Talented and upbeat only begins to describe Mary Miller Jordan

Talking with Mary Miller Jordan, you can’t help getting inspired. A premier competitor at next month’s American Horsewoman’s Challenge, she perfectly oozes energy and positivity. I reached her at her Kelly, North Carolina farm, where she was juggling horse work, chores, and minding her four-year […]

DIY Round Pen

Editor’s Note: This post was initially written in 2014 and has been updated. I thought that I was handy and strong and that my DIY accomplishments were somewhat impressive. Then I met Raechel Nelson. The young dentist and future Best Horse Practices Summit board member […]

DIY Cement Donut

The problem: A gate fixture that gets muscled around by six curious equines. On a daily basis, this gate becomes hard to open and hard to readjust when horses mess with it. The fixture is actually a post embedded in a cement-filled tire. It weighs […]

Trouble on the trail reveals holes in training

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 […]

Ol’ Timers weigh in on mules

The other day, I was chatting with friend, Elijah Moore, about my progress with Jolene, the new mule. He’s spent more time with horses than mules, but still had some amusing, insightful words: “Mules are unique because they think. Mules are to horses as goats […]

Spotlight on Baja Vaqueros

This year’s National Cowboy Poetry Gathering will shine the spotlight on the vaqueros of Baja California, folks who still adhere to the ranching and horsemanship ways used for hundreds of years on the rugged Mexican peninsula. They use horses and mules for their work with […]

Water, water, nowhere

As summer winds down, I’m giving thanks to a spectacular season; one that gave me a crash course in riding and hiking essentials here in Utah. Watch new video Sure, there’s the need for carrying a cell phone, a good knife, and for wearing sunscreen. […]

Peters on weighty matters

Dr. Steve Peters, the neuropsychologist whose collaboration with horseman Martin Black produced Evidence-Based Horsemanship, joined the call for better horsemanship through better personal health with his recent Personal Statement, posted on the Evidence-Based Horsemanship facebook page. It echoed recent BestHorsePractices posts, which explained research and […]

NickerNews at the OR

At NickerNews and BestHorsePractices nearly all our posts come from getting outside and spending time with horses. This week, however, we spent entirely indoors and horseless. Small sacrifice for what will be gained for our readership! Specifically we were at the Salt Palace Convention Center […]

Great sharing features for rides and riders

As summer wraps up, the time is ripe for celebrating the season’s great rides, checking off some from the To Do list and make plans for bigger and better ones. Redmond Equine has a great way to share and get inspired with their new FaveRide […]