You never know what tomorrow will hold. As you look to the future, make a safety plan for your horses. This may seem an odd subject to address at the start of a blog about backyard horse-keeping. Having contingency plans even for your dreams is important though. The full title of this blog is, after… Continue reading WHAT TO DO IF YOU CAN’T KEEP YOUR HORSES ANYMORE?

Today I will tackle the last topic on my list of "Top Five" things you need to be a backyard horse owner. The first four were knowledge, skills, facilities and equipment. The last is income. Found this amusing meme on the internet but did not see a copyright or author signature to assign credit. Pretty… Continue reading INCOME

In previous blog posts I have given my take on the first two of my "Top Five" things you need to be a backyard horse-owner. Numbers one and two were "knowledge" and "skills" . I addressed those in two separate posts (in addition to the post entitled "The Team Approach"). I am now going to… Continue reading FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

Can you send your horse onto a trailer by yourself without drama? Can you get them back out? Both can prove surprisingly difficult- ask me how I know! Skill is the second in my list of "Five Skills Required to Be A Backyard Horse Owner". It is one thing to absorb a lot of information.… Continue reading SKILL

Bear and I on a lakeside trail ride. If you want to be able to enjoy your horses like I am here with Bear, you need to take a team approach to their care. Thanks to my friend, Susy, for capturing a great Bear moment for posterity. THE TEAM APPROACH Backyard horse-people are typically do-it-yourselfers.… Continue reading THE TEAM APPROACH

In reference to my first post entitled "What is Required?", we come across the word knowledge. Knowledge is the first on my "List of Five Things You Need to Become A Backyard Horse-Owner". Knowledge can be accumulated in many ways. You can read, you can watch, you can do. You can also contemplate all that… Continue reading KNOWLEDGE

Mary Lynne Carpenter is a backyard horse-keeper who lives in the Midwest of the USA. She loves to write and ride. Her work has appeared in Equus Magazine, The Horse Magazine, Horse Network, Horse Nation and The Plaid Horse Blog. You can reach her at thebackyardhorseblog@gmail.com. The following are links to some of her published… Continue reading About The Writer

My backyard horse set-up There are lots of things required to keep horses at home- knowledge, skill, facilities, equipment and a steady source of income round out my top five. That being said, backyard horse set-ups come in a delightful variety of flavors, shapes and sizes. Your backyard might be behind your million dollar house… Continue reading What Is Required?

This is a scrapbook page photo of me riding my aunt's Appaloosa gelding named Drifter. My Aunt introduced me to horses at a young age. I first learned to ride when I was five years old. I kept riding into my pre-teen years and then barely went near a horse for the next fifteen years… Continue reading How It All Began For Me