The Whoa Podcast about Horses and Horsemanship

Safety on the Trail - Learning the Ropes It's a bit of a shame that we even have to talk about safety on the trail.  Once upon a time, it was you and your horse.  If you did a good job with your horse, you were safe.  Nowadays, there are outside factors.  Besides the usual dogs, as the open areas get gobbled up with developments, it forces many of us to ride in more urban areas.  That puts us into...

Inspiration from a Listener Anna Supp  Listener Anna Supp sent us this email in the hopes it would provide inspiration for others. If you have a story to share with others in our horse-loving community,  we would love to hear it. It can be about anything - your favorite trainer, your biggest "ah ha" moment, or the story of your horse.  Email to John@WhoaPodcast.com  and I'll do the rest. Hi John,...

Horse Show Preparation What does it take to prepare for a horse show?  We're not sure.  We're amateurs at this.  But, what we can tell you is how we prepared for our horse show. Ranae and I work together.  We each have our strengths.  Ranae is better at seeing my mistakes while riding.  She helps me with posture, where my hands are, and keeps me looking good while in the saddle.  I'm good at helpi...

Vesicular Stomatitis I had been hearing news about an equine disease vesicular stomatitis that was quarantining horses in Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming.  Looking for more about the disease, I contacted my vet, Dr. John Tolley of Bakersfield Large Animal Veterinary Hospital.  I recorded this interview on a Thursday, and I write this the following Tuesday.  The number of quarantined premi...

The Rabbit Hole Natural Horsemanship Do you go down rabbit holes?  Let me explain.  A rabbit hole is where you get an idea or suggestion and when you follow it, it takes you one place, then another, and then another.  Rabbit holes can be fun or a complete waste of time.  And yes, sometimes they can be both.  I'm not afraid to chase them.  Sometimes you can discover or rediscover new things. Let me...

Horse Racing Fatalities - A Candid Conversation with Journalist Natalie Voss If you listen to or watch the news, you have seen the stories about the horse racing fatalities at Santa Anita this year.  The number reached 30.  Some horses died on the practice track, while some of them died while racing.  They write the stories leading us to believe there has been a spike in horse racing fatalities th...

Relationship Based Horsemanship Mary Ann Brewer The phrase that best describes Mary Ann Brewer's philosophy with her horses is "Relationship Based Horsemanship".  She founded her company, In the Company of Horses , to integrate equine-assisted therapy and learning to help people with a variety of problems.  She works with corporations and she works with people struggling with the loss of a loved o...

Update on Jessie's Lameness My 19-year-old Foundation Quarter Horse mare, Jessie, has been struggling with lameness since the first of the year.  You can find out the background from a post in early May here: Lameness and My Mare Jessie After going through the lameness evaluation process and taking it up to the point of an MRI, we decided on a treatment program.  Jessie would get one gram of Bute...

Show Your Horse - Advice from Kim Kelly Whoa Podcast listeners are great!  I asked you to share your experiences and you come through again and again.  A few weeks back, I got an email from listener Kim Kelly.  Kim had always wanted to enter a horse show, but fear and insecurity held her back.  She kept chipping away at her goal, however, taking little steps and this year entered her first horse s...

Let's Talk Horse Vaccinations What vaccinations do you give your horse?  How often do you give them?  What happens if your horse has a reaction to one of his vaccinations?  These are questions I put to our listeners. As part of the dialogue we, got to hear from people in many parts of the United States.  Some folks prefer giving their horses the 5 and 6-way combination shots.  Some people spread t...

Leg Up Your Horse with Sam Finden Recently I asked listeners how they get their horse in condition, or legged up, after a winter's layoff.  It's been a long, cold, and wet winter in much of the country.  Here in California, we had snow in the nearby mountains and, as I write this, it's Memorial Day weekend.  We have only used our horses a few times in the last several months.  With peak riding tim...

Kellie Auld, Her Mare, Little Girl, and Lameness I've been asking you to share your stories about making medical decisions with your horses.  Kellie Auld from California sent me this email of a story she wanted to share about her mare, Little Girl. Kellie bought Little Girl as a 2-year-old.  Her registered name is Skip to My Leaguer.  Together they went all over California competing in little show...

Coming Back To Horses  Women are coming back to horses after raising a family.  There is a lot of life left after your children leave the nest.  Many people use these "Golden Years" to follow their dreams of once again owning a horse. Long-time listener Susan Hoskins raised eight children.  As they gradually left home to lead their own lives, Susan saw the writing on the wall.  She would need some...

