Hieeeeee!!!!!! Welcome back, everyone! I’m glad you stopped by. I said that I would do a more fun blog post this time because we have been doing a little too much ranting lately :-P. We’ll be doing a Bucket List today for horsey activities. 

1. Train a horse from start to finish. 
   1. It is so much fun training and/or retraining a horse, I am currently retraining two of the rescues at our barn. I have seen major progress in both horses and they are really doing amazing. They are total opposites and it is really fun to use myself and cues and whatever I can use in different ways to teach the horse whatever you want it to do! Without being abusive of course.
   2. By training start to finish is this… I want to be able to train a young horse how to halter, walk on a lead, teach him/her how to be ridden and keep that horse until their very last days. I would love to teach as many horses as I can.
2. Fall off too many times to count
   1. This may seem backward but I haven’t fallen off yet. I’ve been riding for several years and somehow, I haven’t yet. Some may say that to be a ‘real rider’ you have to have the experience of falling off. I don’t agree with that statement. If you try your hardest and you progress and you learn and you have fun, then you are a horseback rider.
   2. I would love to have the experience of falling off. I want to be able to get right back up and get back on. I would just love to do that.
3. Breed at least one horse
   1. I know that breeders aren’t always the best people. But this one kind of correlates to number 1. I want to have a horse from birth to the last day that they have. I currently ride at a rescue so we don’t breed horses and we have no horses from birth. We often take in horses that aren’t able to be taken care of anymore by their owners and/or horses that have gone through some rough things.
4. Build my dream barn on my property
   1. I have big plans for my barn in the future. I plan to have 5 horses and 2 donkeys. They would each have their own color. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and pink(purple and pink are for the donkeys). I would love it if the donkeys were rescues and lived in an expanded stall together.
   2. Maybe I will give some rough blueprints of my dream barn on this blog later, please let me know if that would interest you.
5. Nurse a horse through a crisis and back to health
   1. This also may sound just a tad backward. I would love to nurse one of my four-legged friends(a horse preferably) back to perfect, or almost perfect, health.
   2. I want to see the injury and I want to see it heal, I want that horse to look at me like I am its savior. I would love that.
6. Have or work at a rescue barn
   1. Rescues are a big part of my life and I ride at one right now. I have learned so much at my current barn and I would love to learn as much as I can. I would love to become an adult and help horses and other animals, maybe for a living! Someone has to take care of those animals. I want them to have a good home with me.

Welcome back everyone!! How is everyone? I missed you guys. Today I will be addressing horse racing today. I hate horse racing. I just feel so bad for the horses, these horses go through so much and are so traumatized!

These horses should earn a medal just for how they tend to be treated.

Take the following picture as an example of how they are treated ON the track…

Now to a few, this may seem just fine. In reality, I can point out at least 4 things that are wrong with this image. ONE: the bits, the riders have such hard hands in the racing industry that the horses are constantly foaming at the mouth. TWO: the crops, look at how high the crops are! If you read my last post you know how I feel about crops and how they should be used, this is way too much. There is no reason the crop should be at the horse’s head! THREE: the horse’s ages. Many horses are started when they are just one or one and a half years old, but it takes up to four years for a horse to fully develop to the point that they are rideable. Whatever you do, do NOT under ANY circumstances, ride a horse that is not at least 2-3 years old. FOUR: the blinders are also a problem in this picture. Blinders are used to keep horses focused on the track and not on the other horses. This may not seem like a problem, but horses are fight or flight animals. If you block off one of the big parts of their evolutionary advantages, that scares them. These horses have been revolutionized to graze, reproduce naturally, and protect themselves from predators. A large part of their protection is their sight and the ability to see the threat. When you block that off, you are cutting off one of the most important factors of the horse.

And how these horses are treated OFF the track are just a bad.

Racehorses are kept in small stalls and worked to their limit every day. They are kept in stalls for the convenience of the trainer and the fact that they are less likely to be injured in a stall. This is unethical though. Horses were made to roam free on the grass and the rocks and to roll and run when they want to and play with each other and BE A HORSE! But they aren’t able to do that because they are confined, to a space with no other horses, barely enough space to lay down let alone roll! There is no way that we should support this. I hate this and you should too! If you really care for horses, you should never go to or support horseracing EVER.

I am sorry that this one was another aggressive topic guys. I promise that the next one will be cheerful. I HATE being angry but I feel like I should share that with you guys. Thank you for reading!

See ya’ll next time!

I’m sorry guys… today’s topic is a little dark, a little gruesome, and a little infuriating. I get so mad when I talk about these subjects. If you arent in the mood, then that’s totally fine! I would love for you to read this though because it is super important to understand if you want to ride horses. Thank you! Now, let’s get on with the schtuff!!

Hey everybody!! There are so many things that have been getting on my nerves lately, one of them being unintentional (or intentional) abuse. UGHHHH!!!!! There are so many people that I talk to about this topic and just don’t understand. There is so much damage that you can do! But anyway… let’s get started.

1. Bits

Bits are the metal(or sometimes rubber) objects that go in the horse’s mouth for ‘communication’ when it really isn’t. The bit is just another way to try to control the animal without having to do work. There are statistics showing how damaging a bit is to a horse’s mouth! I will link those here… https://horsesport.com/magazine/training/are-bits-bronze-age-technology/

When you use a bit on a horse, that obstructs so many things. There is also an unethical reason. Try this exercise to demonstrate what happens in the horse’s mouth. Take a metal spoon, and put horizontally in your mouth, so that the ends are sticking out the corners of your mouth. Once you have done that you can ‘steer’ the horse. Pull on the sides of the spoon so your lips have wrinkles and you turn your head. This is what happens to the horse! When you put a bit on a horse, think of this demonstration every time. You will be pulling on that horse’s face with every slight twitch. Please, don’t use bits, they can be so damaging.

