Part of running a successful website is keeping up with the industry which means reading horse blogs & paying attention to relevant websites.

Over the past few years of posting & using social media I have saved hundreds of URLs and if they have an RSS feed I try to keep up with their blog too.

What is RSS Anyway?

If you have heard of RSS (or not) and don’t really understand it, here is a simple explanation & a video that will clear it up.

You Gotta Love People Who Write About Horses

Recently I did some organizing and thought it was about time I gave credit to those horse bloggers & writers who I’ve followed for quite some time now. Some of them are writers, some artists, some photographers, some simply horse people with knowledge to share…the variety is what keeps things interesting.
Read more →

Many of you may have noticed I’ve been doing quite a bit of work on my breeds section (if you haven’t go check it out!) because of this I’ve been introducing them to you once a week on Thursdays.

I’m going to continue to do that, but at this rate it will take me a 100 years to get through all of them so I’m stepping up my game. Starting next week I’ll be sharing three (count ’em 3) breeds a week.
Read more →

I’ve been hard at work on my latest project which I’m hoping will be helpful to horse people everywhere, Horses on Google Earth. The idea is to use Google’s platform for the mapping of equestrian locations, stables, race tracks, rescues, tack stores, events, artists, photographers, you name it.

So far I’ve started with stables & rescues in the US & a long list of race tracks worldwide.

Read more →

There are more horse breeds than I ever dreamed possible when I began my horse breeds page. Recently I had a friend tell me that the list was incomplete & provide me some holes I was missing (and there is more to come).

Can’t Hurt To Ask

So I’m asking for help from my readers. My goal is to compile a list of breeds with information (and clear images) for each one. There is very little information about some of the older & more obscure breeds, and often it is in a language I don’t understand. Plus finding pictures is very time-consuming.

The idea is to be objective about each breed and to provide basic information about their history, traditional colors, temperament, features & physique.
Read more →

Image from ccdoh1

Perhaps it is ironic that anyone who wants to ride a horse would swear off of animal products altogether. But research shows me that there are some equestrian vegans & vegetarians out there who want to find non-leather tack options.

My question is this, I understand why you don’t want to use leather, but are synthetic products really better?

Not Very Natural

Synthetic products are generally made from chemicals & petroleum which come from big chemical & petroleum companies. Chances are these companies pollute ecosystems, and destroy the habitat of whole species. Just because it’s not made from animals doesn’t mean it is animal or earth friendly.
Read more →

Image from Manni Manae

I had fun with dog week, so I decided to take the idea and go a step further. In my own research to find ethical animal and earth friendly products I realize how little information there is out there for horse owners who want a clean lifestyle too.

Help Is On The Way

I’ve already started by hunting down a list of natural and organic feed an treats and this week I’ve got lots more in store.

For those of us who love animals there is a constant dilemma over the products we consume, both for ourselves and for our pets (large & small).
Read more →

Image from nyominx

Something very different this week & a short break from horses (don’t worry, they’ll be back next week). I’d like to take 7 days to appreciate another four legged animal I’m quite fond of, the dog.

A Whole Site About ‘Em

For those of you who haven’t seen Caninest it is another project I’m really enjoying. It allows me to ask fun questions like whatever happened to white dog poop? To cover important topics like organic dog treats and to enjoy some dog play with yucky dog kisses and dog graffiti.

So in tribute to that I decided that it would be fun to do a dog week on The Equinest. In large part because (correct me if I’m wrong, but) I’ve never met a horse person that wasn’t a dog lover too.

Enjoy The Dogs

So I hope everyone enjoys a week of change. I do love writing about horses, but have to admit it is fun to switch it up from time to time.

There has been a great deal of discussion around the horse color section in general (especially the rare colors post).

Tell It Like It Is

I encourage discussion, and in fact, I’d like to open the floor and hand out soapboxes. I want to provide accurate info about color genetics, but I need good source material which backs it up (& that I can link to). I’m asking my readers to leave me a comment (or write a guest post) that helps me make sense of the equine rainbow.

Disagree?

Equine genetics is not an easy or exact science, we are dealing with Mother Nature here. I appreciate that there will be conflicting information & views. I respect anyone who wants to share what they know and I hope everyone else will do the same.

Since I started this rather ambitious project it is hard not to get sidetracked with new ideas before I finish old ones. So the plant section has been on the back burner (have you seen the size of the breeds section lately?)

Scouting the Poison

Although I have spent the last year and a half scoping out every bit of greenery and plant life I walk past. All in the hopes of spotting something horses shouldn’t eat so I can take pictures of it.

Photography is another hobby of mine and the toxic plant section has taught me a thing or two about plant life. The drive to track down toxic plants has led me on adventures I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Read more →

A short post to announce the launch of yet another new member of our family, www.felinest.com.

A Different Type of Cat Site

It’s all about cats, but it’s nothing like those other cat sites. There will be no overdose of cute, no pictures of kittens (well, maybe lion kittens), our goal isn’t to make you go awwwwww.
Read more →

Just a quick post to announce a new addition to the family in the spirit of animals everywhere. A website dedicated to man (and women’s) best friend, the dog, caninest.com. Today is our official site launch, and we do it in the memory of a great dog and a great friend.

Equal Opportunity Dog Lovers

Not just about domestic dogs, Caninest will focus on the canidae family as a whole, and will cover basics, information about breeds, jobs working with dogs and of course a good dose of fun.
Read more →