I want to add to my own comment, because it was bothering me that I characterized these issues as “not that hard to deal with:” they aren’t hard in terms of needing a ton of training experience or expertise, generally. If you were having problems with Dellie at home, you’d need a lot more experience, but since you can…

I’m going to take a slightly different tack than other commenters’ (although my basic advice is going to wind up being close to ad infinitum’s) and say that I think *you* really need to learn a lot more about canine behavior. This is almost certainly not a dominance issue, and whatever caused it, you running after…

Not joking or exaggerating at all. It’s not terribly common, but a part of me hopes it catches on since it’s so delightfully creepy-sounding. ;)

I noticed that too. I’m a member of way too many dog-related FB groups, and on some of the more general ones, people sometimes even say things like, “Mom of 2 furkids and 3 skinkids.” The latter term always brings to mind some sort of Silent Hill monstrosity so I kind of love it, though.

Seriously. I dislike the “pet parent/furbaby” kind of language, but every time I read an article like the linked one (and it is far from the first I’ve seen, so even if this in particular is a troll article the point still stands), I start feeling the urge to start calling myself a parent and my dogs my babies just…

This is a problem in the US as well, although it depends on the tradition. IME, Wiccans run the gamut but tend more towards the inclusive and feminist end of the spectrum. But Norse pagans/Asatru...man, I’ve met a few people who were decent and followed those traditions, but the majority I met were pretty racist, if…

Yeah, I found it pretty believable based on my Catholic family. I wasn’t raised that way so I can’t speak firsthand (my mom left the church before I was born), but I know at least one of my cousins had an abortion as a teenager and her very devout mother was the one who paid for it and drove her to the clinic. But…

I look forward to seeing how he looks with short hair, horn-rimmed glasses, and a sweater vest.

The thing that always struck me the most about the whole pink underwear thing wasn’t even the homophobia (which is bad enough) but the sheer inhumanity of it. He rationalized it by saying it was to deter theft (although of course that excuse is paper thin). Can you imagine how desperate one must be to steal shitty,…

Most of my extended family is Catholic and I grew up with these kind of jokes. Just a couple of years ago, I was helping with some preparations for a cousin’s wedding (let’s call her Sue) and her mom had made a math mistake and ordered too few supplies. Her dad said, totally deadpan, “You never could count. If you…

His state of mind when he committed the crime is irrelevant to the current proceedings, which are strictly about his ability to stand trial. He is still charged with first degree murder, but his current mental state does not allow him to reasonably aid in his own defense.

I’m torn between responding to this with disappointment (“I used to teach this for a living, why can’t I explain it???”) and vindication (“SEE? I at least understand why swimming fast or flipping through the air is so hard!!!”).

I was just trying to not get too off-topic with my last paragraph (though that ship sailed long ago haha). I don’t think there is much connection to racism against black people, tbh, except maybe in a general sense in that we culturally see “dark” as “bad.” And I’m just a dog trainer, so I don’t even know how much…

It’s a little more complex than simple prejudice. Some people think black cats are unlucky and black dogs are scary, but some studies show that black animals are adopted at the same rates as their lighter-colored counterparts when their kennels are painted light colors, making it seem that some of it may simply be how…

I think that most equestrians would disagree that the horses are the “real” stars—it’s pretty 50/50 as neither could do it without the other, and you really do have to match the right horse with the right rider and vice versa to reach these levels. It’s really a team sport, just like any other—it just happens that one…

Ack, no, I lied! I’m sorry, I was all correcting you about dressage vs. eventing but I was confusing pictures I had just seen (I may be a little drunk). I think you’re right, I think this is an eventer. Apologies!

Haha, after I posted that it occurred to me that so many of the people I’ve heard complain about how horseback riding isn’t a sport also tell me tales about that harrowing dude ranch ride they had where the guide suggested they try a gentle trot (or something along those lines) and then their horse totally took off at…

Well, there are two types of dressage in the Olympics. There’s the dressage portion of eventing, which is what you’re referring to, and there’s pure dressage. I don’t recognize the horse in Kara’s photo offhand but I *think* this is the dressage team. Eventing dressage is a little easier, as they’re judged on a…

This is a really good analogy! Since I live in the western US and most people have been sore AF after an hour-long trail ride on a rented dude horse, I usually just go “dude, that’s not even baby steps and you couldn’t hack it” but that falls flat for those who have literally 0 horse experience.

Dressage (well, and equestrian sports in general) are incredibly complex, so it’s really difficult to explain them. First, realize that just riding a horse requires more physical strength and ability that most people realize. You’ve got to constantly be moving in sync with the animal just to stay on its back, which…