2. Spurs

Spurs are the ‘tool’ that an equestrian can hook onto their boot to give stronger aids to their horse… but… don’t even get me started on them! OHH MY GOOOOOSH!!!!!!! Why in the world would you want to stab your horse’s ribs to make them go faster?!?!?! It just baffles me! There are so many things that could go wrong here! There are the injuries, the accidental stabbings(!!!!!), the spur could get stuck in the hole that it stabbed into the horse!!! UGHHH!!!! Why do people still use these?!?!?! I just don’t understand. 

Halfway through. WHEW!! Thanks for bearing with me guys. On to the next ones…

3. Whips/Crops

This one seems a bit obvious, a whip is well, a whip. It is something that you use to smack a horse or use pressure points to move the horse. Sometimes it IS ok to use whips though, in the form of a crop(for lateral{side to side} work), or as an extension of your arm. However, it is not ok to use a whip/crop to make a horse go faster. When lungeing (making a horse walk/trot/run/gallop in circles while on a long leash) it is ok to teach a horse to block off one of the sides. If you want the horse to go to the right, you put the lunge line/carrot stick/whip to the left, and vice versa. Whereas, it is not ok to use that same whip to swing and make them go faster, and even worse, actually whip them.

4. Weight

As a disclaimer, I am not fat-shaming. I am simply saying that if you are too big to ride a horse, then get one that is physically, comfortably able to carry your tack(the stuff that you put on the horse such as a saddle, bridle, etc.) as well as you. There is a simple way to find this out. The absolute maximum that a rider and tack should weigh is 15% of a horse’s body weight. If you end up being more than 15% with tack, then get a larger horse. Get a horse that is taller or a different breed, but please do not make the horse that you are too big for suffer. Through thermal imaging, you can tell the trauma that a horse has been through and the stress on the back. It is just too much for the horse, and people are not informed enough.

I’m sorry about such a bummer topic but I had to get this off my chest. I would love it if you could share this with someone to share what these poor animals go through. Another thing to consider is this, if any of these things happened to a dog or a cat, the world would burn the person into the ground. For some reason, these things seem to be ok with horses, which I don’t understand.

Thank you guys so much for tuning in again! I really appreciate you guys and I love each and every one of you! Ill see you next time on hopefully a not-so-depressing topic. Byeeee!!

Now, an essential part of horseback riding is… drumroll please……. WATCHING HORSE MOVIES! If you ride horses, can you really call yourself an equestrian(someone who rides horses, like a Wisconsinite or a Veterinarian) if you haven’t seen these movies? I mean come on! Anyway, I would love to inform you of all of these wonderful movies that you should go watch(in no particular order, how could I choose what order?), seriously, if you haven’t seen one of these you should stop reading and go! Go watch these movies!!!

1) Secretariat (2010)

Rated PG

I rated Secretariat on here because this movie got me into horses. I saw this film and actually said to my mom that I wanted a horsie like the big red one. I just love this movie! This movie is about a woman who loses her mother and, to keep her family’s horse farm afloat, is going to risk it all. You should really watch this movie!

2 ) Racing Stripes (2005)

Rated PG

This movie is super adorable. I remember watching this for the first time when I was 6 years old. This movie is about a little zebra who just wants to be a racehorse and his journey and path to becoming one.

3) Walk. Ride. Rodeo (2019)

Not yet Rated

I would rate this movie PG due to minimal gore(a car crash and some blood and hospital tubes), but you may want to check for yourself before you show this to your 4-year-old. This movie is based on the true story of Amberly Snider. A rodeo queen who gets into an accident and her wonderful recovery. This movie is a MUST WATCH!

4) Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken (1991)

Rated G

This movie is almost as inspirational as the last one. This is a movie about this young girl who just wants to ride these horses like the people in the fair show. When she finally gets her chance, something gets in her way. You really need to watch this movie, I LOVED it!!!

5) Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)

Rated G

This is about a young stallion(a male horse that can impregnate a female) and his many adventures. This stallion encounters man, possibly falls in love and is just out to love his life! This is a true equestrian classic. This movie has also been turned into a Netflix original series. If you just want to continue the adventure with Spirit and his friends, go check it out!

Now that you have heard of all of these cinema perfectionisms. Now I bet you are going to go and watch all of these movies until you know all of these lines front to back and all the way backward. I know I am! See ya later!- Claire

Howdy, everybody!!

I started riding a couple years ago, and I still have nowhere near all of the knowledge when it comes to horses, and you won’t either (that is totally fine!).

When I started riding horses, I felt totally stupid. It’s ok to feel stupid sometimes. Just know that you are not stupid, you just don’t have a bunch of stuff that you need to know yet. We all had to start at some point, you just can get some expertise (put that on your spelling test Mrs.Keller!) from someone else.

Let’s face it, nobody is an expert. I had a horse show this weekend and thought of all of my trainers and where I was a year ago, two years ago, even 10 years ago. I thought of all of the progress that I made and how I got there. I wished all of my trainers could see me, my support, my informers, everyone. I ended up getting first in all of my classes, wow, a year ago, I wasn’t sure I would ever ride again, now here I am winning the show. We all have helpers, we all have support, we all have things to learn and things to do. At the show, a little girl, most likely 5 or 6 said to me “hey lady, can you teach me to do the cool stuff you do with those horses?” And do you know what I said?

Yes

I said yes because I want her to know that she can be green, she can be inexperienced, she can try and fail and then try again…

And so can you.

Thanks for reading, see you next time!

Claire