WHAT DOES "I DON'T KNOW" SOUND LIKE?  

Have you ever wondered why so many horse people avoid saying "I don't know?" 

I like to ask questions. Always have. My parents encouraged it, but I'm sure I drove some teachers crazy in my youth. Before the World Wide Web, there were less opportunity and options for knowledge. I had to find answers from books or the people around me who seemed to have lots of experience. Problem was, my intuition often sensed the answer wasn't complete or didn't match the reality in front of me.

Have...

Can YOUR horse get navicular?

     A few years ago I met a friend at a boarding facility where I saw a jumper mare being ridden in the indoor arena. She was being cantered around the large space, jumping two fences on one long side and repeating the mundane line over and over again in an obedient but almost robotic way. She was a beautiful big mare, but I couldn't help seeing the obvious tightness in her body, her toe-first landings, the stoic 'try',  and  felt a loss of participation and joy from her. ...

I wrote this article over 2 decades ago. It still reflects so many other horse owners' experiences.

          I had an Arabian horse named Sham. He was ready to retire and I was looking for a second horse. I surfed ads for half-Friesians and found a website called Equinextion with some beautiful horses for sale … and some different stuff about ‘Barefoot and Natural’.

          When I’d bought Sham, with his super tall...