Winter Tack Care
“Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean you should put up with dirty tack. Use a crock pot in your tack room to warm up your tack oil before cleaning time. You’ll have nice warm oil
Resources for Julie’s Blog
Birthday Puppy
I spent most of my time and shopping energy this year looking for Rich’s Birthday present. I got him a beautiful puppy for his birthday. I brought her home on Thursday and she is a
Living Aloha
Greetings! I am afraid I have been remiss in writing. Being in Kauai will do that to you. I am starting this post on the last leg of my journey home, after a week spent
Hard To Catch
Greetings! In my Horse Master episode called “Catch Me if You Can!” about a Peruvian Paso, his favorite pastime is to make his owner run around the pen chasing him for an hour or two
Winter Riding Routine
Greetings from Colorado! Tomorrow, we’ll have all our horse’s shoes pulled for the winter and then we’ll be relegated to riding indoors—another sure sign of the changing seasons. We’ll set up the cutting machine
Paralyzed With Self-Doubt
Recently on Horse Master is an episode called “Master and Commander.” It’s about a woman who did all the right things when looking for a horse—she bought a mature, push-button reiner from which she could learn
Desensitizing
Good Day! Recently on Horse Master is an episode filmed in LA about a driving pony who was deathly afraid of anything plastic—bags, tarps and the like. Her owner, a very competent horsewoman who I
An Incredible Weekend
Hello! Here I sit, 32,000 feet above sea level on a jumbo jet, on my way home from a really fantastic weekend. As I may have mentioned, I was in Springfield MA for Equine Affaire—one
Bit Release
Greetings! Recently on Horse Master, Featuring my friend Tedi Tate and her off-the-track-Thoroughbred (OTTB) gelding, Hunter. I thought this was a really good episode and Tedi was so dynamic on TV—as was Hunter, who seemed to act
A Helmet on Your Head
I had a strange and thought-provoking moment as I was getting ready for one of my demos at a horse expo last weekend. Kindly, someone brought me a horse to ride because I was doing
Don’t Spoil Colts
Good day! Recently on Horse Master, we were replaying episode 5, “Missed Manners.” It’s about a two year old Andalusian filly who is pushy, rude and disrespectful to her handlers. The barn workers at her boarding
Mustangs On The Move
Greetings! Seems like I struck a chord with my post on Mustangs, the slaughter issue and unwanted horses, which is exactly what I was hoping to do—stimulate discussion and provoke thought. I appreciate all of
A Horse With A Human Problem
Good Day! It’s great to be home again, even if only for a day. By the time I have unpacked, it’s time to start repacking again. But I am excited to be headed to Lexington
Unwanted Horses
Good Day! It’s another travel day for me and as my friend Polly says, on Sundays, I am like a trail horse headed home. As much as I love to travel, heading home is always
Reconditioning After Surgery
Greetings! On Horse Master episode 3, “The Next Level” It stars Sharon and her big gallant horse Manassis, a 4th level school master and a blast to ride. Sharon is recovering from abdominal surgery and
The Right Bit In The Right Hands
Good Day! Last night I dreamt all night about bits. It was a pleasant journey through my subconscious. After exploring all the different Myler bits this week and talking more about new ones to try
Transitions
Set Up For Success: set up cones to help you plan transitions There’s an old saying in horsemanship: “All of training occurs in transitions.” A transition occurs any time you ask your horse to speed
The Herd Bound Horse
Good Day! Seems like I struck a chord in my newsletter Q&A column this month with my answer to Beverly about her hopelessly herd-bound horse. I’ve gotten a lot of emails from people with similar
The First Season Of Horse Master
Greetings! I am remembering the first season of Horse Master episodes . We shot the first five episodes in three days and frankly we were amazed at how well it went. Now that we have five
Bit Release
Good Day! I’m very proud of the Bit Basic’s DVD. As I mentioned earlier, the horses for the video were awesome. I used a little 2 y/o palomino filly who was barely halter broke. A
Subjects for Horse Master
Greetings! Recently I had my nose buried to the grindstone for several days, filming one of my newest videos, “Bit Basics.” It took three long days, working with two different horses—an unstarted 2 year old filly and a
Connecting Reins To The Bit
A Bit of Comfort “When connecting reins to the bit, I prefer to use a leather to leather connection for softness and a better feel. While having metal snaps in the ends of your reins
Blanketing Horses
Good Day! Another glorious day and I am getting a much-dreaded and put-off-to-the-last-minute chore done—washing horse blankets! The truck bed’s loaded with blankets, I’ve got five rolls of quarters in my pocket and my special horse
Exercising With Bareback Riding
Greetings! After weeks of still days we finally had a blustery morning when I went for my daily two mile walk. Naturally it was the first day of fall. I walked uphill with the wind
Selling Horses
Good morning! Every morning I walk a couple miles. I used to walk indoors on the treadmill watching CNN (I’m a news junkie) but for the last month, I’ve actually been walking outside in the
