Best Horse Practices Podcast

This is Episode 17 of Season Three and it's time for another Coaches' Corner with Jec and Amy Skinner. They answer a listener question from Lisa, who asks about proper lunging practices. It's a great back and forth, short and to the point. Or I should say points, because there are several.  Before I get to sponsor mentions, I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about a few things I've been up to...

This is Episode 16 of Season Three. Another special episode! We offer this week another recorded Question and Answer session with presenters at the Best Horse Practices Summit, an annual conference I direct, with academic and arena presentations. In this session, Dr. Sheryl King moderates and presenters Josh Nichol, Patrick King, and Jec Ballou offer answers. Dr. King also chimes in with her thoug...

This is Episode 15 of Season Three. A special episode! You listeners might know that I direct the Best Horse Practices Summit , an annual conference with academic and arena presentations. This year, it was held in Kentucky and we had many fabulous presenters on everything from colic to stockmanship to saddlefit. At the last minute, however, Dr. Doug Thal , a veterinarian from New Mexico, came down...

This is Episode 14 of Season Three. And in it, we give Wise Ass Wallace the mic again to talk about two juicy topics: helmets and colt starting competitions. Wise Ass got some help from the likes of Mark Rashid and Amy Skinner on the colt starting bit. And around helmets, he had some communication with the board of the Best Horse Practices Summit. WiseAss is having his day because of what Jec and...

Jec interviews Alicia Harlov, owner of the Humble Hoof and the Humble Hoof podcast. In their conversation, Jec and Alicia talk a lot about horse management - things that might not seem like they have anything to do with hooves. But, of course, everything has to do with hooves and hooves are like canaries in a coal mine. I mean, the wellness of a hoof can tell you a lot about the whole horse, its e...

This is Episode 12 of Season Three and in it, Jec interviews Amy Skinner for a Coaches' Corner. Jec and Amy continue a thread that we have recently introduced to our podcast. It's a pushback from what we see as a trend towards the warm and fuzzies in horse circles. By warm and fuzzies, we mean attending to methods, promotions of hacks, and proclamations that may indeed serve the human and her need...

This is Episode 11 of Season three and in it, Jec interviews Dr. Sheryl King, this year's keynote speaker at the Best Horse Practices Summit in Kentucky. In this conversation, Jec and Dr. King discuss a few myth-busting ideas around horse management. It's a good segue from last week's introduction to the anti-warm and fuzzies campaign-- maybe we should call it the cool and clear-zies dialogue? Coo...

This episode marks the beginning of what Jec and I believe will be intermittent commentary on a troubling trend we are seeing in the horse world.  Led by certain entities - and by entities, we mean individuals, teams, and the programs and platforms they generate -  there's an increasing focus on what we'll call for shorthand the warm and fuzzies. Let's define the warm and fuzzies here as strategie...

This is episode 9 of season three and in it, Jec interviews Andria Massie, an integrative therapist who works with her husband, Dr. Keaton Massie, in Oregon. Together, they run Massie Veterinary Service . Here, Jec and Andria discuss rehabilitation and also the trend in collaborative care, one might even call it palliative care for horses. Some interesting ideas, especially for high level performe...

Jec interviews Dr. Stacie Boswell, a vet and author based in Montana. Stacie wrote T he Ultimate Guide for Horses in Need , a book about the care, training, and rehabilitation for rescues, adoptions, and horses in transition. Here, Jec and Stacie discuss horse stress: How does stress manifest in horses? How can we help them? As you might imagine, I have two cents on this. Most stress for horses is...

A departure from our usual episode, in both format and content, in which producer Maddy Butcher visits with listeners about recent deaths in her world.  Check out the interview with Francis Weller, an article called the Geography of Sorrow in The Sun magazine.   

In Episode 6 of Season 3, Jec interviews Molly Gloss , an author from Oregon. She has been decorated with numerous awards. She wrote The Hearts of Horses , a novel based around 1917 in Oregon. Martha, the main character, is a colt starter in rural Oregon while many cowboys were in Europe, fighting in World War I. I was keen to hear about her research for this project. Our title sponsor is Lucerne...

