: March 2021

A couple of new horses arrived at the barn and it was decided that it would be best if Tonka moved to a different stall so that a young filly could be stabled between two mature mares (and so that Tonka didn’t have to live between the girls!) Tonka was […]

Tonka Moves Stalls

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It’s now officially spring. But we horse people already knew that. The shedding!   Here in the north our horses’ manes are waxy with gunk, their bodies remain dusty and grimy no matter how much grooming we do, and their white hocks (for those of us “lucky” enough to have […]

Bathtime

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Steve often comes to my lessons to take photos or video. It’s great to have a record of our progress. But for someone like me who is self-critical and analyzes details, it can be hard to have concrete evidence of all of those things that I need to improve (those […]

What the Ears Say

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The only thing predictable about the weather in March in Maine is that it is unpredictable. Two days ago it was warm enough for Tonka to have his first naked roll of 2021.   A day later it’s 10 degrees F with wind gusts of 35 mph and the horses […]

Weather and Behavior

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Tonka had something sticky on his nose, so I used his favorite soft curry on it.   Seven years with Tonka, and I never knew that he liked this. Now he wants me to curry his nose everyday.   A relationship is never static if you pay attention to what […]

Something New: Nose Grooming

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To the uninitiated, a horse’s body language can seem inscrutable. A horse prefers to be subtle and nuanced in their conversation. A horse communicates what they’re thinking with a turn of the ear, a wrinkle that appears in the corner of the nose, a shift in weight. Unfortunately, when those […]

Horse Body Language 101: Relaxed

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After years of me writing about things, it’s time for Tonka to have his say. Here’s his point of view of last week’s lesson.         Show season starts soon. I’m sure that Tonka will have a lot to say about that!

Tonka’s POV

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