I spent 11 months waiting in anticipation for the birth of my mare’s foal. Now reality has reared its ugly head. This foal is the reason prayer chains get sent around in your social media PMs. Quite frankly, I think she may need an exorcism.
“I could not comprehend that I had been awake, had had previous conversations about this with my mother and husband and had lost several days worth of time and memories.” In honor of Brain Injury Awareness Month, Ashley shares her account of how a major concussion affected her life. (more…)
“These tapes were mostly of my high school rodeos — they were the long-lost and forgotten videos of my first ‘real’ barrel racing horse. The one to whom really I attribute everything.” Most of us can look back at the horse that taught us the most and turned us into the horse people we are today. Casey French talks about hers. (more…)
Sometimes we look back on our riding season and can’t help but admit that it could have gone better. Reader Judith Wilson does just that with her 2019/2020 hunt season. Thankfully, she has a sense of humor. Take it away, Judith… (more…)
“More than once I recalled feeling great sadness in learning that someone I knew, even a casual acquaintance, chose to hang up their spurs.” Horse Nation reader Mary Lynne Carpenter reflects on what happens when a friend stops riding. (more…)
Despite the feelings of camaraderie that develops among riders, horseback riding can still be a very isolating sport. And working through those feelings is hard. (more…)
“… when fed and ridden well, horses become remarkable… They become the magnificent beasts that we picture in our minds and ogle over when we see them — even the ones that aren’t naturally so. Their beauty becomes apparent to all who behold them…” (more…)
Increased heart rate. Rapid breathing. Furrowed brow. Stomachache. These are symptoms of a universal condition that plagues owners: waiting to find out what’s wrong with our horse when it comes up lame.
“These senior horses know who they are, they know what they like, and they’re comfortable with themselves. I don’t believe this is anthropomorphic to say: There’s a lot we could learn from the senior horse.”
“The bright intelligent eyes, the high whinny that never failed to answer a greeting, the fuzzy ears, one tipping in just a bit lower than the other — all of these were still and silent.” (more…)
“My first snippet of advice to you is to remember that the event is about you and your horse. That’s it. She’s your team. Lean on her.” Candace Wade survived her first-ever horse show as a late-in-life-beginner adult rider!
“My tiny personal goal and excitement was embraced by these lovely women. They got it. They got me. Out there in cyberland, to a person, these horsewomen were rooting for me.”
“I always thought that ‘warming up the horse’ was plodding around the round-pen or arena to get my schooling horse’s muscles moving and us kind of reacquainted.” Candace Wade shares her latest “late-in-life lesson rider” revelation.
“These are the places where we got our show legs, where we learned to memorize a pattern, or realized that we were really bad at doing so. These saddle clubs taught us about the types of riders we wanted to become.”
“Joey is currently up for adoption, and I have no doubt that he will find his perfect home, because, after all, chicks dig scars. Now ain’t that a kick in the head?” Ashley Francese tells the unlikely story about how a severe wound ended up saving a horse’s life.
“The drivers on the bench expertly turned the team into the in-gate, and the first six-horse hitch in twenty years rolled back into the fairgrounds with a quiet rumble like distant thunder.”