In this episode, Jec interviews Amy Skinner for a Coaches' Corner around maintenance. It's a funny concept to shake up a routine, right? Because routines are, by definition, repeated, standard procedures. It is such a fun discussion and I know it will have significant points and ideas for any and all. A little something about our last episode on calming signals. It's been kind of bothering me. And...

In this episode, Jec interviews Anna Blake , a Colorado horsewoman with a popular blog and several volumes of her life with horses, in prose and poetry. The two focus on calming signals. More on that in a sec, after I mention two terrific sponsors quickly. Our title sponsor is Lucerne Farms , producers of quality forage feeds.  And Lucerne is this fantastic company in northern Maine. And forage is...

In this episode, we talk about adult learning. It's a topic suggested by Natalie in Montana and we got help bouncing it around with Liz and Chris in California. Natalie is working on a ranch and taking riding lessons. She sees roping calves and doctored and asks: Can I ever succeed at that level? As it happens, co-host Maddy Butcher was doing some adult learning with a few lessons with Katrin Silv...

In this is episode, Jec chats with Ali Kermeen about working equitation. It's a relatively new discipline that's open to riders of all disciplines and Ali has a new book about it. Find her Working Equitation book here .  If you're thinking that working equitation sounds a bit like ranch versatility, you are correct although we're not diving into the details in this episode. I hope you're curious a...

Welcome to Season 3! Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover ways to better connect with their horses. Plus, we like to feel safe and have fun. Fitness, of mind and body, the ability to think critically about your horse work as well as embracing a beginner's mind are all parts of this lucky equine equation that Jec and I hold dear....

This episode is dedicated to a listener question from Julie in New Mexico. Her question has to do with cross training. A lot of us like to do other activities aside from riding – yoga, swimming, or, in this case, running. As it happens, Jec and I are both runners. So is Katrin Silva, a Best Horse Practices Summit presenter and part of the Cayuse Collaborative Clinic initiative. Together, we chat a...

Hello listeners! Since I last recorded an episode, there has been the death of my mare, Shea, the wedding of my son and his new wife, a trip to Denver  and some cow work. Along with a few minor emergencies. In other words, life hit a bit of a streak! I continue to be buoyed by feedback and engagement from listeners. One of our listeners is Art, a rider and retired engineer from Michigan. He has a...

In this episode, we respond to a listener question about bitless options. Ellie writes from Zimbabwe. Pretty nifty, huh? She says: my question is about 'bitless' bridles, side pulls, or the bosals or any other type of 'bitless' bridle that you may have had experience with. Which would be most suitable for what horse, temperament, type of exercise or work. I am in the process of starting a horse. W...

In this episode, Jec visits with Alayne Blickle of Horses for Clean Water . Alayne is a former Best Horse Practices Summit presenter based in Idaho. Here, she talks about many strategies we can use to address best practices around horse management. Got ticks? Got mud? Got mice? Got flies? Got wind? There are great insights here. I hope you enjoy the show. Watch her BHPS presentation on Sustainable...

In this episode, Jec visits with Lynn Acton for a Coaches' Corner discussion around treats. I am really pleased that they are taking this topic. Like you, I have an opinion around treating that has been reinforced by experience and experimentation. In general, I don't feed treats. I think it can absolutely create a safety problem and I believe there are much better ways to reward a horse. But. I h...

Best practices. Most of the time, we are talking about the very tangible, practical matters of care and riding and management and handling. All that stuff is endlessly important and we are very keen on getting that information out on the airwaves and into your ears. But lately, we're also interested in sharing thoughts on how we build ourselves up as competent, empowered, open-minded horse owners...

In this episode, Jec visits with Mary Ann Simonds in a discussion around how to keep horses happy in their domestic spaces. It's a wide ranging interview and Mary Ann well versed in a wide range of subjects. While her work is mostly with sport horses and competitive riders, there are a lot of take-aways for us more ordinary riders with our more ordinary horses.  I think you will also dig the Ridin...

In this episode, Jec visits with Amy Skinner for a Coaches' Corner. Always a good listen! As listeners may know, I come from a different place than Amy and Jec and, it seems, their students. I rarely ride in an arena. I don't compete. I lack a specific game plan for myself and my horses. BUT. I am starting to go to the fairgrounds once a week, taking my two geldings, and doing stuff (which, by the...