Mustang update and links

A lot has happened in the days since the Advisory Board to the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro program dropped the nuclear option and recommended the potential euthanasia of tens of thousands of animals in holding facilities. Read our op-ed here. There was a collective […]

The Mustang Emergency and how we got here

Friday, the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, a group charged with making recommendations to the Bureau of Land Management regarding its Wild Horse and Burro program, agreed to potentially euthanize tens of thousands of equines in holding facilities. Their recommendation undoubtedly hit horse lovers […]

Open Letter to Mountain Bikers

The recent opinion piece in High Country News sparked a viral amount of dialogue on that magazine’s site and on other platforms that picked up the piece, like Adventure Journal. It begged a follow-up on improving understanding for all who use multi-use trails. Believe it […]

The Case for Cowboys

Not everyone thinks cowboys are the pillars of good horsemanship. In some quarters, they have a historical reputation of neglectful, even abusive handling and care. But as an observer of several years, I can testify to the contrary. Indeed, on average, I’ve seen better care […]

To Master Horsemanship, Stay in the Flow

Thanks to Shelley Appleton for this guest blog post. Appleton is a lecturer at the School of Pharmacy at Curtin University in Bentley, Australia, a dressage rider, and horse training coach. Read her article on Emotion and Intellect in horsemanship. Read her article on successful […]

Horses and riders struggle for OR respect

The cover of a recent outdoor gear catalog showed two men riding horses. Marvelous, I said to myself. An outdoor recreation company acknowledges horse riders! Alas, the story inside made no mention of riding. We assume the pretty steeds delivered the men to a remote […]

Tackling Fear and Confidence Issues

We had a lovely note from a NickerNews & BestHorsePractices reader who struggles with confidence and fear issues: She writes: Last November, you wrote about moving as being like riding and you raised the issue of fear and extending oneself. I have a great, kind, […]

Three things to know when trailering

I was hauling horses from Utah to Colorado earlier this month. Just south of Moab, Utah, with temperatures in the 90’s, two horses in the trailer, and three dogs in the truck cab, I got a flat. After 30 sweaty minutes, I was back on […]

The Clinton Anderson Kerfuffle

There’s a big hullaballoo over some recent Clinton Anderson comments on a promotional training video. In social media comments and in several online blogs, both his horsemanship and his recorded comments are called to task. We agree with some commenters’ issues, like the concerns over […]

Straight Dope on Dopamine

Working with neuropsychologist Dr. Steve Peters, I’ve become more familiar with how brain chemicals represent themselves physically and behaviorally. These chemicals are present in horse brains, human brains, and are often referred to as neurotransmitters or neurochemicals. The expression of the neurochemical, dopamine, is one […]