July 26, 2021
Jan Swan Wood
We’ve all done it. After a graphic illustration of why not to many years ago, though, I stopped doing it. Doing what? Tying a horse up with your back to it. Let me explain further. I see it often. Someone leads a horse up to a fence, trailer or a barn wall tie, with the […]
July 20, 2021
Jolyn Young
It’s almost time for the 2021 Summer Olympics, officially called “Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.” They were originally scheduled for last year, but cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic; hence the slightly confusing date in the name. Anyway, regardless of what year they’re known as and held in, it’s the Summer Games, so you know what […]
July 15, 2021
Jolyn Young
Temperatures are soaring, high temperature records are breaking, and the forecast is calling for many more weeks of hot weather before summer’s end. Active people like horse owners aren’t content to stay indoors until the weather cools down, so how can we safely enjoy outdoor activities? Hydration is one important piece of that puzzle. Drink […]
July 9, 2021
Jan Swan Wood
My sister and I had the job every summer, of riding boglines and checking cattle and sheep. Dad usually had the boys, 0ne college age, the other in high school, in the hayfield or on the fencing projects, so it was usually just Linda and I. The two oldest kids were grown up and gone. […]
July 3, 2021
Jan Swan Wood
The grand old gelding who had packed my son Colin for thousands of miles had died the winter before. We really needed to replace the old horse, and Colin, at four, wasn’t quite ready to take on just any horse on the place. Most of our horses were pretty hair triggered and would never be […]
July 1, 2021
Jan Swan Wood
The horse I’d caught was a broke mare, but she was kind of a flake at times. Cricket had, in the past, boogered at something as I was leading her and dragged me around, or, ran flat over the top of me. She wasn’t wild or spooky, really, just had her moments of having the […]
June 21, 2021
Jan Swan Wood
I’m on a lot of social media pages that concern stockmanship, horsemanship and livestock handling. I learn a great deal of new ways of doing things and enjoy seeing and learning how things are done other places. That said, I also see some things that make me scratch my head and wonder. One of those […]
June 16, 2021
Jan Swan Wood
Some horses are just born to be outstanding in certain disciplines. It’s partly disposition and attitude, with aptitude added in. This is the case most particularly with kid horses. Not all horses, no matter how old and broke they get, ever achieve the bulletproof kid horse. Not their fault, just how they are. We had […]
June 4, 2021
Jan Swan Wood
Her name was Roxie, and as a child, I thought she was the mot beautiful horse I had ever seen. She was a bright sorrel with light flaxen mane, bald face and four white stockings. She was, at the time of this story, about a three year old I suppose, and belonged to my sister. […]
June 2, 2021
Jan Swan Wood
Anyone who has worked cattle much has probably dealt with bulls. They are a necessary evil that ranchers have to have on hand to be able to keep raising cattle, but they are, in general, a pain in the neck most of the time. They fight with each other, tear up fence, get hurt just […]