Episode 18: Fear to Joy, Advice for Newbies

Listen to Episode 18. We offer these shows for free. If you think they’re worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 18 of Season 3 and it’s an On the Fence segment in which Jec and I discuss a prompt from Art, […]

Backing up to move forward

Last fall, before making the move to Colorado, Jolene and I took several mammoth leaps backwards in our training progress. Read more about the debacle. Since then, we’ve gone back to the very basics: ground work, round pen work, roadside walks, jogs, and hikes on […]

For Lent, can you give up being human for a while?

Our piece on the Death of Natural Horsemanship was one of the most circulated pages ever for BestHorsePractices. It invigorated many lengthy online conversations on the state of today’s horsemanship, which brand of horsemanship is best, and what it all means. Absent in the conversation, […]

Learning to Connect!

Remember the teacher in Peanuts cartoons? She of the trombone voice? Wahwahwahwah. Her lectures left some sleepy and others bewildered. Consider the complexity of the teacher-student connection: the thought in the teacher’s brain, turned into words, then heard and interpreted by students. Is it any […]

Progress gets bloody & backwards

If progress is measured by two steps forward and one step back, then this summer would follow perfectly along that zigzagging course. Recently, Jolene and I have successfully partnered up several times a week to tackle our weak points: She’s more comfortable with having a […]

A “Big” Scare

Since Sackett’s death, I’ve been more wary of our horses’ wellness, especially when it comes to anything related to possible sand ingestion. Read about sand colic and other forms of colic. Over the last month or so, Jolene seemed to be getting bloated. She was […]

Ask the Expert Debuts

“Listening is the most powerful thing you can do.” It’s a valuable mantra, especially in horsemanship. Listening to horses. Listening to those with more experience. Listening to peer-reviewed research. And, for me, especially: Listening to readers. Our new column, Ask the Expert was prompted by […]

Expanding the Circle of Comfort

This month, Jolene has weathered many new experiences, but never without worry. That’s Jolene. Anything new (new helmet, new gear, new trail, new visitor) is cause for inspection and concern. I’ve become more patient with her than I typically am our other equines. I understand […]

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 […]