I wrote a blog recently about some of the "rules" that horses teach us. These are meant to be funny, in a true way. I decided to update it with a new blog featuring more "rules" Taylor has taught me. I know every horse is different and may have their own "rules" you have to follow. I would love to hear yours so please post some in the comments section! :)

Rules Horses Teach Us (According to Taylor):

1. If you are my owner and bring me treats (as you should always do), they…

Thanks to Natalie Keller Reinert and her wonderful blog Retired Racehorse I stumbled upon these wonderful saddle pads!  You can proudly display your horse is an OTTB every time you ride!  I ordered the white one and can't wait to get it!  I am hoping that they do other colors and keep adding to the collection.  They also will donate $5 to an OTTB charity.  Be sure to check them out!…

I hope everyone had a wonderful and merry Christmas!  Taylor definitely was a good boy as Santa left him a stocking full of treats and not coal!  (I guess he forgave the couple of times he's tried to kick me recently-ha!).  I have spent a lot of time bonding with Taylor...a LOT.  Before I started his training, I spent my time grooming him and sitting with him.  I still love it when we have the chance to just hang out together.  With that said, he can read me.  Somehow he just knows when I…

I brought Taylor to his new home at the end of June.  I am boarding him at a stable that has rolling hills, a nearby lake, and a pasture in a valley.  It's a beautiful place! 

Let's just say Taylor was not impressed in the beginning.  In fact, he was mad at me.  This summer has been brutally hot, and Taylor is not one that really enjoys the heat.  He is the horse you will always find in the shade, if he can find a patch.  Unfortunately, his transition pen at his new home didn't have…

Taylor had been at Race Horse Reclaim Thoroughbred Rescue for a little over six months when I decided he was the one.  I had been volunteering for a few months so I was getting to know the horses and like any normal horse lover I loved them all.  However, my heart belonged to Taylor for he picked me as much as I picked him.  The first day I was there volunteering I was standing next to his pen watching…

There is nothing in this world like a horse excited to see you.

Nothing.

Those two ears pricked forward right at you.  A soft nicker of greeting.  A velvet muzzle thrust into your hands.  For me, these small actions just make my heart swell with joy and love.  I love to walk toward my OTTB (off-track Thoroughbred) and watch those ears prick forward and his head raise.  I'm sure he knows there will be a treat involved at some point but I'm going to say it's all…

This is a former post on my blog:  Hoofbeats Return

Sorry I have been bad about blogging recently, but I have had a lot going on.  The most important of which was my recent adoption of an exracehorse named Taylor.  Talk about falling in love!  It may really have been a classic example of love at first sight.  I volunteer at an exracehorse rescue…

We all make resolutions, and sadly, many of us will never realize these often lofty goals. And what do we do then? We wonder why. First, why did we make the resolution in the first place, and if we are the introspective type, what is it about us that prevented us from reaching our target. But to answer these questions, we’d probably have to have a window into our unconscious. And really, we may just not have the time or patience for psychoanalysis.…

I had fun riding this week.  I didn't think I'd get my lesson in on Mick on Wednesday because there was rain all around, and it started sprinkling when we tacked up, but then it stopped and did not start again until my lesson was over!  Then it poured.  And it was warm, 65 F at dawn, with a warm wind, and I ended up riding in my shirt sleeves, in December no less.  I don't ever remember riding in December and working up a sweat!

Mick went well, which was good since Debbie…

Do you have a mare that suffers from Jealous Mare Syndrome?  I have two.  I don't think this is a real syndrome, but check out my blog post about it :)

http://rideeverystride.blogspot.com/

This is how you can tell there is a tourist in the barn: they keep their eyes on the ground and there’s lots of erratic tiptoeing. Some even squeal at the sight of manure. I call it Fecalphobia- an irrational fear of digestive waste. Thankfully, humans are the only species prone to the disease. (Nincompoops.) Everybody else is fine about bowel relief.

People who live with horses don’t get emotional about poop. It’s such a normal part of the day-to-day…

I am determined to improve my riding in the arena, this winter, so I got out my old Mary Wanless book.  I am reviewing chapter by chapter.  I got to the chapter on breathing and bearing down—and I realized I wasn’t doing it right anymore.  Somewhere during trail riding and breaking in a new horse, I lost it.  I practiced all day at work to prepare for my rides.

I started out with Cruiser, my older horse that I am starting anew.  Guess what—he had his best day of the winter. …

Ranger Tests Us

It’s not often I mention that Ranger is having a problem, and that’s because he is a fairly consistent horse.  Every now and then, he throws in something to keep my sister, Ellen, on her toes.  Well, he did it, again.

One day, back in November, he acted very strange during tacking up.  We…

We've taken in 93 Minis and ponies to date, and this is the first time we've had to put one down.

Warning - GRAPHIC - footage of injuries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPsqsENOhqk

WHC offers seated sessions for riders. The side to side movement while riding causes the hips to rotate. This stimulates the fluid that flows up and down within the spinal column - from the base of the sacrum to the connection at the brain stem.  The nerves that are connected the length of the spine are stimulated as well, reaching out to all the limbs. This profoundly affects the connection between mind and body. It stimulates new thought processes, creating new neural pathways and…

A Small and Unexpected Miracle

Years ago, I’m not even sure when, I found a lump in Cruiser’s throatlatch area.  It didn’t seem to hurt him, so I waited until the next time the vet came out to ask her what it was.  She said it was a tumor on his thyroid, that there was nothing we could do about it and it wouldn’t do any harm.

 …

It has been a pretty good week.

Wednesday, for my lesson on Mick, I faced a super-saturated ring since we had 2 inches of rain earlier in the week.  I could not practice extending Mick's trot, if I had tried I would have torn up the ring and everybody would have been splattered with wet sand.  So it was mostly the walk with some sitting trot, nothing exciting at all.  During…

I stopped in to see Cooper first before heading out for my riding lesson. The cross ties were too high and short for him so I ground tied him to groom him a little. He was very good when I was there and as soon as I left the room and left him with my husband he started to walk away. My husband is too soft with Cooper and our dog LOL

The barn manager says that Cooper has such good ground manners, I was happy to hear that. One woman that was there says she thinks she sees Morgan in him.…

This was my last lesson at Five Star Ranch with Cooper. I have learned so much in the short time we have been riding together there. I will miss the lessons on him but it was getting too much driving there on a work night and putting gas in my truck.

I moved him to a new barn yesterday that is 15-20 minute drive from home. There are no trails but that is ok as I am not that interested anymore in doing that. I hope to be able to see him more often and not dread that long drive all the…