

Teaching Baby About Picking Up His Feet.
(This short post has turned into a very long one but feet handling without problems is such an important step in educating a young horse, I thought it was worth it)
A few months ago, I had the opportunity to spend time with Phil Maddox. Phil is a New Zealand-based professional horse trainer who specializes in stress-free weaning, foal handling and starting young horses under saddle. Phil came to spend a few weeks with Manolo at La Mancha. He is quiet and gentle with the hor


The First Thing I do when I Become Responsible for a Horse...
For my first post, I wanted to share the very first thing I do when a new horse is placed in my care: I measure and record its vital signs (VS) to establish what its “normal” readings are and to create a baseline for future reference. To me, it is perhaps the most important thing a horse owner, carer or trainer can learn to do since knowing what the average horse VS are, having a baseline for your individual horse and knowing how to measure your horse’s VS in case of an emerg