I brought Rainy to Pat’s barn, and she helped me to feel what “pushing the horse up into your hands” feels like, and then she worked with Rainy while I watched. Rainy and I have both been building our abdominal muscles since this lesson! See the video clips below of Pat teaching me about this.
Previously I had been struggling with asking Rainy to carry her head in a prettier position using my hands (that’s a common mistake but a no-no nonetheless) and in this lesson something finally clicked and I …

Here we are on a very hot morning riding with Rainy. Harper has been riding for some time now, and on this day she invited brother Dylan to share her lesson. Dylan did a great job, and this was his first time riding! Their nanny, RachelAnn, took videos and photos, and both kids were very patient as they waited their turn to ride.

1. Make sketches of composition and painting ideas on scratch paper.2. Prime the canvas or board with black (or nearly black) acrylic paint.3. Draw in the painting idea with a pencil. The pencil line shows up nicely on the dark surface.4.Get an idea for color schemes. (Or begin without a plan and wing it.)5. Paint in the shapes beginning with the darkest colors, going almost to the edges of the pencil drawing. This gap between shapes will leave a rough black line around everything. I use …

My friend Lauraine Smith and I competed in the Villa Louis Carriage Classic in Prairie Du Chein, Wisconsin this past weekend. We trailered our mares together and had a great time. Lauraine’s horse, Reba, was very good and got some nice ribbons in each event and class. She drove in the Novice Horse division which was a very competitive group.These are photos of Rainy and I in the reinsmanship class. We won second place in our division for this class (Novice Large Pony) and I …

Lauraine Smith driving her 6 year old Morgan mare, “Reba” in her Villa Louis debut. Gretchen Grzelak riding as groom.These ladies were my fantastic help during the drive and ride.
In the Drive and Ride, I wore the same sensible clothes for the driving part as I had in all the other classes. Lauraine and Gretchen came in to help me unhitch and change tack.
Then to an unsuspecting audience, I stripped off my plain clothes to reveal a wild flamenco dress underneath! I could have driven and ridden …