A Triple Warm Sweatshirt

For horse owners, range of motion needs don’t stop when it gets cold. We are still tossing hay, hauling water, and mucking manure – all movements that demand strength, stretch, and up/down/sideways action. We also need any outer garment to be made of tough, rip-resistant […]

Problem Solved: Case Equestrian Knife

This week we hear from incoming Best Horse Practices Summit board member and trade show manager, Julie Kenney. Julie lives and rides in Harpswell, Maine, where she maintains Blackberry Farm. She reviews the Equestrian Knife from Case, a storied knife-making company founded by four brothers […]

Elko Favorites

When you come to your senses and put a winter Elko pilgrimage on your Must Do list, here are some favorite bits to pique your interest. Read more about the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering here. Favorite Alternative Event to the NCPG: If the NCPG is […]

Why Elko and the NCPG?

Northern Nevada may be beautiful, but is not lush. In the winter, it is windy and cold. One might even call it “unwelcoming.” So the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, hosted by the Western Folklife Center and held annually for the last 35 years, stands in […]

Tim McGaffic on Training and the Clicker

In response to our article on Clicker Training, we hear from Tim McGaffic, a Colorado trainer. McGaffic was introduced to Ray Hunt during the 1980s while working with difficult horses. The experience changed his thinking about how to handle horses and set him on a […]

You Should Be in Elko

It’s Day One of my annual attendance of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. So excited! Before the multitude of concerts, dances, and poetry recitations, the Gathering hosts several educational workshops, intimate one-, two-, or three-day classes led by experts. You can learn […]

Getting Out with the Right Gear

I reached a turning point about 10 years ago. After the good times of fort building and snowball fights and then introducing my sons to fort building and snowball fights, I’d come to disdain the coldest season. I’d complain through most of it and spend […]

Nicker Review: Patagonia Silent Down Jacket

Amy Skinner lends a hand with this review of Patagonia’s Silent Down Jacket, made of stretchy recycled polyester shell and 100 percent recycled down. Check out our NickerReview page Check out our Holiday Gift Guide Skinner writes: Winter in North Carolina is supposed to be […]

Nicker Review: LL Bean Down Sweater Vest

We hear from Julie Kenney with this review of LL Bean’s Ultralight 850 Down Sweater Vest Check out our NickerReview page Check out our Holiday Gift Guide Kenney writes: Vests come in many different materials and weights to help keep our core warm and allow […]

What to Wear in a Storm

In the little canyon where I live, eighteen inches of snow fell this weekend. As often happens with us horse owners, the storm doubled my work time, mostly in the form of shoveling. Snowy winters mean everything takes longer; tossing hay to the horses is […]