Midnight Sun Equestrian LLC

The Difference Between a Bray~ Neigh
By Meredith Hodges

A horse can be dominated by man
A mule can be dominated by none

A horse succumbs to aggression
A mule succumbs to affection

A horse is indifferent to man
A mule is inquisitive to man

A horse moves, then thinks
A mule thinks, then moves

A horse looks at you
A mule looks into you

A horse is trained by short punishment and small rewards
A mule is trained by long patience and great logic

To ride a horse well, one must be proud
To ride a mule well, one must be humble

The more one understands people, the more one loves animals
The more one understands animals the more one loves mules.
Photo Credit Paul Garrison III

'Allowing the horse to stretch on a long rein' (sometimes called 'chewing the reins out of the hands') requires your horse to lower his head forward and down while maintaining an elastic contact with your hands. His nose should be slightly in front of the vertical (not curling up behind the vertical), and his mouth should be at least level with his shoulder.

The purpose of this movement is to test your horse's willingness to work through from behind and into the contact, and to demonstrate balance, relaxation, and suppleness.

Here's what the judge wants to see:

✅ As your horse stretches forward and down, your horse's mouth should reach inline with the point of his shoulder.
✅ Although your reins are lengthened, a consistent and elastic contact must be maintained throughout the stretch.
✅ Your horse must remain balanced, with his hind legs stepping under to support the stretch and remaining light in his shoulders.
✅ The rhythm and tempo of the pace must remain the same before, during, and after the movement.
✅ The rider should take the reins back smoothly, and there should be no loss of balance, resistance, or tension.

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Illustration created and copyrighted by HowToDressage

And it’s still coming down!!

Sounds Familiar ;-)

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Growing older with horses
changes the way you understand time.

When you’re young,
everything feels urgent.
You chase moments.
You count rides.
You believe there will always be more time
to do everything faster, bigger, harder.

And then, quietly,
the years begin to layer.

You grow older.
They grow older.
And love starts to look different.

Growing older with horses
teaches you to slow down
without losing devotion.

You notice things you didn’t before—
the way they move when they first step out of the stall,
the way they rest more,
the way their eyes hold a depth
that only time can give.

You stop measuring love
by accomplishments.
By ribbons.
By miles covered.

You start measuring it
by presence.
By comfort.
By the simple gift of another day together.

There’s a tenderness that comes
with loving horses through the years.

You learn when to ask less
and give more.
When to push,
and when to simply let them be.

You learn that care isn’t about control—
it’s about listening.

Growing older with horses
means holding gratitude and grief
in the same hand.

Gratitude for every season you shared.
Grief for the quiet awareness
that nothing stays untouched by time.

But there is so much beauty here too.

There is beauty in routine.
In familiarity.
In knowing each other so well
that words aren’t needed.

There is beauty in choosing to stay.
To keep showing up.
To honor what once was
while cherishing what still is.

You begin to understand
that growing older together
isn’t something everyone gets.

It’s a privilege.

A sign of loyalty.
Of commitment.
Of love that didn’t leave
when things slowed down.

And maybe that’s the lesson horses give us
as we grow older with them—

That love doesn’t peak in its beginning.
It deepens.

It softens.
It becomes less about doing
and more about being.

Growing older with horses
teaches you to savor time,
to move with intention,
and to recognize that some of the most meaningful moments
are the quiet ones you never planned.

And when you look at them—
with their familiar presence,
their steady breath,
their shared history—

you realize something gently and all at once:

Growing older with horses
isn’t about watching time pass.

It’s about being grateful
you got to share it at all.

Does this resonate with you?

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❄🐴🌾 Is it safe to graze horses after a hard freeze? What do I need to consider before turning them back out on pasture? Also, what defines a hard freeze?

🌡 A hard freeze refers to a frost that is severe enough to end the growing season. The National Weather Service defines a hard freeze when temperatures fall below 28ºF for a few hours. Cool-season grasses commonly found in Midwest horse pastures go into dormancy for winter and conserve their energy stores (starches and sugars) following a hard freeze.

❄️ We recommend keeping horses off pastures for at least 7 days after a hard freeze. Frost-damaged pastures are higher in nonstructural carbohydrates (starches and sugars) because plants can not use up their energy stores as efficiently. It can take plants 7 days to return to more normal nonstructural carbohydrate levels. Higher levels of nonstructural carbohydrates can lead to an increase risk for laminitis, especially in horses diagnosed with or prone to obesity, laminitis, Cushings, and Equine Metabolic Syndrome.

The decision to graze again after a hard freeze depends on the condition of your pasture. After a hard freeze, no additional regrowth of the pasture will occur, even though the pasture might appear green in color. If your cool-season grass pasture is

✅ taller than 3 to 4 inches, then grazing can resume 7 days after a hard freeze and can continue until the pasture is grazed down to 3 to 4 inches.
❌ shorter than 3 to 4 inches, then no grazing should occur after a hard freeze. Grazing below 3 inches can harm the plant and lead to poor productivity next season.

🌾 Plants rely on stored nonstructural carbohydrates in the lower 3 inches for energy. Therefore, the 3- to 4-inch minimum height recommendation is necessary to help maximize winter survival and can help predict a vigorous and healthy pasture come spring. We do recognize horses rarely graze uniformly and pastures tend to have areas of both over and under grazing. You will need to base decisions on the average appearance of your pasture

This is another case of someone injecting banamine into what was supposed to be the muscular triangle of the neck. Either way, this horse ended up with Clostridium causing gangrene. The only treatment is to open the tissues up to the air with a procedure called a fasciotomy. Banamine otherwise known as flunixin meglumine should never be injected into the muscle, even though the label instructs you to give it intramuscular (IM) or intravenously (IV). This is a rare occurrence, but do you really want to risk, loss of life, loss of future performance, down time for this to heal, let alone have the vet bills? I know you don't, especially when another way is available. Either give it IV if you have been trained how to do this with out hitting an artery, because that is another trainwreck, causing seizures in the horse and any damage from going down in such a violent way. Or use the same injectable dosage and without using a needle on your syringe, just so you don't loose any on the ground, sq**rt about 3 mls in the mouth at 1 minute intervals until the entire dosage has been administered.