Decision to Have Colic Surgery Hearing the words colic, navicular, founder, or strangles strike fear into every horse owner.  Colic happens when a horse's intestinal tract gets blocked.  In most cases a vet can open/dissolve/remove the blockage with a variety of different techniques.  When those fail however, one of the few remaining solutions is colic surgery.  Alyssa Severeid had to make the tou...

Lameness and My Mare Jessie The topic is:  How do YOU decide medical issues involving your horse.  How much weight do you place on quality of life issues?  How much do you place on usability of your horse?  And, finally, how much weight do you place on the cost of evaluation and treatment? I want you to tell me about your stories and situations, so here is my story.  My Foundation Quarter Horse ma...

Whoa Podcast 2.0 - Let's Change It Up Yes, I miss producing the podcast.  Sure, I have other things to do to fill the time (like riding my horse).  But, it simply got to difficult to schedule guests, record the interview, edit the interview, put together the open and close, publish it to the Stitcher , Spotify , iTunes , I Heart Radio , Google Play , and all the other places these go, then promote...

The Mustang, The Movie [caption id="attachment_2585" align="alignright" width="300"] Matthias Schoenaerts stars as Roman Coleman in Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre's THE MUSTANG, a Focus Features release. Credit: Tara Violet Niami / Focus Features[/caption] We talk to French filmmaker and director of the just-released movie, The Mustang , Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre.  If you're a listener to this show,...

Self-Defense For Trail Riders Sadly, the world we ride in is changing.  We need to take precautions to be safe when we ride.  It's called self-defense for a reason.  It's up to us to take responsibility.  Dogs, pedestrians, automobiles, or people with problems can be a menace on the trail.  Do you know how to handle a troubling situation? Many years ago at an equine expo I saw a program by Scott H...

Squatter Coffey Life has been a bit hectic of late.  Many months ago I received an email suggesting I have an Australian by the name of Squatter Coffey on the show.  As I do with all your suggestions, I try to contact the person and see if they want to be on the show.  Squatter did agree to come on the show, but we couldn't find a convenient time. You see, Squatter Coffey lives way out in a "rural...

Adriane DeWolfe Horsewoman Extreme Cowboy Racer   We first met Adriane DeWolfe at a playday with fellow Downunder Horsemanship friends.  it was great getting together with like-minded people to work on our collective horsemanship skills.  Adriane was there with her horse Toaster, a mustang.  Ranae had brought Dusty and I was working with Scratch.  It was clear that Adriane was a serious horsewoman...

Last year we had the privilege of attending the Best Horse Practices Summit in Durango, Colorado.  While we couldn't make it this year, we wanted to see what they had in store. Maddy Butcher joins to talk about who will be presenting this year and what they will be talking about.  This is a very special event that focuses on scientific evidence designed to inspire you to reach for higher levels of...

Cowboy Dressage Clinic with Dave Ellis Cowboy Dressage, Western Dressage , and Working Equitation are all just a little bit different.  Their goals are very similar:  have your horse negotiate a course using basic horsemanship maneuvers.  The scoring is based on your smoothness and accuracy in cueing your horse. We had an opportunity to experience an "Introductory Cowboy Dressage" Clinic at a loca...

Whoa Podcast Update 2018 Today I'll be talking more about podcasting than horses, so if you tune out, I'll understand. We wanted to get you a podcast update on what is happening at Whoa Podcast for 2018.  It's our 6th year and, what started out as a conversation between Ranae and me about Downunder Horsemanship kept growing and growing.  I wanted it to be a place where regular folks could share th...

Clinton Anderson of Downunder Horsemanship Rebroadcast I began following Clinton Anderson and Downunder Horsemanship before he titled his program the Method.  It was 2005, I was 51 and was helping my wife get through a tough time with her horse.  I had never owned a horse of my own, but the techniques I learned through the DVD programs gave me the confidence to get my first horse.  Truth be told,...

FJ Thomas Returns Jewel Thomas releases her 2nd children's book, Pedro's Problemo. FJ "Jewel" Thomas is an avid horsewoman, an author of both novels and children's books, and a wonderful friend of the Whoa Podcast .  We spoke with FJ after the release of her first novel, Lost Betrayal , nearly two years ago.   Since then she has written two children's books, a couple of more novels, and is working...