Episode 5: Mental Health and Trail Riding Prep with Amy Skinner

Listen to Episode 5 Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover skills, strategies, tools, ideas, and insights for better connecting with their horses, with all horses and for getting work done. We […]

Horses, Dogs, Humans in Heat

It’s hot as heck! But we still want to get out there with our four-hooved and four-pawed compadres. You’ll find LOTS of advice from professionals and non-professionals on scores of sites, shows, podcasts, and social platforms. Here’s our take in a concise yet summary post. […]

Episode 1: Tying Trials and Confidence Building with Daniel Dauphin

Listen to Episode 1 Welcome to Season Four!! of Best Horse Practices with Jec Ballou. Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover ways, skills, strategies, tools, ideas for better connecting with their […]

Episode 28: Coaches’ Corner on Round Pens with Amy Skinner

Listen to Episode 28 This is Episode 28 of Season 3 and in it, Jec interviews Amy Skinner for another Coaches’ Corner. This interview concerns the use of round pens and I found it very insightful. Like many of you, I have used round pens […]

Episode 17: Coaches’ Corner on Lunging

Listen to Episode 17 This is Episode 17 of Season Three and it’s time for another Coaches’ Corner with Jec and Amy Skinner. They answer a listener question from Lisa, who asks about proper lunging practices. It’s a great back and forth, short and to […]

Episode 16: BHPS Discussion II

Listen to Episode 16. This is Episode 16 of Season Three. Another special episode! We offer this week another recorded Question and Answer session with presenters at the Best Horse Practices Summit, an annual conference I direct, with academic and arena presentations. In this session, […]

Ride with Heart. Take your Mind and Body with You.

Editor’s Note: Best Horse Practices Summit presenter Katrin Silva grew up riding dressage in Germany before moving to the United States at age 19 to learn to ride Western. She’s been riding both disciplines for the last 20 years and is a regular guest columnist […]

Episode 4: Anna Blake and Calming Signals

Listen to Episode 4 In this episode, Jec interviews Anna Blake, a Colorado horsewoman with a popular blog and several volumes of her life with horses, in prose and poetry. The two focus on calming signals. More on that in a sec, after I mention […]

On the Fence: Adult Learning

Listen to Episode 3 In this episode, we talk about adult learning. It’s a topic suggested by Natalie in Montana and we got help bouncing it around from Liz and Chris in California. Natalie is working on a ranch and taking riding lessons. She sees […]

Episode 30: Running, Riding, Core Fitness

Listen to Episode 30: Running, Riding, Core Fitness This episode is dedicated to a listener question from Julie in New Mexico. Her question has to do with cross training. A lot of us like to do other activities aside from riding – yoga, swimming, or, […]