Terry Golson

Steve and I live on a hill facing a beaver marsh in southern Maine.   You expect to see a lot of wildlife, and we have. Eagles, harriers, hares, coyotes, muskrats, beavers, ravens. Dragonflies, hummingbirds, beetles and bees of all sorts, mosquitos. We named our eleven acres Turtle Hill because […]

Blanding’s Turtle Sighting!

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Tonka and I have a lot of fun jumping, but it’s not simply pointing him at a jump and flying over it – although he would do that! There’s a lot of technique to learn and implement. As I wrote about previously, jumping happens at the canter, and when we […]

Progress on Changes Over Fences

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I know that this is my second blogpost in a row about the fall colors here, but that’s where the drama is! Some years the colors tend to brown, or a storm knocks off the leaves before their time. For trees to achieve optimum color the weather has to be […]

Peak Foliage From Horseback

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When you think about autumn in New England, you think about fall foliage. The maples are the first to turn orange. Two weeks ago this branch was the harbinger of things to come.   Now whole trees are in glowing in yellows and reds. Here in Maine pine trees frame […]

Changing Colors

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Today I shared an apple with Tonka.   After Tonka finished chewing and swallowing, he continued to lip smack and savor the moment.   Then Tonka licked my breeches. He wasn’t nudging me for more. He was being affectionate and thanking me.   Yes, I believe that sometimes animals are […]

Animals Say Thank You

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Thinking that I’d put my white breeches away for good, I bought Tonka to be my trail horse. But it turned out that I missed the training and fine-tuned connection that I got through dressage. I knew that Tonka would benefit from the communication that we’d find through the training. […]

Training Hurdles From Dressage to Jumping

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Turtle Hill is home to a porcupine that I have named Po. Most of the animals that we share this property with are only glancingly visible, but this summer Po chose to spend much of her time near the house. She enjoyed grazing on clover in the backyard and didn’t […]

Cleaning Up After Po

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As I wrote about last time, heading away from home, especially without other horses for company, can be stressful for horses. Today dawned cloudy and still. It’s always less scary when the wind isn’t blowing things about. This would be a good opportunity to get Tonka off property, without Steve […]

Weather Prediction

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