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    Tag: Horse Training

    • Story Snippets: Flora

      I barely mentioned Flora, the oldest mare at the rescue, in my memoir. Though I didn’t work with her often, Flora was a wonderful dark bay with a generally pleasant personality, aside from a few quirks. She had a terrible fear of clippers, whips, and fly masks, and grumpyness about picking her feet up. She…

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    • Ponderings

      Things have been really chaotic on all fronts this week, so this blog post may be a bit scattered. Things at work made me realize over again that not everyone is going to like me. Sometimes it’s not for any good reason. Just as I can clash with someone else’s personality, so they can clash…

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    • Old Paths

      Yesterday I was caught off guard by something I thought I had already worked through. It wasn’t a big thing, I just got unusually angry about a situation that shouldn’t have been a big deal. I had to go back and reevaluate why I was so stressed about it. The anger and fear had snuck…

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    • Bits and Pieces

      I read a book the other day that was recommended to me by a horse group that I follow. It wasn’t something I would have picked up without a recommendation, but I was curious. The book had some things in it I didn’t agree with, but I also found things I hadn’t thought of in…

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    • Self-Aware, Horse-Aware

      The equestrian world is intent on the appearance of leadership and strength. Perhaps I should back up a bit and say that it’s true for the entire dominant culture of the United States. Don’t quit, don’t cry, don’t back down… When things get tough, we’re encouraged to beat the odds, fight to win, and make…

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    • A Task Without an Outcome

      There’s a pony at the barn where I currently volunteer who is afraid of putting her face in a halter. She had been rescued from an abusive situation and is taking a while to warm up to the idea of voluntarily having something approaching her face. To catch her in the field, usually someone has…

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    • The Fear of Embarrassment

      All of us have felt the sinking feeling of embarrassment at some point in our lives. Something goes wrong and suddenly you’re wishing you were anywhere else but there. Maybe your heart was racing, you broke out in a sudden sweat, or felt numb. Maybe you got angry or struggled to hold back tears. The…

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