An Affirmation of a Life Shared with Animals.
AnnaBlake | Relaxed&Forward Blog
by Anna Blake
1w ago
It’s springtime in the Rockies. The time change was last weekend, so I’m waking up at three am now, but there’s more light in the evening. I can see tiny bits of green if I bend over for a close look. Earlier this week we were out in shirtsleeves and now we’re halfway through a thirty-six-hour snowstorm. The horses are exhausted. It’s a dangerous time of year to be a horse, especially an older one. On Tuesday, I had a carcinoma removed from my nose. It took a few injections into that fleshy part of the bridge of my nose. Bad joke, I’ve already had so many pre-cancerous growths burned off, tha ..read more
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Nube: What If This Isn’t Wrong?
AnnaBlake | Relaxed&Forward Blog
by Anna Blake
2w ago
My first ex-husband used to tease me about my frantic love of shortcuts. I was always up early, on the run, impatient as a kindergarten class five minutes before recess. My multitasking skills were nothing short of genius, I thought. I did the work of a dozen in half the time. When my plans derailed, as they often did, he had a name for my shortcuts: alternate routes. We joke I should wear a big flashing yellow warning sign. On one of my shortcuts, I was irretrievably lost, my car broke down with no pay phone in sight, and swearing was no help at all. There was simply no way to be where I nee ..read more
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The Joy of Imperfection
AnnaBlake | Relaxed&Forward Blog
by Anna Blake
3w ago
We are sick to death of the violence against horses. It isn’t just the damage caused by rollkur in reining and dressage, or racing youngsters until their legs break, or the tragic mess rodeo has become, or the horses being tossed to auction for the crime of being old or lame. My personal thorn in the eye is the general acceptance of fear-based training in horses too young to be ridden. The numbers are astronomical, way higher than the abuse stories that hit the news. How did terrifying youngsters become so common that we barely notice it? Researchers inform us that they found the fabled “domi ..read more
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Are We Over-training Our Horses?
AnnaBlake | Relaxed&Forward Blog
by Anna Blake
1M ago
My Grandfather Horse was so good with latches he could have broken out of Alcatraz and made it back to Colorado, but he wasn’t special. We all brag about how intelligent our horses are when they react to the sound of our car driving up the driveway. They’re geniuses when they know it’s dinnertime, or when they nicker to us as we walk into the barn. Science has proven that horses recognize humans from years in their past and other studies show horses recognize the emotions on our faces. Don’t these things sound a bit self-serving, even egotistical? As if it’s the horse’s highest calling to be ..read more
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The Gap Between Wanting a Horse and Having the Horse You Want
AnnaBlake | Relaxed&Forward Blog
by Anna Blake
1M ago
Sometimes it happens behind a trailer. The horse needs a moment, but the human is in a hurry. Horses and humans famously define “hurry” differently. The human tries one approach, and the horse is almost ready to get in, but since the human doesn’t read Calming Signals, they give up and try something else. Then the horse has to start over, too. With each successive change in approach, the method escalates, and the horse can’t settle and think. We can’t give in and convince ourselves that harsh methods are needed. Now there are ropes and whips and we feel as cornered as the horse. The dream of ..read more
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Nube. More Dark Clouds and Questions With No Answers
AnnaBlake | Relaxed&Forward Blog
by Anna Blake
1M ago
The worst thing about remembering a horse in the past is that maybe there are options now that your horse only missed by a few years. For all that we don’t know about horses, for all the worry and grasping at symptoms, eventually it will be revealed. The stray symptoms, the unusual events, the chronic fear of not knowing will eventually tie itself up in a bow and become clear. There will be an answer, even if it’s too late. Or at some point, it hurts so much for both of you that it ceases to matter why. It just needs to stop. I had scraped every square inch of what anyone knew. Vets, bodywork ..read more
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Nube. Dark Clouds and Questions With No Answers
AnnaBlake | Relaxed&Forward Blog
by Anna Blake
1M ago
Nube (Nu-bay) was particular. He required my undivided attention in the saddle and on the ground. My focus had to be laser sharp. Most advanced horses require it and it was something I’d learned to do. Odd for such a young horse, but I decided it was good. It meant he would be a sharp horse. And he was a dream to ride, so willing and curious. His ears were inquisitive even trotting down the rail. He was young and I was slow to introduce new things, but nothing confused him, each transition from my breath, no fear or intimidation. If someone walking by the arena said hello to me and I responde ..read more
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How To Buy a Horse
AnnaBlake | Relaxed&Forward Blog
by Anna Blake
2M ago
He was a bay gelding in his teens when we met. A Quarter Horse with a bit of a downhill slant and it didn’t help that he was pigeon-toed. And he was a saint, an unsung hero, that elite caliber of a horse who could qualify as a lesson horse. I gave lessons to his owner, and she allowed me to teach lessons with him sometimes. I say with to flatter myself. Like all good lesson horses, he did all the work. I stood around reminding the rider to breathe and say thank you. I’m currently planning an online class called How to Buy a Horse. It’s going to be fun; we’re going to pretend-shop. But instead ..read more
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Edgar Rice Burro. All He is Saying is Give Peace A Chance.
AnnaBlake | Relaxed&Forward Blog
by Anna Blake
2M ago
Yet another horse trainer got tarred and feathered on social media this week. It happens all the time. People jumped on both sides of the debate, defending her and destroying her. Some knew what they were talking about, and others just wanted to vent. It’s easy to criticize from behind a computer screen. Edgar Rice Burro was appalled. He’s a donkey and deplores rudeness in humans. He’s also smart enough to stay off Facebook. Did the video show the trainer’s best moment? Probably not. Do I sound sympathetic to her situation? I am because, like her, I’m a target. I know how it feels to draw fir ..read more
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Trainer Love: In Memory of Seri
AnnaBlake | Relaxed&Forward Blog
by Anna Blake
2M ago
Seri died this week. She was never my horse, but she is part of the trainer I’ve become. Seri was a horse to reckon with. This photo of her and Edgar Rice Burro was taken during a fire evacuation. It’s a testament to who Edgar is that she allowed his company. Geldings were never up to her standard. Seri was a mare that was hard to please, in that way really good mares are. She expected us to be her equal in the arena, but also be quick with her lunch. When my client found her on Dreamhorse, she was well above almost anyone’s budget. A pinto Warmblood, tall, with big bones and beautiful gaits ..read more
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