Horses are Weather, Part A

Working with our horses for the short NickerNews holiday video taught me something about their nature. In two words: Predictably unpredictable. Like the weather. I rode Shea and ponied two others to the far end of the field. Herd dynamics being what they are, I […]

Ride Along Dog Progress

If we got another dog, we wanted a Ride Along Dog. Thus, the summer acquisition of Kip, an Australian Shepherd from a litter of eight down the road. Kip’s growing up and at six months can outrun nearly everyone here at the farm. Her speed […]

Jodi Makes Progress Thanks to Shea

Progress with the big girl took a big step forward today as we worked with her in the round pen. Steve worked with another horse first and Jodi stood outside, wanting in. A good sign! When she got her turn, Steve first worked on the […]

NickerNews on Campus

Last week, I visited a college class called “Facing Your Demons.” Ok, the course was actually “Product, Brand, and Category Management,’ a business class offered by instructor Anne King at Mt. Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. King invited me to speak to her students […]

Starting Jodi

With this improved blog, comes categorization and today we introduce a new one: Starting Jodi. (see categories listed above image) NickerNews readers have come to know the horses in my life. The newest is Jodi. We acquired her in July from a kind Wisconsin owner. […]

Man, Horse, Deer

Can you see the deer in this top image? Scroll down for a closer look! Ah, Deer Season. In Maine, deer hunters hang out in the thick woods. They can use rifles and the gun season runs the length of November, more or less. It’s […]

Warwick Schiller makes the right thing easy

Warwick Schiller flew under my radar at first. The Australian transplant (he calls California home now) watched the horsemen of the Horsemen’s Re-Union with me last April. We talked about what they were doing and who was doing well. He’s friendly, knowledgeable, and outgoing. It […]

Honored to be Ignored

We’ve had some mild days this autumn. They come after a stretch of cold ones that had my girls anxious for hay at all hours. They seemed to be girding themselves for the long winter ahead. But yesterday, we got into the 50s. The warm […]

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 […]