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It was a warm and sunny morning as I chatted with Jaycee about what she would like to work on with her horse Scamp. “I’ve been making him...

Life–and horses, for that matter– both have an uncanny knack of knowing just when you need a little insight and humility. We recently...

Photo: Crissi McDonald I was in my mid-twenties when I started training horses (and assumed I knew more than I actually did).  I brought...

When I was in my late twenties, I became fascinated by the art of Dressage. Honestly? I am still fascinated. Back then, however, the...

Breagha (Bree) I think we learn and go through life much like a pendulum; we swing all the way to one side and then we swing the opposite...

When Rusty arrived, his eyes were as hard as his muscles.  He had rain rot from withers to tail and large old white scars on his back...

The author with Caleb, 1994. “My horse is such a jerk,” I sputtered, the dirt flying out of my mouth as I brushed off my white shirt. I...

The little paint mare stood trembling at the end of the longest lead rope I could find that day. The July morning had dawned hot and we...

Photo: Crissi McDonald I have a little puzzle for you: How would you make this line shorter? ____________________________ Erase it? Cut...

Shortly after a horse accident in 2014, I had to walk with a cane. The design between its black handle and its black rubber tip was pink...

Resistance is thought transformed into feeling. Change the thought that creates the resistance, and there is no more resistance. – Robert...

On a warm spring day, I walked into an arena to help Dave with his sorrel gelding, Whip.  Wide-eyed and snorting, Whip was flinging his...

Photo: Crissi McDonald I wrote one sentence for this month’s blog, and it felt hollow. Two sentences in, and my inner Chicken Little was...

Photo: Stefan Angele In what seems a different lifetime, I once told a therapist that horses felt safe to me. She, not being familiar...

“We like horses because they are smart, but we train them like they’re stupid.”Mark Rashid During a dressage lesson many years ago, my...

Have you ever watched someone do something with their horse and thought, “That will never be me.” Or, even worse, had a trainer,...

I’ve been noticing that as humans we distinguish between planning to do something, and actually doing it. I’ve also noticed that we spend...

Photo: Crissi McDonald There is a phrase that is used in the horse world  I hope soon dies a quiet and peaceful death. I’ve been inviting...

If horsemanship is a spiral of learning, the outermost ring would be figuring out how to safely handle horses, learning the physical aids...

I see Mark’s face,  telling me to wake up. The ground is warm and so is the air, and I wonder how it was that I went to sleep last night...