Looking for a Good Time

As a kid, I was pretty clueless about horses and riding. My mom and grandma taught what they could to a stubborn but enthusiastic girl. Mom sent me to English lessons for a while. I can still hear the drone of the instructor’s voice across […]

Dog is Good. Horse is Good

What do you do with all those catalogs that come as junk mail? Do you browse through them? Recently, they go automatically to the recycling bin for me. I don’t even thumb through. More often, I’ll browse and shop on line. And when I like […]

Chincoteague Ponies just peachy

The Fire Chief of tiny Chincoteague, Virginia (population 4,347) may not be a horseman, but he had an idea that the Chincoteague ponies would take care of themselves if given the chance. The manager of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge thought so, too. So instead […]

Horses: Nonplussed or Verklempt

Ok, I love words, especially when you can have fun with them. Forgive me in advance for this post’s tangents. Yesterday, we took a long ride across the Greencastle Bridge and into the next town of North Liberty. I’ve become quite fond of snack breaks […]

Equine Therapy in Child-Size Doses

Us horse owners are so lucky. We get to soak up good equine vibes daily. And we get to share. This summer, I had the privilege of introducing a young friend to trail riding. Gracie, a four-year old suburbanite, took to it quickly. She had […]

I Wanna Go

A friend turned me onto a Los Angeles Times story about Mary Breckenridge. At 64, she crosses the High Sierra with two mules and a saddle horse. She’s done it for years and has some incredible insight about being alone in nature and relating only […]

Mounted Search & Rescue, of sorts

It was a helluva 24 hours. It started when I went for a quick jog with my dogs on wildlife management land a few miles from home. A beautiful fall day until my black lab, Ruby, disappeared somewhere along the Iowa River. I called and […]

Dogs and Horses Go Together

Tis the season for polls and surveys. Take a quick one – how many of your horse-owning friends also have dogs? I’m betting nearly all of them do. Woof and Hoof. Bark and Buck. Dogs and horses go together. But how many have dogs that […]

Horse Health on Maine’s Mind

Most horse owners are learn-a-holics. They’re interested in improving their horses’ lives. Often it involves the horse and rider partnership. But sometimes the best learning investment can be straight-up science and equine health. The University of Maine is offering what looks to be an excellent […]

Welcome NickerNews readers

Welcome to the new NickerNews blog! According to our analytics, the blog has become the most popular element of NickerNews. And yet, over the years, the rate of comment spamming has increased to distasteful levels. On top of that, the comment registration is a pain. […]