August 16, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Horseback riding
equine, farm, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse farm, horseback, horseback riding, horses, lessons, riding
Someone asked me this week why don’t I advertise on craigslist. My answer is because I don’t want to. I have had a busy enough summer as it is, I don’t need to do 3 lessons every evening on top of that. You see I work a full time job that pays for all the rest of the bills. I am fortunate to be in a place where the farm pays for itself; between boarding fees, lessons and trial rides.
Don’t get me wrong I do advertise. I have a beautiful sign on the side of the road created by a award winning sign maker and friend of the farm. I have a website and I am on Google places (or is it Local? can’t keep up); I have set up the farm to be on the short list of farms if someone happened to be Googling horses in the area.
The lessons are challenging, fun, invigorating and fulfilling all at once for me. I love teaching beginners, watching their confidence grow and their fears subside. Then things start clicking: I can control this magnificent beast; I am in charge; I can post the the rhythm of the trot.
I am including pictures of my recent lessons everyone from my youngest at the age of 3 to some newbies to a couple of returns from last summer.
August 2, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Horseback riding
equine, horse, horseback, horseback riding, horses, lessons, nature, trail ride, trail rides
I Want a Do-Over.
The link above is a post by a fellow equine blogger. I enjoyed reading it and it got me thinking of riding in my youth.
After a couple years of lessons I got my own horse (Lilly of the fields). She was a beautiful chestnut mare. I had friends in the area and we would go trail riding. During the summer it would be all day trail rides to the park or convenience store. We didn’t wear helmets and we had 100% trust in our horses. We never fell off even when we race around the avocado groves. We were young and free but not careless or risk takers.
July 16, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Horseback riding
Dream, equine, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horseback riding, lessons
Top Ten Reasons To Ride A Horse.
Great post by a follow blogger.
Why do I ride?
- It is in my soul. I remember my uncle calling me a natural. I have been around horses (on and off) since I was born.
- It is much better than walking or biking. I enjoy the trail rides especially when I see others out for exercise. We say funny things like “Race ya” or if they are tired “Need a lift”. They say things like “Trade ya” and we always reply “No Way”.
- Connection with a beast almost 10 times my size. My guys are great. They are calm and have no vises. They are all getting up there in years but they know they have it good at the farm.
- Mounted lessons – are much better than standing and walking around the ring giving out riding instruction. My student’s father came up to me after her lesson and said I was Aces. He explained she has been at 3 barns and this is the first on that the instructor gave the lesson from on top of a horse. It makes sense to me to do it for demonstration purposes. Plus the added bonus is we get to go on a mini trail ride after the lesson.
Why do you ride, want to ride, or enjoy watching people ride?
July 16, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Horses, Horseback riding
equine, farm, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse, horse farm, horse training, horseback, horseback riding, horses, nature, riding, SaveNash, trail ride, trail rides
This week during our regularly scheduled Saturday morning trail ride Rachael decided to take Chex on his first trail ride since joining the farm.
He was joined by Apple, Cuervo and Nash.
Chex’s mom joined us on Nash. Her first time on him.
The weather was good to us. It wasn’t too hot and we stuck the the cut part of our neighboring fields. The horse flys and bugs were out and bothering the horses despite being doused in fly spray
July 8, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Activities, Farm Animals, Farm Horses, Horseback riding
equine, farm, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse, horse farm, horseback, horseback riding, horses, hugs and kisses, lessons, trail ride, trail rides
Summer is in full swing here at the farm. It is keeping me busy so this update is going to be full and all over the the place.
It is not all about work though, a couple of weeks ago the extended farm family went to a country concert. It was a great break from the farm work and a good time was had by all!
Lessons are continuing I am now scheduling them for early morning or late evening to beat the heat. This is my youngest rider, she is coming along by leaps and bounds. Last week we were trotting with out a saddle!
We are also taking on new riders and beginners. I got Nash out for this lesson, he was great and is such a sweet horse for first timers. The other day, I was telling folks about how much of a lover he is and then I recieved a big lick up the middle of my face!
