Sage is now only half natural. Sometimes, though, moving by fractions and increments is all you need, and it can bring you all the way back to balance. I think for a while, after I first got Sage, with all of her problems and my own chronic illness, I thought I could fix her by [...]
My Saddle As A Bridge I am now well on my way to riding regularly again, finally. After almost nine months hiatus (perhaps a good thing for Sage’s back if you agree with the data revealed in Stormy May’s movie, Path Of The Horse), I have a saddle that passed the saddle fitter’s discerning eye [...]
Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe After more than eight long months, I am finally able to get back up in a saddle on Sage’s back. I had [...]
I have been accused over the years, by various people, of “throwing things” at my horse. The whole kitchen sink if you will. Before you go reporting me to authorities, let me explain… From the day I first received Sage from the trailer ride by her owner, bringing her to the boarding stable where I [...]
Farriers for Sage have all seemed to come with glass slippers that just don’t fit. In an equine twist to the fairy tale, is isn’t the shoe that Sage had lost but the fit with her farrier prince. Needless to say, Sage has kissed a lot of frogs in her search for the right farrier [...]
Figuring Out What Ails Your Horse Is Sometimes Akin To Searching For Four Leaf Clovers When it comes to figuring out different ailments that have afflicted Sage over the years, I have had to use a fair amount of “holmesian deduction”. For lack of a leprechaun to guide me, I cross the stormy sea to [...]
It was a long, cold, wet week here in the Pacific Northwest, complete with a few inches of snowfall, and I didn’t get out to see Sage for the entire week. I can’t remember the last time we were apart for so long. Fortunately, she is in a place now that I need not sit [...]
I have long been enthralled by the concept of animals being our mirrors. However, what if there is more to that than reflects the eye? What if I called my horse an extension of me? What if the things I respect and admire about her have been inside of me all along? I might find [...]
Or perhaps I should ask, do a horse’s feelings matter? Shortly after the publication of my rope halter article over at Horse City, I made the painful error of viewing the storm in the forum. I expected some of the reaction(s), but I was admittedly unprepared for a couple of responses that I saw come [...]
Yesterday I received a very long and thoughtful email response to my recent rope halter face-off article, up at Horse City; it was from someone who was obviously very much a believer in natural horsemanship and rope halters. I think he was sincerely trying to get me to see the error of my ways and [...]
My horse constantly surprises me. Perhaps it is for the simple reason of keeping me on my toes and letting me know that I do not know it all. I was sweetly reminded of that yesterday, just two days after blogging about how Sage usually resisted leaving the herd, could definitely be called herd-bound, and [...]
Long ago I naively believed the books and the trainers when they said you need to be a good “herd leader” for your horse. But I was never really part of Sage’s herd. Herd Member Or Poor Substitute? I would blow in like the wind a few times a week, interject myself into her daily [...]
I had my veterinarian out yesterday to give Sage a dental check-up, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear him say after his exam that she actually did not need a float or dental work. I had been feeling guilty for a while about not having an equine dentist out since she was seemingly overdue [...]
I was aptly reminded of my ignorance today by a three year old. I was riding Sage with my now-standard gear of halter, bareback pad, and cowboy boots while my audience of one watched intently from the sidelines, waiting patiently for her turn. My Favorite Flavor Is Patience Patience for a three year old is [...]
Kicking Up My Heels I recently ran across this picture of me as a young girl, riding my first “horse”. There are many pictures of my siblings and I with this horse in the background, so she was well-used and well-loved. Perhaps some fond memories of great backyard rides on this rocking horse burned into [...]