Nicole M. Miller

In Buck Brannaman’s book, “Believe,” he discusses 8 traits that make a person a better horseman and also a more likable, successful and genuine human being. All horses have these traits and humans should strive for these. Intuition into emotional states of those around them. Follow your inner voice and gut feelings. Sensitivity (emotionally) is a trait of all intelligent beings. Anticipate and respond to movements and actions – of animals and humans. Ability to change shows intelligence and adaptability to surroundings and situations. Presence, or the humility and peace with self, oozes off horses and confident people. It is something difficult to define but easy to spot. Non-aggressive attitude. Buck says it best, “Don’t...

Last October, I wrote a post about my old rodeo queen boots and how I would finally retire them. They had seen a lot of use and abuse over the span of nearly a decade. It was time to put them to rest. But I lied. Shortly after writing that post, I went boot shopping. I hit up horse expos and tack stores across the area. Nothing met my expectations. Nothing. I tried to move on from these boots. I did. But it wasn’t meant to be — so I’m not going to apologize for lying to you all. See, these haggard looking white-ish boots are finally broken-in. They are beyond comfortable...

Horses have a long history with the Olympics – a lot of it, I touch on in this amazing story about the infallible General Jack Burton. If you are interested in the history of the horse in Olympics, check out this excellent book. Now, it is that time again. London makes final preparations and buzz grows over who qualifies for what event. This year, horses have been getting plenty of airtime – between Ann Romney’s horse, Rafalca, qualifying for the Olympics and an Australian horse who had been saved from the slaughterhouse and is now London-bound. The grand-daughter of the Queen will be competing in London as well, following in her parent’s footsteps. The equestrian events...