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Are You a Safe Trail Rider?

Rider and runner on multi-use trail.

For many horseback riders, trail riding is the only way to go. But those of us who ride in the ring can benefit from heading out on the trail too. Trail riding provides a refreshing break from routine. Here's how to travel the trails safely.

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Katherine's Horses Blog

Try It Today: Practice Steady Hands

Thursday July 29, 2010

Here's a trick that I learned as a child, that may help you get the feel of keeping your hands quiet and steady as you learn to horseback ride. One of the more difficult things to do while learning to post the trot is to keep your hands independent of your body. The tendency is to lift your hands up and down as your body rises and falls when you post. The reason you don't want this to happen is because moving your hands around too much can result in some confusing and uncomfortable pulls on your horse's mouth. As you ride, you want to develop quiet, steady, sympathetic hands, that work independently from you body and give clear communication to your horse through the rein aids.

This Try It Today experiment is something you can practice in your kitchen at home and while it won't be exactly duplicate what happens as you ride, it may give you some idea of what should and shouldn't be happening with your hands as you ride.  So find a fence rail, chair back or counter-top and try it today!

'Try it Todays' are quick experiments that will help you learn about riding or horsemanship skills. After you've tried this experiment leave your observations in the comments below or contact me through one of these social networking sites. I'd love to hear about your results.

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What Is It Wednesday: What is This?

Wednesday July 28, 2010

What is it?

LaRaedo Stable Management Software Review

Tuesday July 27, 2010

Those of you who run stables may find this new online service useful. LaRaedo Stable Management Software allows you to keep records, send invoices and schedule events for your boarders and staff. The creators gave me an inside look at how the service works and I really liked its easy to use interface. There are lots of handy features that should help stable owners and managers organize and record the activities in their stable. Read my review and take advantage of the free fifteen day trial to see if it is the right fit for your horse boarding business.

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Disease and Illness Quiz

Monday July 26, 2010

How much do you know about common diseases and illnesses in horses?

Photo 2007 stock.xchng

Test your knowledge about Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis, EI, Equine Influenza or Flu in Horses, COPD Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Broken Wind or Heaves and other diseases and illness that horses can get. Hint: Get a better score by reading the information listed under Diseases and Illness.

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