Hand Feeding – Yay or Neigh? One Rider’s Perspective. I know people who are adamantly against hand feeding. I know others who are just as adamantly in favor. I find myself in the middle between…
When Your Hobby Becomes Work: How to Balance Life and Horses I hate to admit this, but lately I’ve been having a hard time getting to the barn. My passion for horses and riding is still burning as bri…
Dressage Seat Equitation: Calling All Adult Amateurs! What to do when you’ve reached a plateau in competitive dressage: try your hand at earning a Dressage Seat Equitation award from the USDF!
What My Horse Has Taught Me I was very lucky to start riding as a kid, 23 years ago, and to be able to continue to do so through the years. Initially, I used to ride…
What I’ve Learned Since I Quit Horse Showing I remember a time when my life was just riding and sleeping between horse shows. My summers were spent in anticipation, waiting for the nex…
Newman’s Winter Project: Sidesaddle! I remember it like yesterday. I was sitting on the bleachers of the demonstration arena at the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY on…
The Rider’s Inner Monologue: Attempted Trail Ride Well, here we are, back again at the barn with a nervous knot in my stomach. If this seems familiar, it may be that you’re remembering the…
How to Make Pony Popsicles Summer is here and after a long winter, the heat is a welcome visitor! But what do you do when summer rages on and you just can’t seem to…
What’s in Newman’s Journal? I get a lot of questions about Newman’s Journal, like: what kinds of things do I record in it, how often do I write stuff down, what do I…
Top Tips for Preparing Your Horse for Surgery The last thing that any of us want to hear as horse owners is that our beloved animals need to have surgery. In some instances, it is an…
Simple Steps to Dressage Musical Freestyle Bronze Medal Now that Newman and I have earned our United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Bronze Medal for scores at the First, Second, and Third Levels, it’s time to round out our award shelf with a Bronze Bar for scores at First, Second, and Third Level freestyle!
When It’s Just Too Cold to Ride As a resident New Englander, we are a pretty hardy bunch, and with the good fortune of having an indoor arena, I usually find myself riding…
We Asked, You Answered: Spring Conditioning SmartPak asked 'what's the best way to bring a horse back into riding after winter'. Here's what our community had to say!
We Asked, You Answered: Winter Must-Haves SmartPak asked what your must-haves are at the barn in the winter, here's what you had to say!
Pony-Approved Charcuterie One of my favorite trends is fancy charcuterie boards. However, sunny days and summertime finds me spending lots of hours at the barn over…
SmartPak Equine Valentines Chestnuts are red, ribbons are blue, Happy Valentine’s Dayfrom SmartPak to you! From all of us here at SmartPak, we’re wishing you a Happy…
Sweat With SmartPak – Episode Three Welcome back to SmartPak’s Equestrian Exercise mini-series, where SmartPakers Caitlin and Tori demonstrate helpful tips and tricks on worko…
5 Tips for a horse’s first trail ride – Delilah’s big day out At my barn, where we teach lessons through the year as well as summer camp, it’s imperative that our horses be as “worldly” as possible.…