Rather than a traditional holiday gift guide, I’m giving insight into what I’d like to receive most as a horse lover and rider. I’m not one for celebrating Christmas in July, but I do love the holidays. Now that Thanksgiving is wrapped up it’s time to focus on my holiday shopping. With three daughters, they certainly boost the holiday cheer and bring additional excitement to the mix. There is something about the music, the lights, and the preparations that put me in a hectic, but happy place. Although who doesn’t have a Bad Moms Xmas moment at some point? Honestly holiday shopping for my rather large family gives me anxiety.…

The weekend began rainy and cold, but it didn’t stop equestrians worldwide from converging on Midtown New York City for the 2017 Equus Film Festival. This was the first year in the new event space at the Helen Mills Theater and Event Space. Exciting Equus Film Festival Artists, authors, and filmmakers with a passion for horses brought a little bit of country to the Big Apple and we rocked it. The Equus Film Festival is summed up best by their website: “Our festival has been created to highlight and award the diverse and creative efforts of those who artistically pay homage to the horse. The festival empowers storytellers to show…

We all love galloping round a field, and letting our horses stretch their legs in plush green fields. However, every now and again, we’ve got to leave those fields behind and head out onto the road with our steeds. Whether we’re taking a short ride from one yard to another or we’re simply training new riders on being out on the road, it’s essential we know what we’re doing with our horses.  Road riding presents it’s own set of unique challenges. Safety Gear The most important thing when riding on the road is to ensure you wear appropriate safety gear. Riding hats or helmets and bright reflective clothing is essential,…

Horses are unbelievably amazing animals. But they are instinctive and sometimes prone to spooking. Sometimes at the silliest things. What makes your horse go hmmm?   Last night as I was laying down to sleep I remembered something from the day’s ride and started laughing. Delight and I were riding in the indoor as the weather was iffy and thunderstorms looming. I’m not afraid of rain, and Delight isn’t fazed by thunderstorms, or much at all. As we trotted by the pigeons outside the window flew up and Delight pinned his ears and warned them away. We were dying! Some horses would get spooked in this scenario. But not Delight.…

‘Tis the most wonderful time of the year. No, not Christmas. In fact another season entirely, autumn! What can be better than horses and fall? A horsey Halloween! For this month’s blog hop I am writing about my favorite Halloween tradition.  Is there anything better than fall colors? The crunch of leaves underneath hooves, meandering through the wooded trails. In the distance, I spot a doe lazing in a grove. No more flies, no profuse heat. Just a beautiful day in nature. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. This October has been better than most. I turned the big 4-0. My book, Equestrian Handbook of Excuses (<- affiliate link),…

The hard truth is sometimes we don’t get what we want, or what we think we deserve. This weekend my daughter had a horse show at the Horse Park of New Jersey, competing against a number of therapeutic riding facilities. In truth, Cameron is a horse show mentor for me in many ways. She puts a lot of focus and hard work into bettering her riding, and her confidence is astounding. More, she has very little show nerves.   So when we woke up the morning of Cameron’s 9th birthday and she readied for her competition, I thought- wow, she’s amazing. This thought continued on through the day as we…