Tag: horsetrailchicks

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 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…



Horses and Money, and More Money, and More Money…

There are two kinds of horse people: those who have a pretty good idea of how much money they spend on their horses, and those who have no idea (and probably don’t want to know). A few years ago I attended a seminar at my credit union about budgeting. They gave us a spreadsheet for…



Living the Dream: A Trail-Riding Nomad

Do you yearn to get a living quarters trailer, grab a friend, and spend months or years traveling all over creation with your horses riding the most beautiful trails you can find? I certainly do! Jess Isbrecht, 37, is living this dream with her partner, Byron. I caught up with her via Skype in their…



Trail Riding From Zero to Eighty

I cannot think of many other activities that involve people from every age group to the extent that horseback riding does. My trail riding companions typically range in age from teens to seventies. Some children start riding before they can walk and there are plenty of examples of people riding well into their 90s.  In…



Me upon my pony on my boat

Kerrie and I saw Lyle Lovett in concert last weekend with several other horse-friends and family. We all got very excited and sang along when he sang “If I Had a Boat.” If you are not familiar with this song, the chorus goes: And if I had a boat I’d go out on the ocean…



Are you SURE your saddle fits your horse?

Years ago, if you owned one saddle, chances are it would fit most of your horses, at least well enough. But this is no longer the case. What’s changed? For one thing, the variety of horse breeds that people commonly ride has changed. When I was growing up the most popular breeds were thoroughbreds, Arabians,…



Horse vs. Bicycle

“A bicycle is a better form of transportation than a horse,” my brother, Eric, declared over a lobster dinner one night.  It was the 1970s and I was about 11 or 12 years old, my brother 16 or 17. We and our siblings were living with our father on Cape Cod for the summer. “No,…



Cabin fever

When it’s snowing sideways in a 20 mph wind or sleeting here in Vermont I am not that inclined to head out from the barn on a trail ride. This time of year it’s dark by the time I get to the barn after work and – on weekends – between the weather, bad footing,…



The Power of the Mind

When I am mountain biking and come to a big obstacle or steep hill, if I say to myself “I can do it, I can do it” I will almost always make it through. If I allow even a glimmer of doubt to enter my mind, I will invariably fail. Such is the power of…