Have you ever met someone in their 70s for the first time and your immediate reaction was what a lovely man? Conversely, have you had someone walk your way and your gut reaction was to not make eye contact for fear a having to speak to them, sure that their […]

Horses Show Stress In Their Faces

For the first two years here at Turtle Hill we had a resident porcupine named Po. Last year she spent a lot of time in the oak trees in the field. Just look at that adorable wide smushy nose!   Last summer she brought her porcupette into the oaks. We […]

Clover Sports A Mohawk

Tonka and I had a jump lesson on Wednesday. He knew what was about to happen and enthusiastically warmed up, but that was interrupted when he coughed a couple of times. Horses, like us, cough to clear our throats. It can be jarring when you’re on top of a horse […]

Tonka Had a Cough

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

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

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

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

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