In every issue of Horse & Rider you'll find articles on training by the country's leading experts, the latest on equine health care from top veterinarians, trail riding tips from savvy back country riders, and much more!
A wild storm blows in but clears up quickly. You decide to saddle up for a relaxing trail ride with your buddies. You all ride willing, well-trained trail horses. You fall into a lively conversation as you lead your friends down the trail. You hardly notice when your horse decides to walk around a puddle, rather than go through it. The other horses follow suit. You continue along the trail, still talking with your trail buddies. You approach a small fallen log blown across the trail by the storm. Your horse knows this trail but the fallen log is new to him. You gather the reins and ask him to step across it. Instead, he turns away, tosses his head, and fights your rein pressure. You fight to keep him…
Do you dream of riding your horse along the ocean beach with waves thundering, hooves flying, and a sinking sun casting a jeweled net of color? Hitch up your trailer, and head to the Oregon coast. Here you’ll find six excellent horse camps, with beach trails, headlands, and nearby hills. (If you’d rather leave your horse at home, you can go with an outfitter.) An added treat to your Oregon adventure is driving down U.S. Highway 101 as you make your way down the coast from camp to camp. Known as “the road through paradise,” this 364-mile journey winds though one of America’s great wonderlands: pristine beaches; rugged headlands; wind-sculpted coastlines; historic lighthouses; quaint, wind-battered coastal towns—and the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America. Up north, on…
The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks competed with the pounding of our horses’ hooves on the wet sand as Ricochet Ridge Ranch owner Lari Shea cantered along beside me on her Arabian Horse gelding, Rascal. The golden sunset lit the ocean aglow, while the full moon rose above the bluffs. My Tennessee Walking Horse cross, Poncho, stretched his long legs and floated me along the retreating tide of Ten Mile Beach in Mendocino County’s MacKerricher State Park. It was the end of a full-day ride at Ricochet Ridge Ranch, in Fort Bragg, California, and what a perfect one it was. Midnight Arrival Only two days before, I’d driven from the Oakland airport on the dark, twisted Highway 128 through the vineyards of Anderson Valley. Enormous redwood trees…
