Why not HinnyAdvice.com?

Last week I was busy dealing with a veterinary emergency here at my place. My situation is really tough because I live out where the veterinarians are few and far between, so most things have to be done self-service style. I had the help and support of a great internet resouce, HorseAdvice.com

HorseAdvice is a subscriber's forum. You pay an annual fee and you have access to not only a wealth of articles on the veterinary subjects, but also on everything equine from training to business law. I am a member of many forums and I think this is probably the best. No one is registered that isn't committed to their equines enough that they wouldn't pony up the subscription fee. This does a lot to filter out the casual opinionated novice and giggly housewife.

The equine veterinarian who seems to head up the forum, is Dr. Robert Oglesby, DVM. There are other professional forum advisors, but he is the only one whose name I recognize. He helped me out with a diagnosis for the problem I was having with my elderly donkey. He referred me to some pertinent literature, and gave me advice on my options. He did it all in a very kind and considerate way.

I got a lot of advice from other forum members. Some of it was spot-on, some of it was judgmental, and some of it was kindly condolences. It all was valuable though in helping me having a broader perspective on the problem, and really thinking through my own values.

I would definitely recommend a subscription to HorseAdvice.com

The Hinny Whisperer approves of Dr. Robert Oglesby, DVM, for:
• providing a high quality, well presented, usable information in a very reader-friendly format;
• for responding to queries with kindness and compassion;
• and for helping me out through a rough spot with my old donkey.

A Rider's Atlas

If you can read all the way through the Dingos Breakfast Club in a day, well, you have too much time on your hands.

Dr. Nancy Nicholson, associate professor at Miami University (Ohio), created an array of materials on everything from Austalian vacations to the Sowbug Outreach Society. But the gem of her work is the Biomechanical Riding & Dressage:A Rider's Atlas. Professor Nicholson provides the material for an indepth study of horse movement under saddle. Don't try to take it all in during one sitting... just bookmark it and keep coming back for more. Your time will be well spent.

The Hinny Whisperer approves of Dr. Nancy Nicholson for:
• not being afraid to be show her sense of humor,
• the countless hours it must have taken to produce all the pages, videos, and diagrams on her wonderful website;
• her evident appreciation of the horse as a magnificent being.

Kickin' Back Ranch

Willis and Sharon Lamm have created a vast website full of totally useful information about working with mustangs. The Kickin' Back Ranch website is one of the best and most altruistic horse resources in existence. The Lamm's are motivated by what's good for horses, not what sells.

Bcause of the extensiveness of this website, before I met Willis, I expected him to be a geeky cyberspatial web-rat whose pale fingers were permanently embedded in a keyboard. It turns out that Willis is a handsome, healthy ex-fireman who moves like an athlete. He writes a regular safety column in the Trail Rider magazine and you quickly become aware that if you were having an emergency of any kind, you'd want him on your lifeline. So pondering as to how a man could be so prolific, so engaged, and so committed to horses, I wrote to him about the upcoming Mustang Adoption at the Jicarilla Ranger District here in NM. Willis was going to send some literature to the adoption organizers to hand out with the mustangs, then he gave me a clue as to how he manages his time. He said there were 3,000 unread emails in his mailbox and I was lucky to have got his attention. The man needs a secretary!

So, maybe Willis and Sharon will never know, but the Kickin' Back Ranch gets about 20 gold horseshoes in my book.

This is just a link to the training part of their website and if you start wandering around there, you will quickly discover that it is a vast realm to explore. This is just a beachhead on the KBR continent: KBR Training Information

The Hinny Whisperer approves of Willis and Sharon Lamm for:
• their apparent total dedication to the welfare of horses;
• providing a mountain of practical information;
• and being an inspirational model of passion and committment to the creation of a better world.