We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 9 of Season 4 and in it, Jec welcomes back Lee McLean to our show. It’s a great interview in which the two horsewomen discuss observations around domestic versus wild horse lives and the possible management practices around them. They get into their observations, which are insightful, as well as weighing in on the sometimes problematic online side-taking around this...

We love to hear from listeners and this week would especially love to hear about your horse work journeys, your comfort zones and stretching of them. Contacting us is easy through the contact button on best horse practices dot com.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 8 of Season 4. It’s an On the Fence show and in it, Jec and I talk about what it means to be an expert, the need for a beginner’s...

We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 7 of Season 4, and in it, Jec talks with Trish Lemke, a Colorado horsewoman who leads amazing horse-riding trips across the globe and is a certified Equine Interactional Professional in Education and certified Martha Beck Life Coach. Find her website here and her Facebook page here.  This conversation is a great one to wedge into a series of episodes in which we’re...

We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 6 of Season 4, and in it, Jec talks with Kerry O’Brien, a Colorado trainer who is competing in the Meeker Mustang Makeover. Kerry has been on the show before in which she talks about using positive reinforcement as a training method. We're glad to have her back! First, thanks to many of you who connected with us to offer feedback from last week’s show and the...

Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover skills, strategies, tools, ideas, and insights for better connecting with their horses, with all horses and for getting work done. We love to hear from listeners and often incorporate listener questions or suggestions for topics and guests into our podcast. So, let us hear from you. Contacting us is easy. We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution,...

We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is Episode 4 of Season 4, and in it, I talk with Pete Reinholz. Maybe this is a departure of sorts. Pete does not have a website or a book or anything to sell. He does write songs. He sings and plays guitar, and that’s the context in which I met him several years ago in Elko, Nevada. Pete graduated from Montana State University with a degree in Natural Resources and...

We love to hear from listeners and often incorporate listener questions or suggestions for topics and guests into our podcast. So, let us hear from you. Contacting us is easy here.  We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. Hey, it’s hot out there and I wanted to direct your attention to an article I wrote about dogs, horses, and us managing heat. How to help. What to be aware of. With comments from a Harvard dog...

This is Episode 2 of Season 4, and in it, Jec and I reconnect after some time off and have an On the Fence chat in which we talk about some summer projects, those of our listeners, and personal pet peeves, specific to our horse worlds: "analysis paralysis", group rides, not having rider etiquette, and underestimating our equine partners, for examples. (Oh, but we have more ;) Did you know? Jec has a great shop here, where you can find the fantastic exercise and conditioning books she's...

Welcome to Season Four!! of Best Horse Practices with Jec Ballou.  Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover ways, skills, strategies, tools, ideas for better connecting with their horses, with all horses and for getting work done. Our shows are short and concise, or, at least, shorter and more concise than many shows out here in the digital universe. We love to hear from listeners and often incorporate listener...

Hi there, this is Maddy Butcher, producer of Best Horse Practices with Jec Ballou. We’re taking a little break before launching our fourth season, but we wanted to say "Thank You" to our listeners and to our sponsors.  It’s been a great 90-show journey in which we’ve talked about hooves, brain science, property management, parasites, gender gyrations, fitness, and much, much more. We’re pretty pleased with our content. We’re also excited that so many listeners have reached out to make...

Jec interviews Lee McLean from Alberta Canada. Lee likes to approach horse work with an eye on common sense, pragmatism, and fun.  She grew up in a ranching family, but is savvy in side saddle, dressage, and other disciplines. While there was probably no end to topics for Jec and Lee, they picked one that I think we can all relate to, that is, how to nurture well-being for our horses in a holistic way, in a way that conjures athleticism and good movement without the snootiness and specificity...

This is Episode 29 of Season 3 and in it, Jec interviews Donna-Maria Flood of DMventions. Donna Maria has scores of simple fixes and DIY projects for your horse spaces and equipment. Most are inexpensive and don’t require a year-long carpentry apprenticeship. Make it in 10 minutes, for less than 10 bucks is more like it. This episode may require you to do some visualization, and, if you’re interested. Check out Donna-Maria’s website for instructions and videos on many of the projects. We...

This is Episode 28 of Season 3 and in it, Jec interviews Amy Skinner for another Coaches’ Corner. This interview concerns the use of round pens and I found it very insightful. Like many of you, I have used round pens for working my horses. It was especially a go-to place years ago. I feel like I knew less and had images of several roundpen-using clinicians in my head. So I was, like, yeah, of course, I’m headed to the round pen to do some fundamental ground work. Like ya do. Turns out, like...

