This weekend at the farm we held a two day Introduction to Team Penning and Ranch Sorting Clinic and I decided why not try this out with my little off the track friend, Sure Prize…
Posts Published by Diary of an OTTB
Horse Hoof Abscesses: A Complete Guide for Beginners
Last week I had to deal with a common cause for sudden and otherwise unprompted lameness with my buddy Mr. Sure Prize: an abscess in the hoof. But for new horse owners and beginners, what…
Experience Isn’t Just Helpful… It’s Everything
As someone with less than a decade of experience with horses, I’m what you’d call an amateur in the equestrian world. And much to my dismay, there is no fast track or express route to…
We’re Going to Kentucky!
After much debate and a few antsy weeks of waiting, on February 1st my fiancee Lisa got the email she’d been hoping for. She was accepted as a trainer in for the 2019 Thoroughbred Makeover…
Legends of the Track: Northern Dancer
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve hopped on Facebook and seen something like this in horse groups. [Insert breeding chart] “What do you think of my new guy’s breeding?” … “Would he make…
This Week With Indy: Consistency v. Repetition
Some people really REALLY hate the snow. You probably know exactly who I’m talking about… you might even be one of those people. I’m not. I actually… enjoy… the snow. Call it a by-product of…
Training A Horse For Straightness
By nature all horses are crooked and asymmetrical. You probably understand this if you’ve ever ridden a horse who’s not quite sure what you’re asking them to do…. and you probably already know what that…
19 Horse Videos to Watch for Inspiration in 2019
Instead of making New Year’s Resolutions that I know I’ll forget about before May, I like to do something a bit different this time of year. In the Northeast it’s hard to always be motivated…
This Week With Indy: Getting to Maybe
After a two week hiatus for the annual holiday pilgrimage to my parents’ house in Northern New York, I’m back at the farm and that can only mean one thing for my boy Sure Prize…
Building a Balanced Horse
Any horse person worth their salt will tell you if you ride five laps to the right it should probably be followed by five laps to the left. Why? Because we’re constantly trying to make…
Teaching Your Horse to Ground Tie
Have you ever had trouble getting your horse to stand still? In the barn? For the farrier? On the trails? Does your horse have trouble tying or standing cross-tied? There’s a simple, practical skill you…
What Is “Collection” & Why Is It So Important?
Whenever you’re working with a horse you, as a rider, have a certain responsibility to that animal. It’s part of the moral contract that makes the whole endeavor of working with animals, and in my…
This Week With Indy: Conditioning for Relaxation, Ground Tying & Changing Up Our Routine
With the holiday season quickly approaching this is probably the most inconsistent time of the season for me in terms of how frequently I’ve gotten to work my boy, Mr. Indiana Jones otherwise known by…
Top 10 Most Helpful OTTB Training Books & Videos
Prior to August 23, 2018, the day that my own off-track Thoroughbred stepped off the trailer, I had zero experience in retraining an ex-racehorse. Sure I’d worked plenty of other broke horses, but never a…
[VIDEO] Happy Race-iversary, Sure Prize!
I read somewhere once upon a time that of the tens of thousands of thoroughbreds born and raised to race in the United States only about half will make it to the track and from…