Jessie Haas

What happens out at pasture, stays out at pasture. Last week Robin came in with a big egg on her leg and a couple of nearly invisible scratches on her nose. Over the next few days the scratches morphed into an ugly infection, and the egg on her leg (hey, sounds like a title!)  Read More 

When I began BRAMBLE AND MAGGIE, now the first in a three-book series, I was just getting to know my new horse Robin. She most definitely had her "little ways." An unbroken three-year-old, Robin "didn't think poorly of herself," in the words of Cheryl Rivers, who bred her. I was heartbroken at losing Atherton,  Read More 

I have finished all my projects, on time, under budget, without going nuts. Now I have no projects. NOW I'm going nuts!
So I'm thinking about a new novel, not wanting to start because I don't know enough yet. But I often used to start a novel knowing only the first sentence, and I  Read More 

Round penning. I'll admit that I've never done it, and don't get it, and am not attracted. Obviously lots of people use it and have success. And I've seen Robin do it to Zeke, working him back and forth along the fence-line like an enormous calf until (her version) she chases him up the lane.
But I don't want to be another horse to my horse, and I don't want to be in a predator-prey relationship. I want to reach her mind, more the way I would with another human. I want to elevate the discussion. Clicker training, and clicker thinking, allows me to do this when I do it well, and I like having a horse who chuckles occasionally when she gets her cue. If I were better, sharper, more consistent, she'd be a better-behaved horse, but I'm refining my skills, and the conversation keeps getting more interesting. Read More