July 4th was a fun filled day OFF too. We went for another trail ride around green lane. I got Casey to jump a log for me. I think he liked that.
Lastly some shots of when the ferrier was here. Nash didn’t think it was fair to bring apples to the barn and not share.
The donkeys were brought up to have their hooves trimmed too. Frodo said hello to Izzy. It was funny after they were done and brought back to their pasture with the goats Cuervo kept whinnying and calling for them to come back. It is amazing the bonds they share.
July 8, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Horses, Horseback riding
equine, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse, horse farm, horse training, horseback, horseback riding, horses
Warlock who is now affectionately called Baby cause he is only 2 is going through training to be ridden. (Why do we use the term break and broke? I guess it goes back to when trainer did break the horses down to submission. This is not the type of training that goes on at the farm so I will stay away from those terms.)
Rachael has been working with Warlock and his dad Chex since they came to the farm at the beginning of March. She has done wonders with them. They now mind their manners are are coming along great with the riding aspect. Rachael spent last summer as an apprentice to a Josh Lyon certified trainer and now she is doing it on her own.
In these pictures Baby has the saddle and Rachael on his back fro the first time ever. He did so good! Was not upset, worried or nervous. His head was low and his ear were up. I even caught him licking and chewing a few times which is a sign for horses thinking and processing.
June 10, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Animals, Farm Horses, Horseback riding
equine, farm, farm dog, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse, horse farm, horseback, horseback riding, horses, hugs, hugs and kisses, love, nature, therapy
Have you hugged a horse today?
Farm therapy is the best kind of therapy.
Petting animals can reduce your stress levels. Check out this article on 27 ways pets can improve your life. This past weekend a farm family friend and I went to the barn at night for some horse therapy. We were hugging and loving on Nash & Casey. Nash was giving me kisses and my friend was giving Nash a massage. We loved the quiet time with my boys.
Mucking stalls allows me to think. If I ever need to clear my head I muck stalls. It is a rhythmical task that allows for the thought process to open up. I make my best decisions when cleaning stalls
Riding horse forces me not to think. If I need to “get out of my own head” for a while I get on a horse. There is so much going on while riding that I am not allowed to let the pesky issue seep in.
Lover boy
Hugs
June 10, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Horseback riding
equine, farm, Golden Spike Farm, horse farm, horseback riding, lessons, love, pony rides
My littlest student loves her lessons. She has more confidence than the kids twice her age. This week we decided to give her brother a pony ride (which we had done only once before) for the cool down, as you can see he loved it.
He was so cute when he was riding he was talking away and holding on. Then he let go for a split second to talk with his hands and ended up losing his balance. Luckily he recovered quickly and didn’t let go again.
This was from last October (2012)
This was from May (2013)
May 22, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Horses, Horseback riding
horse, life
Great blog post. Horses and my farm is my life. I pick out the one related to most.
“Horse riding becomes life when…
1. The patience you develop working with your horse becomes the patience you use with your friends and colleagues.
4. Heavy lifting/pulling/pushing/hoof cleaning develops your strength enough to allow you to fluidly function under heavy loads when needed.
5. Facing your fears while on another’s four legs teaches you how to have courage in the face of life’s many difficulties.
8. The self-confidence you develop from knowing you can influence a powerful animal seeps into every interaction you have with people.
9. You learn from horses that it’s okay for things to get worse, because after things get worse, they always get better.
12. Sometimes, you just have to let go (especially when the horse bucks and bucks)!
13. In general, riding (life) isn’t about brute strength – it’s about gentle technique and strategy.
14. There is no such thing as a day off – you begin to value the rewards that hard work reaps.
17. There is no such thing as instant gratification. There is only hard work and step-by-step development.
18. Perfection is always aspired to, but rarely reached!
19. The path is more important than the end result.
20. Although we all have our own “conformation faults” that might work against us, we can overcome almost anything with some time and effort.”
via 20 Ways Horse Riding Becomes Life Itself.
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