Articles

I have a horse story to share that my oldest sister Kandra has written, telling about her very first horse, Apache.  If you've read very many of my own horse memories, you'll remember that my sister is the one who influenced my siblings and I to love horses, and I wanted to know the details of how…

One of my biggest complaints about spring is the mud in our barnyard.  The mud wouldn't bother me so much, but I have to wear my muck boots.  And my muck boots wouldn't be a problem if I didn't hate how they feel...they feel yucky because my jeans bunch up inside them and actually wear…

It's calving season! Granted, we aren't all done with winter yet, but we've had such a warm one it's made us think spring a little early. The cows have been out on cornstalks the last couple of months, and now a few of them have calved, and it's fun to drive by and watch the…

I am a writer, and one of my favorite things to do is to tell a good story.  I have often said that getting a horse is like getting a brand new notebook.  You open it up, and it's blank....just waiting to be filled in with adventures, experiences, knowledge, sentiment, good memories, colorful adjectives, and whatever…

I'm baking treats today, in honor of Valentine's Day, and I'm baking them for my horses! I've actually never made homemade treats for horses before, but a reader commented over on my Cowgirl Recipes page and requested some recipes for making your own horse treats. Having read several horse treat recipes online, I went to the…

I've been thinking about the horse slaughter topic a lot lately, and would like to share some of my thoughts on the issue, but I find that I can hardly discuss it without stepping on toes, and probably square on the toes of some of my friends.  When you start talking about killing horses, there…

I never pay attention to the forecast.  I'm not a fan of watching the evening news, and I don't listen to the radio on a regular basis, so I'm pretty much out in the cold when it comes to knowing what's going on with the weather....literally.  It snowed in the night and I didn't even…

My sister-in-law introduced me to Pinterest a few weeks ago.  If you're not sure what it is, it's a website where you can "pin" or bookmark websites or photos that inspire you in a neat collection of "boards" for you to come back to and read or use later.  For instance, I have a board…

Today was amazing.  Well, if you don't count the fact that it's the beginning of January and still a little cold for my taste.  And if you don't mention that today was my husband's first time to get bucked off a horse.  It was sunny with no wind, a Sunday afternoon, and he said we're…

I absolutely love Christmas.  It's my favorite holiday, and all of the excitement and anticipation that comes with the shopping, giving, and receiving is what makes it fun.  Growing up kind of makes that excitement fade, until you have kids of your own, and then you get it all back watching them exclaim over their…

I had our weanling colt on the lead line the other day, working on halter training a little bit more, and I thought it would be a good time to introduce him to the horse trailer.  I wasn't there when my husband went to pick him up, when we first purchased him, but I heard…

Snow is coming!  The kids are excited with the prospects of sipping hot cocoa, listening to Christmas music, and watching the heavens swirl their magical crystals into sparkling drifts over our front steps.   I'm not looking forward to doing chores in subzero temperatures, no matter how pretty the snow is.  When the water tanks freeze over…

It's that time of year when people like to ponder the good things that have come their way.   I see the trend of daily status updates on Facebook, where everyone is counting a blessing along with each day of November, and while it is inspiring to read their grateful comments,  I haven't joined in the fad yet.  I have looked at…

One of the things every horse owner should consider is the fact that horses don't live forever, nor do they stay rideable forever.  It might seem overly simple to state it in that fashion, but we really don't like to think about horses getting old, getting hurt, or dying.  Our imaginations enable us to envision…

A horse buddy of mine asked the question on Facebook the other day, "What do you do about barn hands?" She wasn't referring to people you hire to help out around a stable, but rather the calloused and dried out things on the ends of your arms. All of the horse people chimed in with…

You might be surprised at how often I question my own common sense when it comes to owning horses. We have five now, and that puts both Cowboy Dad and me in a sort of panic to justify the expense and trouble that we go to in order to keep them. I think many of my…

I am happy to announce a new giveaway here on CowgirlDiary.com!  This is a brand new horse book, just released yesterday, November 1, 2011.  I got the chance to read it beforehand, and was pleasantly surprised by it.  An avid reader of horse-related literature, I expected a rather indulgent account of far-fetched fluff.  What I found instead,…

When you have a foal, everything is sweetness and light.  But only for so long.  Then the life lessons begin and they have to learn to wear a halter, to follow a leader, to stand tied, and face their biggest fear of all---being separated from their mommy.  It is a difficult change for both mare…

Our weanling stud colt is just a handful.  I had forgotten what it's like having a horse this young, but he is certainly a lot of trouble.  The main problem is that he has got too much energy and not enough experience.  Watching him careen around the farm full-tilt is entertaining until you see him…

As you know, we have been working on halter breaking the new stud colt we purchased a month ago. It's been awhile since I've had a horse this young to work with, so I'm trying to remember any tricks on how to train a foal to lead, and am looking back through some old horse…