Willful Ignorance, noun. (idiomatic, law) A decision in bad faith to avoid becoming informed about something so as to avoid having to make undesirable decisions that such information might prompt. In 2005 I moved cross-country…
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…
1. Work with your horse within a commitment. It is the foundation you build your house on. ( My personal commitment “To put the well being, health, and happiness of the horse as the foundation…
I often get called upon to talk with abused horses and the training/rehab of the abused horses is a subject I could talk about for a very long time but today I want to discuss…
Historically speaking, criticism of barrel racing (and associated riders) has been met with widespread denial of abusive riding, excuses and dismissals of such behaviour from riders, and of course let’s not forget the name-calling, insults…
Tell me again how competitive dressage is all about the horse’s welfare? A huge increase in prize money to well over $650,000 (€523,000) with a $200,000 CDI5* as a highlight of Florida’s Global Dressage Festival…
The PAST Act has been endorsed by virtually every animal health and equine group in the United States but is opposed 100-percent by the Republican representatives from Tennessee. Roy Exum, Columnist for The Chattanoogan Despite…
How often is it argued, that a human cannot force a thousand pound animal to do something it doesn’t want to do? An argument to defend against an accusation of abuse. But the physical comparison…
Dressage is dead. There, I said it. Somebody had to. Okay, not dead in the literal sense. Dressage is still alive and kicking. But, the idea of Dressage as some kind of harmonious, artistic venture…
Round Penning techniques are used widely by Natural Horsemanship trainers and clinicians. Often to gain fast results such as starting wild horses under saddle in a matter of days. Perhaps you’ve already come to the…
Not just a felony, but a Class-A Felony. That puts horse abuse on par with assault, homicide and arson. That’s the exciting part. The motivation behind this change is to gather data on animal abuse nation-wide….
In this Episode of Bad Horse Ads we have the pleasure of two horses acting as the model of their breed and station, and one special old girl who’s looking for a good home. Mr….
The FEI begins distribution of their new slogan for the 2014 World Equestrian Rollkur Cup, to be held in Normandy, France. “See Something? Say Nothing!” In response to failed efforts leading up to the 2010 World…
In an ideal world, we’d all communicate to the horse use only with our mental intentions. But since we’re still living in the real world there is a compromise to be made, and using physical…
I could go on and on about how fear is perfectly normal and natural, but if you’re caught up in it you might be rolling your eyes and expecting this post to be all about…
Clinicians are a dime a dozen in today’s horse world, and often they give out really useless information to help wheedle you into paying for a clinic or training or to hock some new gadget…