Dog work is like horse work. The more you learn, the more you realize there is so much to learn. Dogs, horses, and humans all benefit from Dwell Time. Read more here. Over the past few months, I’ve been working with an accomplished herding dog […]
Editor’s Note: Guest columnist Katrin Silva grew up riding dressage in Germany before moving to the United States at age 19 to learn to ride Western. She’s been riding both disciplines for the last twenty years. Read her article on Contact here. Silva has competed […]
Mud, mud, glorious mud Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood So follow me follow, down to the hollow And there let me wallow in glorious mud — Flanders and Swann Mud Season’s around the corner. How will your back seat look? Is it […]
We welcome sweet Peeko to the NickerNews family. She may not be great at writing or marketing, but she’s certainly livening up the place. Peeko came from the wonderful folks at Ruff Patch Rescue, a foster-home centered rescue organization in Riverton, Utah. Led by Stacy […]
All rides can’t be golden. When things go sideways, the goal may be simply getting everyone home safe and sound, with nothing too traumatic to remember. If you look at those rides with a big lens, you’ll see they are blessings in disguise, for they […]
Sticking it to the man: Performing an act of civil disobedience in order to oppose established power hierarchy. Horses do it. Mules do it, too. No, we’re not anthropomorphizing. We’re just using this slang term to help describe how horses lower in the herd rank […]
Horse trainers like to say, “Make the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy.” I embraced the strategy with my dog, Kip, during our most recent training session. In this case, though, weather lent me a helping hand. As previously noted, Kip has had […]
Lessons continue for our Australian Shephard pup, Kip. Next phase of Ride Along Dog training? Hit the trails! [Read past Dog and Horses posts.] Since she’s not entirely savvy about traffic or strangers, I had to work out some safety-related logistics first: We picked […]
Kip, the Aussie pup, graduated from obedience class with average marks and now is ready for anything. Or, so she says. Thanks to Dr. Cynthia Reynold’s sage advice, my top priority now is making her safe around horses. Then, to make her trail savvy. She’s […]
The development of our Ride Along Dog reached a tipping point recently. At seven months, Kip has matured physically and mentally. Weighing 40 pounds, she’s all speed and agility. On the last few pasture walks, her herding nature has blossomed in full form. She’s done […]