This weekend in Colbert, Wash. (about 15 miles north of Spokane), I spent a few minutes talking with Ann Kirk about horse behavior. Kirk, a horse trainer and Elk resident, is working with 30 quarter horses for an upcoming event at a ranch in Colbert.

Her method focuses on teaching a horse to control its emotions so it will pause and face what it is afraid of rather than running away. 

"From as far back as I remember, I always heard horses were just a money pit. I wanted to learn to make enough money working with them, to keep them," she says of getting into the trade.

The horse industry has been hit particularly hard in recent years, with increasing feed prices, among other things.
It's nice to see horse lovers can still make a living.