My trainer and I have been working with my younger horse, who just turned three, teaching him what he needs to know before we back him for the first time.  She also helped me start my first horse, who is now seven, so this is the second baby I have gone through the training process with.

A lot of riders don't realize how much work it takes to get a horse ready to be ridden.  You don't just hop on and go -- or, as some cowboy types might think, hop on them and let them buck it out!  As my husband likes to say (and he's not even a horse person), you wouldn't get into a car with no brakes and no steering wheel, especially not if that car was on a hill!  Similarly, before you ever get on a horse's back, he needs to know and understand all the important commands you might need to give him from his back.

No, that's not some kind of torture device strapped to my horse's mouth.  It's just a speculum, for holding his mouth open while my vet works on his teeth.  (He's also well sedated, so although I can't say for sure that he enjoyed the experience, I am resonably confident that it wasn't too traumatic for him.)

For some horse owners, the thought of doing dental work on a horse makes them roll their eyes and shake their heads.  "It's just a horse," and all that -- I know, I've heard it before.  But there are actually a few good reasons to have your horse's teeth floated.

A couple of days ago, I stopped at a tack store to buy a few things for the horses.  A lot of horse people will know what I mean when I say that tack stores are like candy shops to me.  I absolutely can't walk into one without buying something I didn't actually need (and, half the time, forgetting what it was that I did need).

When prospective horse owners are deciding whether they can afford a horse -- or, sometimes, another horse -- what they often forget to take into account is the unexpected expenses, such as emergency vet bills.  Hopefully you don't have any (or at least not many) of these, of course, but it's always good to make sure you can afford even this infrequent but important part of horse ownership for when they do occur.

And why is my mind on this, might you ask?  Because I went through it myself recently, of course.  In fact, the horse in the picture is mine!  On Sunday the barn owner called to tell me my young horse had a two-inch gash on his face.  I went right out to the barn to check on things, and I knew immediately it would require a vet's care ASAP.

This morning I accompanied the little horse-crazy girl I nanny for to a Pony Club clinic at the barn where she takes lessons.  We weren't sure what to expect, not having been to one before, but the clinic was essentially an introduction into Pony Club.  There were various short talks on helmet fitting (since helmets are required), required tack and equipment, required clothing, and the different types of riding such as show jumping and dressage.