Is keeping the horse you love a struggle?
Horses aren’t just recreational vehicles to be sold off as commodities when times are tough. They’re pets and partners representing ‘me time,’ emotional bonds, spiritual enrichment, psychological stabilizers and confidants. Before you decide you can’t afford a horse anymore, consider the real costs – and try to get creative about how you may be able to hold on.
Top 25 horse blogs 2012 – Horse Sense and Cents recognized
Some exciting news for us – and hopefully for the readers of this blog. Recently we were named one of the top horse blogs with 25 others in the nation by Bel Rea. You can see the top 25 list here (we’re in some pretty good company). Just figured I’d share the news. I’ll probably […]
Positive reinforcement can encourage the wrong things
Horses are being discarded these days in growing numbers. It’s sad. Many novices take on a project they’re ill-equipped to handle. Most are good-hearted and well-intentioned, but lack the ability to understand how their actions are shaping horse behavior.
Customize young horse training for better results
If you keep doing the same thing and your horse doesn’t get it, is he dumb or are you?
Horse temperament trumps just about everything else
There are so many great horses out there with the temperament, attitude and experience ready to make your riding or pet time awesome from the start. That giddy initial response at finding a free horse or rescuing one no one else wants can quickly turn to regret as you start factoring the years, headaches, heartaches and money on that ‘what if’ that doesn’t come around.
Gatsby spent one life too many
He knew exactly what to do to bolster a young horse’s confidence, was artful at patiently desensitizing for career demands and quick to take the lead when a tentative mount needed to be encouraged over or past something scary. He had an incredibly calming effect on any horse not only during training time, but also during vet emergencies.
Horse leadership doesn’t work well when you demand respect
Yes, horses are naturally flight animals (although our eight-year-old Thoroughbred farmhand Cowboy would beg to differ on this point), but there’s nothing natural about riding and the way horses are introduced to this activity – or treated as seasoned mounts – will affect how they handle each new request.
Why are the horses we remember most fondly so devilish?
There’s something about that delightful moment when a horse transforms from a confused, dangerous or resistant combatant into a grateful peer. That awakening when he decides you’re a friend to be trusted, appreciated and part of a team is incredible.
Fun solving a horse challenge – Linda Hauck created world-wide demand doing it
In just months after final design, Linda secured a distributor with a long history and huge reach in Europe. Six months after that, she was signed on the spot with an Australian distributor with 40 stores. Today, she travels the world, picking up distributors and fans in new countries every month.
Denny Emerson shares horse career start and fun
Victor Dakin was the horse that allowed me to be on the team that won the gold medal in Burghley in ’74. I think that a horse like that changes your life, in the sense that it opens huge doors. Before I was on a gold medal team, and after I was on a gold medal team, it was like two different opportunities to be involved in the horse business.