Lean, Steady, Agile is what your horse wants of you

What?? You failed to read the “Method for estimating maximum permissible load weight for Japanese native horses using accelerometer-based gait analysis” abstract on the National Center for Biotechnology Information website?? (It’s on our NickerNews Links page) You’re forgiven. In fact, one of the BestHorsePractices goals […]

Equine Grief

Barbara King is a member of a small group of articulate scientists discussing and contributing exciting research on non-human emotions. It’s a fascinating field and one that has, over the generations, weathered challenges of anthropomorphizing and, on the other end of the spectrum, outright dismissal. […]

Weighty Matters

Together with the horse, we’re Olympians. Together, we’re scholarship athletes. We’re a legendary duo, crossing continents, scaling mountains, swimming rivers, and outsprinting nearly every other species on the planet. But somewhere along the line it became OK to partner-up with our horses as overweight, out-of-shape […]

Nature is Best Balm

It’s one thing most of us riders have with us all the time. We’re as likely to have it as a cell phone, money, or pocket knife. Lip balm. You know I’m not into product pushing. But I started thinking about lip […]

Jeff Griffith’s Doughnut

For some time, folks have been telling me to check out horseman Jeff Griffith. I did and loved what I saw and heard. Griffith worked alongside Buck Brannaman for years, managed the La Cense Horsemanship program in western Montana, and developed an instructional DVD series […]

One woman’s journey to ‘Feel’

Jackie St. Thomas was one of several riders to work with Leslie Desmond at a recent clinic in Marion, Massachusetts. St. Thomas initially discovered Desmond years ago through “True Horsemanship Through Feel,” the book Desmond co-wrote with Bill Dorrance. Then she signed up for a […]

Don’t toss it!

Toss the milk but not the cereal. That’s what I’d do if both had passed their expiration dates. Turns out we can be equally as selective when it comes to horse medications, too. Dr. David Ramey weighed in with this article. Both he and Dr. […]

The Horse World’s well-meaning “Ivory Towers”

The term “Ivory Towers” refers to a place of secluded learning where practical matters are treated with elitist detachment. It’s another way of saying that researchers, with all their formulas and figurin’, are out of touch with reality. But we’re noticing a welcome trend lately […]

Snow, Sun, and 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. But afterwards, the sun comes out and everything is quiet, peaceful, and bright. The sun warms horses’ coats. The […]

Instinct Uncorked

Working with animals is like opening a bottle of champagne. Think of the bubbles as instinct. Sending the cork into the ceiling is not preferable. Keeping the fizz intact is what makes the champagne taste best. It makes a lot less of a mess, too. […]