This is Episode 27 of Season 3. I decided to do something a bit different with this episode. While I’m mostly a journalist, I have had some fun dabbling a bit with fiction. This story was published in my first book A Rider’s Reader. You can find it exclusively in the Cayuse Communication library. Scroll to the bottom.  I think it’s a good one for Mother’s Day. If you enjoy it, let me know. A few notes from sponsors: We have several discounts going on. Check out Best Horse Practices sister...

This is Episode 26 of Season 3 and in it, Jec and I talk with Dr. Sheree King about science, specifically equine research. But it’s also a conversation of how to consider science in today’s world of scholarly access, social media, and, quite frankly, the troubling politics around scientific information. For most of my life, I have embraced science, research, the power of the scientific method, putting ideas out there and testing them. I’ve conducted research and I’ve assisted others with...

Welcome to Best Horse Practices with Jec Ballou. My name is Maddy Butcher. I produce this podcast and I would love to know what you think of our intro: Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover ways to better connect with their horses. Plus, we like to feel safe and have fun. Fitness, of mind and body, the ability to think critically about our horse work as well as embracing a beginner’s mind, are all parts of this lucky...

This is Episode 24 of Season 3 and in it, Jec interviews Daniel Dauphin of Dauphin Horsemanship. He was also a 2022 Best Horse Practices Summit presenter. It’s a great conversation, in part, because in their work Jec and Daniel are not seeing the same clients or the same horses. At all. Jec is in California and works with dressage and endurance riders. Daniel is in Louisiana and his students are mostly Western riders.  They talk about pain – what it means to the horse and what it means to...

This is Episode 23 of Season 3 and in it, I’m going to talk a bit about brain science as well as a scary colic incident. You can find articles on vision science here and here. It's fascinating stuff! You will learn about place cells, grid cells, boundary cells, and more. Did you know? Place cells – some of the hundred billion neurons in the brain – are individual neurons that fire when an animal is in a specific location. The rate at which certain neurons fire depends on the animal’s...

It's good to remind listeners of our mission once in a while. Here it is: Our show is a space for riders and horse owners of all disciplines to learn best practices and to discover ways to better connect with their horses. Plus, we like to feel safe and have fun. Fitness, of mind and body, the ability to think critically about our horse work as well as embracing a beginner’s mind, are all parts of this lucky equine equation that Jec and I hold dear. We offer these shows for free. If you...

This is Episode 21 of Season 3 and in it, Jec is back and interviewing Kristen Vliestra, who runs Saddlery Solutions in California. Jec and Kristen have talked before about saddle fit and in this episode, Jec asks some particular questions that have been bugging her for a while.  As I found out while recruiting Kristen for the saddle fit elective at the Best Horse Practices Summit, she knows a lot. A lot about how people ride. A lot about horse anatomy. A lot about saddle construction and...

Please accept my apologies as we initially uploaded an erroneous file for this great episode. Sorry times ten! We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it. This is episode 20 of season 3 and we have the second and final installment of Summit storytelling! These stories were recorded at the Best Horse Practices Summit, the conference that I direct.  Last week on the podcast, we featured Josh Nichol, Katrin Silva, and...

We offer this podcast for free. If you find it worthy of your support. Please contribute here. This is Episode 19 of Season 3 and it’s another special detour of sorts, this time to the storytelling that was featured on Saturday night at the Best Horse Practices Summit at Spy Coast Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, late last year. The storytellers are Josh Nichol, Katrin Silva, and Nahshon Cook. Also featured at Spy Coast that evening were Daniel Dauphin, Patrick King, and Amy Skinner. You’ll...

We offer these shows for free. If you think they're worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it.  This is Episode 18 of Season 3 and it’s an On the Fence segment in which Jec and I discuss a prompt from Art, a listener in Michigan. It concerns how best to introduce a non-horse-y person to the horse experience. I think we have some good starting points and will look forward to any suggestions you all might like to add.  Just a humble disclaimer here: I finally got Covid....

This is Episode 17 of Season Three and it’s time for another Coaches’ Corner with Jec and Amy Skinner. They answer a listener question from Lisa, who asks about proper lunging practices. It’s a great back and forth, short and to the point. Or I should say points, because there are several.  Before I get to sponsor mentions, I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about a few things I’ve been up to and pondering. Last week, I traveled to Elko, Nevada, as I’ve been doing for each year for over...

This is Episode 16 of Season Three. Another special episode! We offer this week another recorded Question and Answer session with presenters at the Best Horse Practices Summit, an annual conference I direct, with academic and arena presentations. In this session, Dr. Sheryl King moderates and presenters Josh Nichol, Patrick King, and Jec Ballou offer answers. Dr. King also chimes in with her thoughts. The questions for this session are: What are five basic skills your horses should know...