feeding


NOTE: This post has been updated since the original review! new comments in italics.) Tonka is stuck in his stall for the foreseeable future. He has a fractured phalanx (a bone deep inside of his hoof) and a bit of that bone is stuck to his collateral ligament. He hurts. […]

Haygain Forager Review


A horse drinks up to 10 gallons of water a day, so to make sure that Tonka is never thirsty, there are two buckets in his stall. Each morning, what wasn’t imbibed the previous day is dumped out, the buckets given a quick swish with a scrub brush, and fresh […]

Bucket Fuss


On Saturday I trailered Tonka to Turtle Hill. He’s been here enough to get comfortable with being near a body of water. In the past, riding near ponds and rivers put Tonka on high alert. No longer. Tonka is also at ease being on his own. So, we had a […]

Tonka the Explorer



It’s that time of year when up here in the north the grass is finally starting to show itself. Paddocks are greening up. What appears is usually sturdy grass and inedible weeds. And rocks and mud. This is New England. It’s not enough for a horse to live on. They’ll […]

Horse Sniff and Taste Walk


A horse’s health is intricately tied to what they eat and what they weigh. When Tonka moved barns at the end of May, his diet changed. Both stables provided the right amount of high-quality hay, but it was different. The first was mostly timothy, the other, grass. One supplier from […]

Horse Weight Tape


Tonka and I both like to get out of the ring, but biting flies and ticks have kept us out of the trails in the woods. We need mowed open fields. We’ve explored the ones at Kim’s house, and we needed a new experience. The only place that I could […]

Tonka Visits Turtle Hill



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


We teach our dogs to come. Even the little ones will rush towards you with a bit of training. (Scooter has a hard time putting on the brakes. He stopped just behind me.)   Like dogs, horses can be taught to come for treats. However, a horse is a grazer, […]

Come! From Turnout


When the Rio Olympics happened back in August of 2016, I read accounts about how much the Olympic horses loved bananas. I brought a banana to the barn. Offered a piece to Tonka. He said an emphatic NO. Actually he gave me an incredulous look. How could I put that […]

Bananas for Horses