We love to hear from listeners and this week would especially love to hear about your horse work journeys, your comfort zones and stretching of them. Contacting us is easy through the contact button on best horse practices dot com. 

We offer these shows for free. If you think it’s worthy of a small contribution, we sure would appreciate it.

This is Episode 8 of Season 4. It’s an On the Fence show and in it, Jec and I talk about what it means to be an expert, the need for a beginner’s mind and the benefits of expanding the aforementioned comfort zones.

Thanks to our title sponsor, Lucerne Farms, producers of quality forage feeds, extremely handy and healthy bales of alfalfa, timothy, and grass blends.  They also make Koop Clean chicken bedding. Check them out at lucernefarms.com.

Also, thanks to Chill Angel, a woman-owned, Colorado company that makes luxurious superfine merino wool sleepwear, perfect for combatting hot flashes. 

Jec mentions Kevin Haussler of Colorado State University.  A related website is here. She also mentions Adam Till. In a Facebook post, he writes: "So many people just care about how good a horse is to ride and barely make an effort to make sure training holes are filled....Make sure a six year old kid you don't know can handle your horse."

I’m reminded of something Randy Rieman told me years ago:

If you’re not expanding your comfort zones, you’re shrinking them. That’s true for humans and horses alike.

In the newsletter this week, we have a great guest column about the Pony Express Re-Ride, a relay event that covers all 1,800 + miles of the historic trail.

And, as ever, we have great books available at the Cayuse Communications library.

We thank Sampson Moss and his business, Prairie Wind Hat Works for their generous sponsorship. Sampson makes custom hats from his place in Pincher Creek, Alberta. You can order one today and have it by the holidays. That’s at prairie wind hat works.com

Thanks to Redmond Equine and Pharm Aloe – for generously sponsoring our podcast. Check out Pharm Aloe’s aloe pellets which you can simply sprinkle on your horse’s feed and Redmond’s Rock on a Rope which you can simply hang on a fence. We think you’ll love ‘em.

Also thanks to Patagonia WorkWear for their continued support. Give us feedback, suggest a topic or guest, or make a donation and you’ll be automatically entered to win one of two free Patagonia WorkWear items that we give away every month. Don’t forget that Redmond Equine is sending a complimentary syringe of Daily Gold Stress Relief to everyone who drops a tip in our donation jar. Pretty cool and a $15 value. If you get something of value from our podcast, please consider making a donation. We sure would appreciate it. 

That’s it. Another episode in the can and out of the barn. Thanks for listening, y’all!