Category: Advice

The Magic of Trail Riding Under a Full Moon

Riding out in nature under a full moon can be a wondrous experience. It’s quiet, your senses are heightened, and you become fully immersed in the stillness of your environment. Horses have much better night vision than humans and if you can’t see the trail, you just have to loosen the reins, put your full…



DIY Bit Warmer

If you live in the frozen North, like I do, you either: (1) go south for the winter (or north for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere), (2) don’t ride in winter, (3) embrace the beauty of a new snowfall or the glistening of ice on trees, and ride out in almost any weather, or…



Can We All Just Get Along?

Just like humans, every horse has a unique personality and they express themselves differently around different horses. When my (Monica’s) horse, Tupelo, rides out with his 23-year old buddy Ritz, he acts like he is dying if I ask him to canter for more than 15 seconds. On the other hand, when we ride out…



Trailer Loading for the Nervous Horse

Loading a horse that does not want to get on the trailer can be extremely frustrating. You are really excited about going on a trail ride, perhaps you are meeting others and have gotten a late start, and then your horse doesn’t want to load. Erghhh! And of course, when we get tense, it only…



Beg, borrow, or steal ~ getting yourself a ride: The pros and cons of borrowing, leasing, and owning

I’ve ridden off and on all my life and before I bought my first horse 6 years ago, I managed to find horses to trail ride in a variety of ways. While I strongly recommend against stealing horses, I admit that I did steal a ride once when I was about 9 years old. My…



DIY Ear Muffs for Winter Riding

If you live in a cold climate, you know how difficult it can be to keep your ears warm when riding in the winter. While you might be able to fit a hat or headband under your helmet, they interfere with the fit, diminishing the helmet’s ability to protect you in a fall. Some experts…



The Myth of the “Bomb-Proof” Horse

I have a great trail horse. He’s part Dales – a breed known for it’s courage, and part Shire – giving him a calm disposition. And part Paint, making him gorgeous, but I digress…. People like to call him “bomb-proof” but in fact he is not, and I am glad of it. A bomb-proof horse…



Cold Weather Riding – Enjoy the Ride and Don’t Freeze!

I live in Vermont. For most of the year, I love the climate. The summers are beautiful and the fall is my favorite time to ride. However, the full winter months can be… a bit rough. This morning when I woke up, it was -7 degrees F. It’s now a balmy 3 degrees F! I…



Trailering, from Your Horse’s Perspective

Do you have any idea what your horse experiences in the trailer? Most of us load our horses, drive to our destination, and, as long as we don’t hear kicking and our horse is in one piece at the end, we figure they are just fine. That’s how I always felt. The only signs that…



After the Storm – Reconditioning Your Trail Horse

The world is a different place than it was a few months ago when I was thinking about traveling, camping trips with the horses, and getting ready for a fun season of trail riding. Like many, my barn has been closed to boarders and I haven’t been able to see him in weeks. I miss…