We interrupt our regularly-scheduled litany of “show-’em-who’s-boss” responses featuring babble about shopworn yet ineffectual methods of proving only that the offerers are devoid of both constraint and cognizance, to insert a word of sanity in the interlude so generated among those chanting “whip them, beat them, and call them nasty names” and present the truly […]
Quick Posts
Good For Difficult Horses
What the hell does that even mean? Good when your own strength fails to overtake the horse? Good when your skills are, let’s be honest, pathetic at best? Good when an actual Ape rides better than you do? Good when you wouldn’t hesitate to whip your horse to make him just [get on the trailer] […]
5 Reasons Equestrians Avoid Speaking Up Online
Most equestrians have been involved in at least one online horse community long enough to have met a few trolls. And I dare say, most of us have also had an opportunity to see something we don’t agree with; but we avoid saying anything as we begin imagining what kind of trolls will crawl out […]
Danny Thomas’ Breaking Method Proves the Archaic Nature of Horsemanship
Horsemanship hasn’t evolved very far, and Danny Thomas provided a glowing demonstration of that fact as he posted a video for the universe to watch on Facebook. Bragging that he was able to break a Mustang in 30 minutes.. Why are we still basing our training decisions on the brevity of time? He has a […]
Dare To Do Something Unexpected With Your Horse
Dare to err and to dream. Deep meaning often lies in childish plays. Friedrich Schiller Horses are not machines. Or robots. They are thinking, feeling, emotional creatures. Just like you and me. But it’s easy to become so focused on a goal, on a process, on being a certain kind of rider… that we lose […]
Equestrians, how’s your self-control?
The emotional kind. Good horsemanship isn’t just about conditioning your horse and riding in the proper position, it also involves self-control. But there is one principle that should never be abandoned, namely, that the rider must learn to control himself before he can control his horse. This is the basic, most important principle to be […]
Good Leaders Make Their Horses Feel Safe
Do you think of yourself as your horse’s leader? Do you expect your horse to willingly follow you (literally and figuratively)? Sometimes we let our ego get so full of itself, we believe just showing up as a human is enough to make the horse choose us as their leader, right? Wrong! Think about those you’ve […]
2014 Equestrian Blog in Review
It’s been an exciting and busy year, full of discussion by equestrians from all over the world, and representing a number of disciplines. As we put 2014 behind us let’s review what happened at Writing of Riding over the last 365 days. Top Five Posts When I started Writing of Riding in 2006, I never imagined one […]
Barrel Racers Keeping It Classy
Heads up, this post contains foul language. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. More often than you’d expect, I receive comments that are .. displeased with my writing. But the majority of them always come from Barrel Racers, upset over this and this post. But in an effort to maintain transparency about commenting, I’m sharing […]
Consideration for the Horse
Our culture is rich with self-centric activities. We blog about ourselves; we socialize by posting selfies; we socialize by telling people what we’re doing every second of the day; we are driven by our own selfish desires. What about the horse? Have consideration for the horse. The reins should never get in your way. It’s a good […]
Equestrians, go to the gym already
I have a broken neck and still go to the gym every day. What’s your excuse? If you’re asking your horse to do any kind of formal work (i.e. you aren’t just hacking down the trail on a slack rein) you need to go to the gym, regularly. Improved strength Believe it or not, being […]
Horses often live in a perpetual no-win situation
Have you ever been caught in a situation where you simply cannot win in any regard? No matter what choice you make you lose, and you lose big? I have, and it sucks. But the graceful thing is I’m not trapped in a lifetime of no-win situations. I can work to separate myself from those […]
Get Off Your Computer & Go Ride Your Horse
Really, the most important thing you’re missing right now is not being with your horse 1-on-1. Stop reading this article, put on some barn-appropriate-attire and say, “screw it” to whatever you had planned to do on the computer (those 6 hours of repetitiously refreshing your Facebook newsfeed for example..). The emails you were going to grudgingly respond to can wait until the morning. That series you were going to watch on Netflix can’t compete with the horse hair you’ll be covered in for the rest of the night.