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This is the fourth and final post in a series on how to train a horse. Every horse is different and might require a different method or more work in one area than another, so consider this just an overview. This advice is not meant to be a beginner’s only resource—I always suggest that a…

This is the third post in a series on how to train a horse. Every horse is different and might require a different method or more work in one area than another, so consider this just an overview. This advice is not meant to be a beginner’s only resource—I always suggest that a person find…

This is the second post in a series on how to train a horse. I am writing for the novice horseman in mind, so if some of this is redundant to your level of experience, please understand that there are beginners that may need to know every detail of the training process. This advice is…

This will be the first post in a series describing how I go about training a horse. I am writing for the novice horseman in mind, so if some of this is redundant to your level of experience, please understand that there are beginners that may need to know every detail of the training process.…

This is meant to be a horse training blog, but some readers really need a firm grasp of the basics before they are able to work with a horse, so I'd like to explain how to go about putting the bridle on a horse. This is a normal scenario of how things should happen, but…

"Some women moved west reluctantly, some were drawn by new opportunities, but all were transformed by the journey." --Unknown I read that quote today on the Facebook wall of Lil' Red Roan, an online western boutique that sells handmade picture frames, leather art, cowgirl jewelry, western note cards, and more. I love the Love Letters…

Last Saturday just after lunch, Cowboy Dad came driving up to the house and said, "Come on, hurry! We've got trouble. The cows are out and the bull and one calf are in with the neighbor's cattle." So I hurried to get my boots on and he loaded my saddle in the Tahoe. He'd called…

Part of working with horses on a daily basis is understanding that you cannot always control circumstances that involve a near-ton of weight on four fast-moving legs powered freely at the will of a flight-instinct animal. In other words, if you're around them for any length of time, you're probably going to be involved in…

In my years of growing up with horses, if there was one horse who was there through thick and thin, solid and dependable, and forever golden in my memory, it was Kokomo. He was a brother to Apache, my sister Kandra's first horse, so he was grade with some Pinto, Arabian, and maybe Quarter Horse…

If you have ever worked with a colt on lunging, it can be one of the hardest concepts to teach, especially if the colt is a gentle, in-your-pocket type of horse. If the horse is really "hooked" on you, it's going to feel really contradictory to your gentling process to have to make him go…

Yesterday was one of those beautiful balmy summertime days with a good breeze and lower humidity than usual. In other words, it was the perfect day for horseback riding. As soon as Cowboy Dad got home from work, he and the kids and I got the horses saddled and went for a little joy ride.…

It's a known fact that we horse people are a crazy bunch. But some of the stories I hear make me wonder if all of our common sense has been dropped in pursuit of gaining more horse sense, and the result is a bunch of daft idiots. Take, for instance, this news item from the…

When I was first learning to train horses, my sister Kandra was my biggest influence. She had gone to a Ray Hunt Horse Training clinic, and had begun starting colts by using gentle methods and phsycological techniques. I was always perched on the corral fence watching, and some of those skills I was able to…

Twenty years ago I was just getting into training horses, and other than following the examples of my older sisters, I had one strong influence in natural horsemanship training. My teacher at Sunday School just happened to be the best horse trainer I have ever known or ever will know. His name was Kevin Wescott…

They say that it is easier for a woman to find the perfect husband than it is to find the perfect swimsuit. And I would say that's about how hard it is to find the perfect horse. When you're thinking of getting a horse, you need to know how important a "good fit" really is.…

Have you ever been in a tough situation with a horse where it seems like to quit would be training him that he can get away with doing the wrong thing? It's a principle we've all heard of before: Don't let the horse win or he'll fight you every time. But there's quite a bit…

Training a horse can be really hard and really easy. It depends on how well you can communicate to the horse and how well you can read what the horse is thinking. If you can recognize the moment in which the horse is working for you and instantly reward him for it, it creates a…

I can't remember a time when I didn't want a horse of my own. When I was about five, I picked out a mare named Blondie from my dad's bunch of horses, and claimed she was mine. I don't know where she came from, but she was a registered Quarter Horse named Sporty Lana Lee,…

I get a lot of teenagers wanting to know how to do "join up" with a horse. They're referring to a horse training technique that is written about in a series of teenage girl horse books called Heartland, and the books don't really give enough detail on the subject to provide a good understanding. So…

This song is one of the tunes I grew up with, being a country music fan from back when I was just a little girl. It always makes me laugh, though, because I have never been a "cool cowgirl". I grew up so far out in the sticks that being in style was never on…