trail riding

Do you recognize your horse’s happy face? A horse’s expression can be hard to read. We humans are clued into smiles. That’s why we like dolphins so much – even though they’re not actually grinning. It’s why it’s common to think that birds don’t have emotions – because their beaks […]

Your Horse’s Happy Face

by
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

by
Tonka has never been thrilled about walking through water. He doesn’t like mud that sucks at his hooves or slippery rocks. On the other hand, Tonka enjoys getting out on the trail and exploring new places. To do that, sometimes you have to get your hooves wet. Yesterday I rode […]

Training Water Crossings on the Trail

by
On Wednesday Tonka and I had our first outing of 2020! As much as life is good at Greystone, we like to have adventures outside of the ring. What with winter, and then the virus shutdown, we hadn’t been off property since last fall. We were ready for a road […]

Our First Outing of 2020

by
By the time I’m back in the saddle, Tonka will have been sitting idly for 5 ½ weeks. I’ve been looking into the best way to return him to work. How much condition does a horse lose in just over a month of standing around? What’s safe to do and what […]

Bringing My Horse Back Into Work

by
I hiked 4.5 miles today. I saw ATV and mountain bike tracks. One human footprint. Heard one pileated woodpecker. Other than that, I had the woods to myself. I’m on a mission to find good trails to ride Tonka on. I’m also on a mission to get to know those […]

Finding My Way

by
It’s been two weeks since my boarding barn closed to all but essential workers. It seems like longer. I know I’m in a fortunate position. Financially I’ll be able to weather this downtime. I can afford my horse. I can afford to pay Steph (my jump trainer and one of […]

Riding Trails Found

by
Yesterday afternoon I hiked more than four miles. I was scouting out trails to take Tonka on. I was familiar with the trails where I used to live, about 70 miles southwest of here. They were mostly on public conservation land, and were marked. If I did get lost it […]

New Trails

by
The nature of science is that we build on what we know. Sometimes we have to discard ideas when more solid information comes along. Sometimes what has been researched is very, very complex, but the popular press gets hold of it, someone writes a best-selling book inflating it into a […]

Your Horse’s Brain (A Myth Debunked)

by