Blog

“Why do you still take lessons? Don’t you know how to ride by now?” Many of us have probably heard this question from confused ‘non-horsey’ friends and family, but as any rider knows, there is always way more to learn when it comes to horses. In fact, it seems that the more we ride, the… Continue

Happy World Donkey Day, everyone! We love our long-eared friends and are happy to have any occasion for spoiling them even more than usual. However, the day was also created as an important means of raising awareness to the often unrecognized plight of many working donkeys world wide. Donkeys have been used as working animals for the past… Continue

“Saving one horse may not change the world, but surely for that one horse, the world will change forever.” This quote certainly resonated as we made another trip to the New Holland (PA) auction last week. It was our 4th trip in 2 years, yet it never gets easier to see so many animals facing… Continue

Many of us began our riding careers as horse-crazy kids.  At that young age things were pretty simple, we loved horses and wanted to spend time with them and ride them, because it was fun. It is so easy as a child to live in the moment, to be unfazed by problems, and to play…. Continue

As enthusiasts, riders and trainers, we are always looking for ways to increase our knowledge and understanding of horses. It doesn’t matter how much experience one has already, there is always more to learn. Everyday as we train our horses, we are simultaneously learning from them. Ideally, it begins to feel like a conversation built on mutual respect… Continue

As we move forward with our program in 2015, we have been reflecting on the incredible importance of the physical rehabilitation process.  If issues emerge in training, we always look first to the physical side of things, for if a horse is uncomfortable or comprised in any way it will have a direct result on his or her performance. … Continue

Our little paint pony Baxter has been making some nice progress recently in his training. This cute boy just arrived from New Holland in October 2014, and has only been in steady work for 2 months. Thus far he has taken everything in stride and appears to be a sweet and low-key kinda guy. He has three… Continue

Is it just us, or has 2014 really flown by? We’re not quite sure where the time has gone, but we have been looking back on the past year and feeling thankful for progress made, lessons learned, and for all the horses who have touched our lives and who make it all worthwhile.  There has… Continue

Throughout our training process, we place huge emphasis on the basic manners of our horses. We feel strongly that by producing horses who are polite, solid citizens, we are truly giving these guys the best possible chance of finding their ideal lifelong homes. One of the fascinating aspects of retraining lies in finding out just… Continue

Acadia and Baxter are now officially riding horses, as we sat on them both for the first time this past week. It’s always an exciting moment and marks the start of a whole new phase in the training process. Although we can learn a lot from handling and ground work, riding helps us to understand… Continue

This past week was an exciting one for us, as the 4-week quarantine for new guys Baxter, Acadia and Snickers came to an end. We moved them out of the aptly named ‘Far Far Away’ shelter and brought them up to the farm, where they were easily incorporated into their new turn-out groups. All three… Continue

With the sudden arrival of winter up here in midcoast Maine, we have suddenly been spending a lot more time in the indoor arena. As always, we feel so fortunate to have a lovely indoor space during these snowy days, but it is an adjustment after the freedom and variety of the fields and trails. We… Continue

During their quarantine period, our lucky new guys will receive several massages. Just as we have the vet to do an overall exam and the farrier to do their feet, we use an equine massage therapist to check on their muscular health.  As she works her way around a horse’s body, Suzanne Philoon can let us know… Continue

            This week, our trusty farrier came out to trim the feet on our three new boys. Snickers, Baxter and Acadia were all perfectly behaved, and we were especially eager to see the change in Baxter’s extremely overgrown front feet. We had imagined that it could take some time before… Continue

This past weekend, two of our trainers made the trek to the New Holland auction in Pennsylvania to acquire some new horses for our program. The auction is a sobering reminder of just how many quality horses are neglected and unwanted.  Our staff was struck by the sheer number of horses who appeared sound, healthy, and… Continue

Raven has been a busy girl this summer, and she wrapped up a successful and educational show season with one final outing last week. After Raven completed her first event in September, we were eager to get her out over cross country fences a few more times before the end of the season. She needed… Continue