Blog

Whit Hibbard: Low Stress Livestock Clinic

Whit Hibbard, a fourth generation Montana rancher and protégé of the legendary Bud Williams, will conduct a one-day, intensive workshop on Low Stress Stockmanship. The day-long class will be held May 16 at the Dolores Public Library and is hosted by Tim McGaffic and Ginny […]

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First Aid Essentials: Skills and Stuff

It helps if the horse is haltered. That’s what I was thinking when driving along a Maine state highway years ago. Two big Belgians had just dashed across the road. Partners in crime, you could say. They trotted through one yard and began helping themselves […]

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First Response Tips

Years ago, I shared Canadian trainer, Lauren Fraser’s, equine field emergency to Cayuse Communications readers. It provided such fun and valuable information that it ended up in my book, A Rider’s Reader.  Aside from a fully stocked first aid kit, she reminded readers facing an […]

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Learning Schools and How to Avoid Tribalism

Cayuse Communications has published many articles on horses’ learning processes. We’ve featured pieces on optimal learning and long-term potentiation, the role of attention, dopamine/reward cycles, and negative reinforcement. Our article on the cons of clicker training drew a lot of attention from the training method’s fans and detractors […]

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To Catch A Horse

Editor’s Note: Amy Skinner is a regular guest columnist and has been a horse gal since age six. She presented with fellow trainer and rider, Katrin Silva, at the Best Horse Practices Summit. She rides and teaches dressage and Western. Skinner has studied at the […]

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WiseAssWallace on Colt-Starting Competitions

Editor’s Note: WiseAssWallace is a beloved guest columnist for Cayuse Communications. From his Colorado pasture, he’s on a quest to improve horse-human connections and make lives better for his fellow equines.  In this latest installment, WAW weighs in on colt-starting competitions. Read more from WiseAssWallace […]

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Sun, Snow, Snoozing

I have a pet theory on snow-and-sun-induced snoozing: During a winter storm, horses get a bit stressed. It’s windy. Visibility is poor. Conditions are in flux. Afterwards, the sun comes out and everything is quiet, peaceful, and bright. The sun warms horses’ coats. The birds […]

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Cribbing: What’s Good to Know

What is a smile or a handshake? The answer is like a Matryoshka doll with another doll inside it and then another doll inside that one. Sure, they’re gestures of welcome. But neurologically speaking, they are the manifestations of a bundle of voluntary and involuntary […]

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Katrin Silva: Friend or Means to an End?

Editor’s Note: 2018 Best Horse Practices Summit presenter Katrin Silva grew up riding dressage in Germany before moving to the United States at age 19 to learn to ride Western. She’s been riding both disciplines for the last twenty years and is a regular guest columnist […]

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Will Evidence-Based go the way of Natural Horsemanship?

When does a term outlive its usefulness? Decades ago, “natural horsemanship” started out as a term to describe what was, for the most part, a more gentle, thoughtful, from-the-horse’s-perspective type of work. The phrase was used prominently by Pat Parelli and it soon became shorthand […]

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