Working Dawn To Dusk/7 Days Per Week
Greetings! That’s a favorite line from our theme song, Cowgirl Creed, written and performed by Templeton Thompson. The song has many favorite lines of mine, like “I’ll always saddle my own horse,” “Don’t call me
Ranch Horse Clinic
Greetings! Well, I had a busy weekend and there may be too much to say to get it all on one posting. On Thursday, Rich and I headed to T Cross Ranch, between Colorado Springs
Martha’s Vineyard Shoot
Good Day! Well, we survived the week here on Martha’s Vineyard and have six new episodes of Horse Master “in the can.” I’ll be excited to see the finished results once they are edited. Our
Shoot Week
Greetings, I’ll be home for a lot of the month and I hope to get a final push on riding Dually. Rich and I will go to one more Versatility Ranch Horse clinic this month
Making Your Job Work For You
Greetings from the Pacific Northwest! Yesterday, my father and I spent many hours sitting on the balcony of his 17th story river-front condo, watching the hundreds of boats go by on the Willamette River. Having
Bareback Riding
Greetings! I’ve only been home two days this week, so I’ve been cramming and jamming to get ready to leave again, this time for 5 days of R&R with Rich on the west coast. We’re
Lead Changes
Good Day! On a recent episode of Horse Master, we featured a 68 year old man who is competing in Versatility Ranch Horse. Dave also happens to be president of the new National Versatility Ranch Horse
Today’s College Education
Greetings! I am on my way home from Fort Collins CO, where I have been in meetings for two days with the Colorado State University Equine Science Advisory Board. I really enjoy this annual meeting
Ignorance Is Bliss
Good Day! We are a family of trucks. Between the two of us, we have three trucks. Thankfully, the big daddy Dodge diesel mostly stays hitched to the trailer sitting in the barn yard. I
Shopping Western Style
Greetings! That’s the name of the TV show I helped taped recently. The regular host is Justin McKee, the slick and sexy “voice” of the PBR. The show is a Western Lifestyle/home shopping show. It
Monday Morning Workout Routine
Good Day! A Sunday off, at home—it doesn’t get any better than that! Sunrise in the hot tub, reading, Meet the Press, workout, breakfast. Oh yeah, and the blog. I have to make an unplanned
Pony Power
Good Day! Leadership and authority are the subjects of today’s show, “Pony Power.” Starring Zeke and his naughty pony Frost, you’ll see an amazing transformation from an obnoxious, spoiled pony who walks all over Zeke,
Freshness Is Good In Produce, Not Horses
Greetings! I decided to give Dually a break yesterday and ride a horse of mine, one of our sales horses, Doc. He’s a very cute little dun horse (QH); a turbo-charged cutter. It’s been a
The County Fair
Greetings! It‘s great to be home on a Sunday, with nothing pressing to do other than read the paper and maybe cook a big breakfast to eat out on the deck. I have to make
No Fraternization!
This is the subject of this week’s episode of Horse Master which airs today at 5:30p EST on RFD-TV and for you night owls (or DVR users) it comes on again Thursday morning at 2:30a
Reined Cow Horse
Sunday we took three horses to the local fairgrounds to show in the first what-we-hope-will-become-annual reined cowhorse show here in Salida. Organized by a small and hardworking group of enthusiasts and spearheaded by my vet
For The Love Of Horses
Happy Monday! After a rare weekend at home, where I did absolutely no work in the office all weekend (didn’t even check email—okay, I only checked it once), I am happy to be back at
It’s The Little Things That Matter…
Greetings! Yesterday we had a tremendous electrical storm and about a dozen drops of rain—just enough to make the dust stick to your car. It’s getting a little scary here because it is bone dry
This Week On Horse Master
Hello! I’m enjoying my time at home this week and looking forward to being home this weekend for a change. I’m getting some good riding in too. We brought the cows in last night so
Hot And Dusty But Fun! And Photos Of Diggs!
Dear friends, We had a great weekend at our Versatility Ranch Horse clinic and competition this weekend in Longmont CO. The clinicians were Jim and Jill Cook, who are reined cowhorse specialists. Rich and Tucker
Fresh As A Daisy
Greetings! It’s been wonderful to be home for a few days, but this week has gone by far too fast. Rich and I will load up the horses today and head up to Longmont CO
Home Again, Home Again
Hello! As usual, on Monday morning I am spending time in airports in transit home. It pretty much takes me a whole day to get anywhere, since most of my travels take me to either
On The Road Again…
Good Day! Once again, I am headed out for the weekend– this time to Raleigh NC for the Equine Extravaganza horse expo. This is the second year for this expo and the one last year
Summer Reading
Good day! Wow. So this is what it feels like on Monday morning after a relaxing weekend off, like normal people have! It’s tough when your work schedule is opposite the rest of the business
It’s Summertime!
…And the living is easy. Hello friends, What a relaxing few days it has been! Just to update you on the new horse, we had a nailing biting couple days waiting for the results of