One Chill Horse

A conversation recently got me thinking about empathy and horses. Horses make huge allowances for our personalities and we only do a mediocre job of reciprocating. Horses simply are better 'people' than we are. Horses don't expect us to know their language, yet they strive constantly to learn ours. They c ould rebel and run from us any time we are harsh to them but they don't, they patiently wait to see how we can both get to the next part of the conversation. We don't give them nearly enough credit for what they tolerate for our benefit. Empathy by definition is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another being. I feel like horses do this innately and constantly. They put their own insecurities aside to sooth us when we are alarmed, or sick, or hurt, or sad - you only have to spend time with them to see it happen. Watch the feisty horse that calms down for the crying kid, or the spirited mare that is gentle as a lamb for the new rider...

Buying for someone who only ever wants buckets, brushes and grain can be very rough, but here are some fun ideas to check out!! 1. Personalized bracelet (or anything) with their horse's name on it https://www.statelinetack.com/item/padded-leather-id-bracelet/E020684/ 2. New halter and lead rope (everyone likes matching sets and personalized is also always fun!) Weaver and Kensington are both brand that have lots of great color options  SateLine Tack has some great personalized options Examples: https://www.amazon.com/Weaver-Leather-Original-Adjustable-Halter/dp/B004GDDI24/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=weaver+halter&qid=1574358560&sr=8-2 https://www.amazon.com/Kensington-Breakaway-Halter-Padded-X-Large/dp/B0072FJEM6/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=kensington+halter&qid=1574358669&sr=8-7 https://www.statelinetack.com/item/triple-e-personalized-breakaway-nylon-halter/E001142/ 3. Gift cards to favorite tack shops/feed shops/online sho...

Ok the title might be a little dramatic, but seriously I have crammed way more knowledge into my tiny brain over the last few weeks than I ever planned! Saddle pads are complicated business! And I was just focused on Western ones!! Sorry, English riders, I got zilch info for you this time. As is the general standard I try to write by, I am going to keep this simple. Here we go!! Saddle pads are obviously a crucial part of tack, for those that don't know the pad is what goes under the saddle. Seems just like a big squishy square you just throw up there, so shouldn't matter much what you use, right? Nope! Sorry :) Now as with all things horse, it's all about what works for you and if you are ok with just any old pad, then sure, grab and go. However, if you're curious as to how they are meant to function and what technical aspects make one better than another, then let's dig in! When choosing a pad you need to consider: 1. Length/Width 2. Thickness 3. Shape ...

Understanding the horse person can be very challenging. We do lots of weird things. 1. We hug our horses, for no apparent reason 2. We drive half an hour in the rain, sloshing in the mud to just stand next to our horse while they eat grain 3. We get up super early on our day off to spend 4 hours at the barn, to ride for 45 minutes 4. We will stay in the saddle long past the point of having any feeling in our toes 5. We will willing stain/rip/destroy any piece of clothing as long as it meant we got to spend time with our horse 6. We will gladly spend all our holiday money on grain and supplements 7. Our wishlists are full of tack we probably don't need, but we sure do want to try out 8. Our goals and resolutions are full of horse things like get the left lead learn to smoothly change directions on the lunge line figure out how to wear stirrups without tripping master the no stirrup post 9. We text our stable friends just to say we saw thei...

So there are simply some things in life we take for granted. For instance, how to make a horse stop and go - I took this as common knowledge - it's not. So here are the basics for those that need to know. Of course it gets more complicated than this, because um horses, duh! To go forward , make soft encouraging clucking noise and squeeze with your legs, if that doesn't work press with your heels, if that doesn't work, kick the horse in the sides. I know kicking sounds terribly horrible, but it's similar to when you are holding a toddler and they are swinging their legs at you - mostly it's just annoying, right? Same thing here, but you, the rider, are the toddler. To go left , move your hand holding the reins to the left. If your horse can do one handed commands then it's as simple as moving just the one hand, if you do two handed reining then you move just the left hand (both hands move in reality, but focus on the left one, the rest will follow). You sh...

It's been a minute, but I'm back! So what's this frisky horse business?? Well the weather has changed, or in the midwest, it has begun the continual change that leads to unbearably frigid for months on end :) Horses like the cool weather, and who can blame them! They run hotter than we do so for them it's delightful, brisk and invigorating! So as we begin to take stock of gloves, fleece pullovers, vests and wool socks, our horses are prancing about restless for some fun. For those who are new to this whole phenomenon, here are the things you need to know to survive all their excitement: 1. Stay calm - horses get frisky, they spook, they prance, they flinch, they get goofy - your job is to remain level headed and in control, decide what you will tolerate and what you will not and go from there. It's different for every horse/rider pair, so don't worry what your riding friends are doing, worry about you and your mount. Me for instance, I let Pistol ...

At a horse show recently I realized, you can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl. I spent all of my adult life trying to get myself away from all things country and here I am finding my personal joy immersed in nothing but the goodness of country things! Boots, jeans, outdoors, horses, dirt, sweat and pure bliss! It is insane to me how fast life changes.  Two years ago I was giving up on a life long dream, keeping a door closed to what I really wanted, telling myself that those wants were not within my grasp. I was throwing myself into my work and only my work. I was unhappy, hollow, going through the motions of adult life and trying to figure out where I belonged. Two years ago I thought I would never have a horse, thought I was going to be some varying level of miserable forever.  I thought that being an adult meant being in some level of constant disappointment.  I was wrong.  With the encouragement of my awes...