Tell Us Your Ah-Helmet Moment

Tell us about your ah-helmet moment! Great news, readers! We’re teaming up with another top-notch company to bring you a series of spectacular giveaways. We’re kicking off a six-month giveaway series with Troxel this week with the hope that our readers will keep their noggins […]

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 […]

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 […]

Alberta conference low on bling, high on benefits

Of all the expositions and conferences out there, the Alberta Horse Owners and Breeders Conference stands hands above all. It’s a serious affair, run by the Horse Industry Association of Alberta to strengthen their community “through advocacy, education and research,” according to its mission. The […]

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, […]

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 […]

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. […]

To Stall or Not to Stall

The evidence connecting stables to stress is solid. Popular consensus, backed by this research and good ol’ common sense, is starting to lean towards a less-managed lifestyle, too. But there are still plenty of naysayers and traditionalists, especially in the helicopter-parenting world of high-end equines. […]

HF Bar Ranch, a perfect place for study

Fred Holcomb couldn’t have picked a better place to conduct his research on equine learning. He spent the summer at HF Bar Ranch in northern Wyoming where, as a wrangler, he had access to some 200 horses for his trials. Read more about his research […]