If helmets are no brainers, why don’t we all wear them?

Culture and vanity vie against common sense and science in plenty of our personal decisions. Take tanning: This year, the World Health Organization added tanning booths to the list of the most dangerous forms of cancer-causing radiation. People get skin cancer and die from frequenting […]

Welcome Lucerne Farms!

We’re excited to welcome Lucerne Farms to our growing family of advertisers. The Maine company, based in Easton and Fort Fairfield, fits our values and mindset to a T: a small company with a high quality product that’s great for owners and their equines. It’s […]

He knew Nature is Best

Tom Smith knew what happened off the track was crucial to victories on the track. Diet and horse keeping practices were key to the champion he developed out of the fussy, difficult Seabiscuit. Read about Seabiscuit: An American Legend and other favorite horse books. Nervous […]

Considering Mustangs and Impact of the Horse

The wild horses and burros of the American West are a source of great contention that stretches far beyond their herd territories. The ranchers want them gone. The activists want them to run free. The Bureau of Land Management is caught in the middle and […]

Survey says…”Yes!”

A BIG thanks to all those completing our recent NickerNews & BestHorsePractices survey. We received excellent participation and input. Here are some tidbits: Who reads our newsletters and visits our sites? — Most have been reading the newsletter for 2-4 years. — Most are women, […]

Lessons in Listening

“Listen to your horse.” “Trust your horse.” They sound earnest and profound, but what do those statements really mean? And how can you listen to your horse and still be the Lead Horse? (Trainers tell you that, too.) Finding the intersection between telling and listening, […]

Exploring Evidence-Based Horsemanship DVD is here

Over the course of several months, Dr. Steve Peters and Martin Black worked with Emily Kitching, president of Eclectic Horseman Communications, to develop an insightful debut DVD. The new release serves as a welcome compliment to the book, Evidence-Based Horsemanship, which was published two years […]

Masterful videos by Masterson

For more than a decade, Jim Masterson has been doing good works for horses in the way of massage, tension release, and interactive body work. He’s traveled with the US Endurance team to Malaysia, Germany, and Chile and treated the team’s equine athletes. He’s presented […]

Equine Dentistry, a quick tale and a big man

I visited with Steve Akeley the other day. He’s is a talented horseman as well as one of Maine’s most popular equine dentists. Steve floated my horses’ teeth for years. Always thorough. Always professional. Always willing to take the extra time horses often need during […]

Jim Thomas understands horses AND people

Many years ago, Jim Thomas had a moment. He was trailer loading a young horse, a Christmas gift for his daughter, Emily. He tried every trick in the book to get this six-month filly loaded: “The more we pushed, the more she resisted,” recalled Thomas. […]