Post by a fellow blogger. I think most of my students can relate to this.
9 Things You Need to Know if You Want to Ride Horses
September 30, 2013
Horseback riding horse training, horseback, horseback riding, lessons Leave a comment
I Love Nash
September 18, 2013
Farm Horses equine, farm, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse, horseback riding, lesson, lessons, love, rescue, riding, SaveNash Leave a comment
My Handsome Man!
He is such a great horse and a big huge lover. He came to me scared and probably abused. When I cleaned his stall he would quickly move to the far wall with a scared look. That made me think he was hit with the manure fork. Now he comes up to me (well everyone) looking to give a hand a lick or receive a hug. He likes to steal your hat and lick your face in the process.
Recently I have started using him in lessons more. He is great with the beginners and stays right by me when I am walking them around. He is kinda lazy and hard to get going but he always aims to please.
Is the summer really over?
September 9, 2013
Farm Activities, Farm Animals, Horseback riding animals, equine, farm, farm dog, farm horse, horse farm, horseback, horseback riding, horses, lessons, nature, riding, trail ride, trail rides 1 Comment
The weather is saying yes. The days are cooler the nights are cold. The Calendar is saying yes. It is September! Where did the summer go? It has been non stop and I am truly grateful for that. I am still getting inquiries from new students wanting lessons. Below you will see Nash doing a great job with one of the newbies. He is so patient and gentle, he makes the best first timer experience.
But it is not all about work. Labor day weekend we made it to green lane again. This time we had a tag team group. 2 horses (Apple and Casey), 6 friends , and 4 dogs. When we weren’t riding we were hanging out at the picnic table on the edge of the trail overlooking the lake. It made for a very relaxing day out!
So the dog days of summer are over but you have to admit they have the life here at the farm!
Sweet summer time trail rides
August 25, 2013
Horseback riding equine, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horseback, horseback riding, nature, trail ride, trail rides Leave a comment
We recently discovered dirt bike trails and paths in the farm’s neighboring woods and fields. Before we could only do road rides and not all the horses are road safe. Now we all can enjoy the great outdoors on the back of a horse.
Lessons
August 16, 2013
Horseback riding equine, farm, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse farm, horseback, horseback riding, horses, lessons, riding 1 Comment
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.
Save Nash update
August 14, 2013
Farm Horses donate, equine, farm, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horse, horse farm, horseback, horseback riding, horses, riding, SaveNash, surgery, trail rides Leave a comment
What a busy summer the farm is having! Sorry I haven’t updated you on Nash in a while but I wanted to let you know that the fund raising campaign is still on going. I would like to extend a special thanks to my lesson kids. They have jumped on board and are helping raise funds this summer. They have done lemonade stands and put cans in local pet supply stores and Vet office.
In the spring we delivered compost (aged horse manure) to local farms and residents. I asked that all they pay was for gas. If the truck did not need gas at that time the extra cash went to Nash.
So today I am going to deposit $188 in cash to the Nash bank account.
Please continue to spread the word and help anyway you can.
Thank you!
Nash is doing great. He is enjoying his summer doing trail rides and lesson. All very light activity nothing more than a running walk. His hernia seems to have become a little larger. There is an additional half moon bulge to the left but he is not bothered by it. Fortunately we are not at the point of extreme concern yet. 
Riding as a Youth
August 2, 2013
Horseback riding equine, horse, horseback, horseback riding, horses, lessons, nature, trail ride, trail rides Leave a comment
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.
Around the Farm
July 31, 2013
Farm Animals, Farm Horses boarder, equine, farm, farm horse, field, Golden Spike Farm, grass, horse, horse farm, horseback, horseback riding, horses, lessons, pasture, rescue, riding, SaveNash 1 Comment
Usually she rides Casey but during this lesson we decided to try something new: Cuervo. He is one of my rescues and best described as an ornery old man. He is great, loves trails but not a big fan of the ring. In fact he isn’t really a big fan of being told to turn. BUT he looks good! 
We finally got the roof of the barn painted.
Nice pic of Chex’s beautiful colors
The Donkeys… I haven’t posted about them in a while. They spent some time up in the front pasture with the goats because Izzy kicked them out of their stall. This week with the weather so nice I brought them back to hang out with the horses. They seem much happier here, even though they don’ have their stall any more.
The walk to the front pasture. The 8 barn horses (my 4 plus 4 boarders) are hand walked up the front pasture for grazing. This time when I was following 2 Chestnut butts (Izzy and Sunbun) they decided the would spook at the new tarp. But Rachael had it under control!
I got a new tractor last week. Yup after having my first Ford for less than 2 years it decides to die on me the Mechanic said that the repairs would cost more than it is worth. So sorry credit card but farm comes first. I didn’t take any pics of it because it looks the same only bigger than my last sexy beast. but you can see it in the background here.
Sharing another blog from a fellow horse lover
July 19, 2013
Farm Horses equine, horse, horseback, horseback riding, horses Leave a comment
Sharing another blog from a fellow horse lover
You Don’t Need A Unicorn
Horses are every-day miracles. They let us do the craziest things.
Top Ten Reasons To Ride A Horse
July 16, 2013
Horseback riding Dream, equine, farm horse, Golden Spike Farm, horseback riding, lessons Leave a comment
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?
Golden Spike Farm's Plog 
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