September 9, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
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
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!
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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 31, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
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
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.
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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 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.
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)
April 22, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Horses
horseback riding, lessons
I was so excited last week when my youngest student returned for lessons last week. Her mom said she was asking all winter long to start riding again. I was so impressed with what she remembered from last summer. She was so happy to be back in the saddle again!
April 9, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Horses, Horseback riding
animals, horse, horseback riding, horses, hugs, hugs and kisses, lessons, love, nature
With the warmer weather and longer days I am excited to see last year’s students returning for lessons. She did a great job getting back in the saddle and remembered everything. It’s like riding a bike I said. After the lesson she and her mom went to say hi to the horses. Nashy my lover boy really enjoyed the hugs and kisses.
Leading Heather
Ok lets go Heather
Oh Hi Nash
April 8, 2013
Golden Spike Farm
Farm Horses, Horseback riding
Easter, horseback, lessons, riding
This Easter I had the privilege to give three beautiful girls their first horseback riding lesson. For two of them it was a complete surprise. You should have seen the look on their faces when they got to the farm and were told they get to have a lesson on a pony. Then the elation turned to nervousness, when they realized their sized compared to the “giant beast” they were going to spend the next hour or so with. After a few walks around and some confidence building we go back to the lesson. Here at the farm the lesson starts with the moment you step through the gate. So the girls learn about cleaning and tacking a horse before they even got on. It was a great day and a true joy to share the farm and the horses with them.
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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!
Golden Spike Farm's Plog 
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