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1 week ago | 
chronofhorse.com | Jennifer B. Calder |Tracy Gold |Hannah Sherk |Jamie Sindell
Truly balancing your horse requires understanding both longitudinal balance (front-to-back) and lateral balance (side-to-side). This delicate balancing act becomes particularly critical when navigating turns and circles. The Natural Banking TendencyPicture your horse with imaginary airplane wings extending from his shoulders. Just as an airplane banks during turns, horses naturally lean into curves.
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2 months ago | 
chronofhorse.com | Tracy Gold |Camilla Mortensen |Sara Bradley |Jamie Sindell
Let’s make a slightly delayed New Year’s resolution, horse professionals: 2025 is going to be the year that you look at your savings and retirement plans, or lack thereof, and put some actual plans in place. I know, I know, horse people never retire, we just subsist on coffee and ibuprofen and yell, “half HALT!” louder and louder. But just imagine for a moment that you made plans and saved and could decide whether or not you’d like to have a different life at some point in the future.
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2 months ago | 
chronofhorse.com | Camilla Mortensen |Sara Bradley |Jamie Sindell |Lauren Sprieser
The best school horses transcend beyond flesh and fur. They become legends. The barn where I ride recently lost one of their beloved school ponies, Anne. Feisty in her youth, Anne had long ago stepped down to teaching beginners and toting kids. By the time my 6-year-old daughter, Ava, got to know Anne, the pony had already become quite a legend. Decades ago, Anne came to Tranquillity Manor Farms in Maryland from a rescue.
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Jan 20, 2025 | 
chronofhorse.com | Lauren Sprieser |Jamie Sindell |Eliza Sydnor Romm |Melissa Wright
I often blog about my oldest daughter, but I also have an 8-year-old who’s smack in the “middle-child” zone in our circus of five. From a young age, she was absolutely terrified of anything unfamiliar and, full disclosure, her anxiety made her extremely challenging to parent. I didn’t know it at the time, but all it took was stepping out of her way and letting the horses work their magic. She has transformed into a whole different kid. It was far from love at first sight, though.
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Jan 17, 2025 | 
chronofhorse.com | Lauren Sprieser |Jamie Sindell |Eliza Sydnor Romm |Melissa Wright
In my show career, I learned that there are times—often what seem, to me, to be random times—when Humans will insist upon doing more than just combing your hair. They will show up in the middle of the night or early in the morning hellbent on making your hair look as terrible as their own. As far as I’m concerned, Human decisions about when to braid are totally arbitrary.
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Jan 8, 2025 | 
chronofhorse.com | Christina Keim |Promoting Dressage |Sue Weakley |Jamie Sindell
My human is just … a lot. She means well, and she tries hard, but she has a lot of room for improvement. Take, for example, her approach to my management this fall. I won two regional championships and one national championship for us, after which she (wisely) gave me a richly deserved vacation. But her idea of vacation and my idea of vacation are very different. I think vacation should be about doing your favorite things, which for me is hacking and stretching and running away with her.
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Dec 4, 2024 | 
horsenetwork.com | Jamie Sindell
In my younger years, I dabbled. I dipped my toes in dressage, hunter paces, and eventing. I attempted Western. Fun fact: my crowning achievement was winning a blinged-out belt buckle. Turns out, my warmblood was an overgrown snail who killed it in Western Pleasure. I was a riding adventurer! Sadly, though, unlike fine wine that mellows with age, I’ve grown more rigid. I’m less confident as a rider, falling further into the depths of my hunter-y comfort zone.
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Dec 4, 2024 | 
chronofhorse.com | Jamie Sindell |Melissa Wright |Eliza Sydnor Romm |Mollie Bailey
I’m back, folks. It’s true that I’ve been on sabbatical from my human management columns for some years now, but have no fear, your sensei has returned. And your sensei isn’t all that happy with you. I’ve spent the past couple of years retired from the Show Human Circuit, happily ensconced in a great equine therapy program where I work with kind riders who are appropriately grateful for my ability to stand still and eat treats.
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Nov 27, 2024 | 
chronofhorse.com | Kimberly Loushin |Hannah Sherk |Jamie Sindell |Eliza Sydnor Romm
If you want to make a small fortune in the horse world, you better start with a big one. This old joke is funny because it’s true. And if you’re an equine professional, it’s also sad because it’s true.
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Nov 22, 2024 | 
theplaidhorse.com | Jamie Sindell
By JAMIE SINDELLHere’s the scenario. I’m looking for a unicorn on a finite budget for my kiddo. It’s a grueling task, endlessly scouring ads on social media. Finally, paydirt! I uncover a promising horse and speak with the agent. The gelding seems perfect. Exactly the horse I was beginning to think we couldn’t find, unless I sold an organ on the dark web for extra cash. I try to quell the excitement about Mr. Perfect. There’s a catch; a buyer in line first.
