Philosophy

Our facility is very different from the stables you may have experienced.  First, we teach your child the whole gamut of horsemanship: tack, grooming, safety, equine health, behavior, etc.  This produces knowledgeable, responsible riders and eventual owners.  Second, we do not board or train horses/ponies for sale and/or for others. This allows us to focus on our core mission, teaching your child how to ride!  We will not attempt to sell or lease a pony, or horse, for your child.  In our view, this is contraindicated for a number of reasons.  Should you purchase or lease a pony, your child will outgrow in short order; physically or in skills, any pony you buy and probably overpaid for due to asymmetrical information. What then? The pony languishes in a boarding facility or the back five because your child has outgrown that pony, or the pony has learned to outsmart your child.  As a result, your child may grow disinterested in riding.  Worse, you sell the pony (for possibly much less than you paid), trade up (for probably more money than the first pony), and in the process, teach your child a pony is merely a tool to get to the next level or ribbon.  Get off the typical horse trainer Merry-Go-Round and save.time, money and frustration!

Better to learn on the twenty or so horses and ponies we have and get on the road towards mastering riding first. When you leave here you will be able to ride the horses others have purchased but don’t have the time or ability to ride and train properly.

When you are on this journey you, and not anyone else, will find the perfect ‘dream horse’ which will become a joyous part of your life for many years to come. In summary, our mission is simple: To produce outstanding, responsible riders, empathetic to their mounts, who will achieve unbridled success in the equestrian pursuit(s) of their choosing.

We actualize our mission by focusing on rider development via step-wise
progression of riding skills. Our first objective is mastery of general English
equitation: riding confidently at all gaits–with saddle and bareback. Our second objective is basic dressage: teaching precision, disciplined movement and balance. Jumping is the third objective by instilling the importance of placement, erstwhile, maintaining rhythm, tempo and confidence in a two-point position. The final objective, negotiating cross-country obstacles at speed, over varied terrain, will demonstrate to all, the one thing we cannot teach–courage.

Learning to ride, and ride well, is not easy–it just appears easy to the casual
observer. Riding is a classical art in the tradition of music, art and dance. Like those disciplines it requires a focus on posture, concentration, patience, coordination and balance. In another analogy, very few people have become concert pianists as a result of self motivation–at least initially.

Said another way, nary a 4 year old sat down in front of the piano and said this is what they were searching for their whole life. They may have begun their journey with the desire to learn or an inherent talent for the piano–but the difference between the casual and the concert pianist is the support system in place for the artist.  In short, it consists of parents that recognize a passion in their child and their insistence to see things throughout the years required to gain proficiency. So it is for riding as well–passion waxes and wanes frequently over time–it is discipline, either self or imposed, to see things through that will carry the day.  Discipline, passion and persistence will trump ability alone every time.  Ability without discipline is a waste of the body; discipline without passion is a waste of the soul. So when your child comes to you after six months and says riding has become boring–don’t believe it–they would not have completed the first eight weeks without passion.  What they are experiencing is the tedium of practice–and it is practice that propels one eventually to a worthwhile destination. Support and prod them through the low points and they will rediscover the passion and thank you for it.  Capitulate to a child’s self-doubt without strong support, direction and confidence in the end goal, and well, you know the lesson that will be learned…

A famous trainer was once asked, “How does one get to the Olympics?”  The one word answer–Practice!  In our view, no truer words have ever been spoken.




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