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 […]

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 […]

Horse Skeleton offers nightmares, but no answers

For nights after discovering this skeleton, I had trouble sleeping. Couldn’t get the image out of my head. Instead, I extrapolated back to this horse’s final days – it died a pointless and likely painful, drawn-out death, getting tangled in branches by its blankets. Ridiculously, […]

Saddlebag Gotta-Haves

No doubt moving makes you appreciate what’s left behind. Sure, I love Utah. But where’s my Slipstream granola and Eco Lips lip balm? Two great products for day packs and saddlebags. I stumbled across both Iowa products while cruising farmer’s markets and reading local papers […]

Maine to Utah, circa 1849

Imagine my delight in learning a Maine family was among the first white folk to settle in this neighborhood! Meet Thomas and Mary Jane Butterfield of Farmington, Maine. [Photo at right shows the stone and brass monument, erected in their hometown, Herriman.] In the 1830’s, […]

Pony’s Rep Intact

The darling pony, Peppermint, treats every new enclosure as a formal challenge. Her escape antics and subsequent escapades could make up an entire NickerNews category. Read Pep’s stories. Pep, meet Bryon. Byron Harward is the kind, generous host at West Field’s Ranch in Payson, Utah, […]

First Utah Rides

We’ve explored about 15 miles of Utah by horseback since landing here last month. It’s a paltry sum, eeked out from the horses’ temporary digs in Payson. The biggest difference between here and Iowa and Maine? Space. You have room to see. In every direction, […]