Savitsky and Ballou on rider fitness

As part of our Focus on Fitness, we spoke with accomplished riders and teachers, Christina Savitsky and Jec Aristotle Ballou. When not running a ranch and raising a family, Christina Savitsky is busy with Buckaroo Balance clients. Buckaroo Balance combines good riding with therapy, mindfulness, […]

Research enlightens your horse work

Knowing and controlling how your movements, behavior, and thoughts impact your equine partner is the absolute key to your good horsemanship. While BestHorsePractices is dedicated to reviewing equine science, some new human research is immensely relevant to our horsemanship. Let’s consider confidence, fear, power, and […]

The Death of “Natural Horsemanship”

Natural horsemanship is dead. Long live natural horsemanship. Natural horsemanship is a trending phrase that got attached to a style of work and a way of connecting with horses that Bill and Tom Dorrance offered up a few generations ago. It involved working with the […]

Four keys to higher learning

Amy Skinner is the horsewoman behind Essence Horsemanship in Boyne City, Michigan. Later this year, she will celebrate her 40th article as a guest columnist for NickerNews and BestHorsePractices. Kudos, Amy! You can meet her at next week’s Equine Affaire, where she will help staff […]

Fire and fast-moving horses

During one of the most devastating wild fire seasons on record, one of BestHorsePractices’ preferred horsemen, Martin Black, was immediately impacted by the country’s largest fire to date. Imagine a fire consuming a third of the state of Rhode Island. Or the entire city of […]

Ask the Expert: Lyman responds

Ask the Expert is all about listening to horse-related questions readers and helping them expand their learning with advice from our partners, professionals who share a like-mindedness with BestHorsePractices and its principles. Got a question? Contact us! For our first question below, we asked horsemen […]

Wise words from Wolter

Words of wisdom are funny things. They can make total sense or leave you scratching your head. How you absorb and apply them is equally variable. It depends on your attitude, perspective, and education. Those who worked with Bill and Tom Dorrance told me Bill […]

Introducing the ‘Not Too Old to Learn Challenge’!

We’ve been celebrating the NickerNews and BestHorsePractices community with guest columns and photo albums dedicated to our readers and their equines. Inspiring stuff. And as often happens in the dark, quiet months of winter, I got to thinking: Let’s do something with these inspirations. Let’s […]

Bryan Neubert on the mend

Bryan Neubert, one of the few people who worked with the men many consider to be the founders of natural horsemanship: Ray Hunt, Bill and Tom Dorrance, is coming to Maine later this year. Click here for events. To hear him tell it, Neubert just lucked […]

Life-long Learning, Part II

Read Part I I just finished reading The Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd. The story takes place in South Carolina nearly 200 years ago, when the acquisition of knowledge for women and slaves was risky business. Books and educational resources were coveted treasures […]