December 11, 2020
Jenn Zeller
Collection seems to be a commonly misunderstood yet important part of horsemanship. It starts on the ground. When making a saddle horse, I cannot stress enough how important it is to have your ground work working well! In this series we’ll go through the process of how we free up the feet to build a […]
November 19, 2020
Ruth Nicolaus
There’s a lot more to being a barrel racer than the sixteen or seventeen second runs that fans see in the arena. It takes time and patience to make a good barrel horse, and Tana Poppino knows that. The Big Cabin, Okla. cowgirl qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo three times, in 2006-07 and […]
November 3, 2020
Ruth Nicolaus
Everybody loves looking at horses for sale, and everybody loves a bargain. Combine the two, and you have stallion auctions. It’s the time of year for stallion breedings to be auctioned off, and if a person’s diligent (and lucky), they might score a thrifty breeding! Many of these auctions are set up to benefit a […]
October 13, 2020
Jan Swan Wood
I had a really good mare years ago who had been a stellar saddle horse and always sound. When she was past her mid-teens, I decided that she had earned the right to raise some colts. I found an equally good stud to breed her to and hauled her to the ranch and turned her […]
September 10, 2020
Jan Swan Wood
The trend of long, thick mane on horses is big right now, and though it seems like that couldn’t be a problem for a horse other than having the knots brushed out on occasion, I see another problem that could lead to soundness issues. Bear with me. The long, thick mane goes clear to the […]
July 20, 2020
Jolyn Young
Before I had kids, I evaluated my daily productivity by how many tasks I fully completed each day. I only felt satisfied if I loped a bunch of circles, improved my second barrel, got my horse more rounded behind the bit, or checked another similar item off my list of personal equine goals. I spent […]
July 17, 2020
Jan Swan Wood
I gave my newly acquired California racehorse a week or so to get adjusted to her new climate and location. She never got so much as a sniffle from being moved to such extreme weather, and adapted to her new home quickly. She was interested in everything that went on around her and had gotten […]
May 31, 2020
Lynn Kohr
Building confidence in our horse is putting security into your program. Horses are all individuals and each have varying tolerance to change. Change for our horses causes them hardship. Change disrupts their daily routines and patterns. A disruption can be as slight as changing pastures, adjusting their bit, or adding a buddy to the trailer. […]
May 13, 2020
Jolyn Young
I agonized over how to ride my horse when my first baby was born. Finding the time to catch, saddle, and ride a horse with a baby (or toddler) in tow proved to be one of the most difficult aspects of ranch motherhood for me. I loved to ride and wanted to continue that aspect […]
May 11, 2020
Mykal Kirkpatrick
Who could have ever predicted that we would see the impacts of COVID-19 in our lifetime? It has affected our social lives, financial security, food securities, educational systems, and our family life. For my family and many other ranching families, we choose to try to find the blessings from within. In particular, both of our kids are home from […]