What are the opening hours?

Monday 7:30am - 8pm Tuesday 7:30am - 8pm Wednesday 7:30am - 8pm Thursday 7:30am - 8pm Friday 7:30am - 8pm Saturday 7:30am - 8pm Sunday 7:30am - 8pm

Hill Haven Stable

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Canada
Erin, ON
Hill Haven Stable

Eventing/ Dressage facility located on 100 acres in the rolling hills of Erin Township. On site owners.
(3)

Facilities include large airy stalls with an attached 20x60 m arena with mirrors, two sand rings for both jumping and dressage and acres of hacking.

08/17/2024

Carl Hester tells us:
“Self-carriage is really easy to see. It’s that tension into the hand that we were talking about with Valegro, the first place you see it is through the whole of the top line of the horse. The best thing you can do for self-carriage is the give and re-take of the reins. It is amazing how you forget to do that when you ride on your own. That constant giving the hand, taking, giving, taking, making sure that the outline is stable, the mouth is soft. You only have to look at the mouth to know how it is working, the horse is carrying its own head and neck. People that ride on their own, it can be something that they forget they are doing, people put in too much power and that’s why they find self-carriage difficult, and I always think you’ve got to create balance and then put power in, that way around.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2021/02/balance-self-carriage-and-the-importance-of-rider-position/

07/05/2024

To avoid overriding your horse… Use your aids only when you feel the horse is beginning to disrespect them. You can compare this to a kick-sled—when it has picked up the desired speed, you stop pushing it and only push it again when it starts to slow down.—Kyra Kyrklund

Kyra Kyrklund represented Finland at the 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2006 World Equestrian Games. This solution originally appeared in her book, Dressage
with Kyra.

06/28/2024

Things your riding instructor wants you to know:
1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.

2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…

3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..

4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.

5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...

6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.

7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.

8. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.

9. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.

📝 Kimberley Reynolds

📸 Max & Maxwell: Equestrian Photography

06/17/2024

Just hanging out. The newest member of the Hill Haven Team. Tanner!

05/04/2024

It’s that time of year again to focus on our own riding fitness. Abbey Road Fitness once again is offering a program on Wednesday evenings at 5:30 at Hill Haven for a group of riders looking to improve their own fitness. PM for more information if interested.

04/26/2024

More words from the wise- RS Training
Today I want to address something that can be quite a challenge for many riders...

The flying changes.

One horse has it completely under control, while another struggles greatly with it.

Some riders keep trying endlessly to execute a correct change.

But it's important to realize that in most cases, the issue does not lie with executing the change itself.

Because almost always, the cause of problems with flying changes is something else.

Namely, the quality of the canter.

One of the things that becomes apparent is that it ultimately comes down to your horse's balance.

To what extent is your horse balanced when riding the diagonal and does he stay balanced as you prepare for the flying change?

Do you notice your horse starting to push more onto the forehand and feel an increase in rein pressure? Do you notice your horse beginning to fall apart a bit in the canter?

These are all signs that are not conducive to executing a good flying change.

Because a horse that canters with too much weight on the forehand can never execute a nice change.

People often want to think about riding certain lines or exercises to improve flying changes. That there might be a handy trick.

I certainly talk about this and that in the Grand Prix Course, and there are definitely tricks that can help, but the most important thing is the quality of the canter.

So focus primarily on that if you want to improve flying changes.

Pay attention to the 'front-back' balance and the 'right-left' balance.

To prepare your horse for the change, you can move sideways a few steps in canter, making your horse a bit more 'hollow' towards the side he needs to change towards.

This creates shoulder freedom that your horse needs to execute a good change.

Do this first without immediately attempting a change, as you may lose some balance or notice your horse becoming a bit tense.

Only when the canter remains good can you attempt the change.

04/20/2024

Copied from RS Training

When you're training your horse, you're essentially focused on one thing.

Influencing the balance positively.

As you probably know, there are different stages of balance.

When you start with a young horse, it likely carries more weight on the forehand (which is natural for horses).

Through proper training, you aim to shift more weight towards the hindquarters.

This way, the hindquarters assume a supportive role rather than merely a pushing one.

An exercise I often use to improve balance is shoulder-in.

It's a commonly practiced exercise but not so easy to execute correctly.

Think for a moment, what do you do with your inside leg when riding shoulder-in?

Many people push their inside leg slightly back, but that's actually cheating.

You're pushing the hindquarters outward instead of having the horse place its forehand slightly inward.

This diminishes the exercise's gymnastic effect.

Because you want to position the shoulders inward, allowing the inside hind leg to bear more weight, resulting in an upward movement.

Next time, pay close attention—are you truly riding shoulder-in, or are you actually pushing the hindquarters out? 🤔

01/16/2024

To create the soft, downward transitions that you want to feel with your horse...

Imagine that your transitions land gently, like a leaf floating to the earth.—Kathy Connelly

🎨: Sandy Rabinowitz

Address

9580 27th Sideroad
Erin, ON
N0B1Z0

Opening Hours

Monday	7:30am - 8pm
Tuesday	7:30am - 8pm
Wednesday	7:30am - 8pm
Thursday	7:30am - 8pm
Friday	7:30am - 8pm
Saturday	7:30am - 8pm
Sunday	7:30am - 8pm

Telephone

+15198554067

Website

http://www.hillhaven.ca/

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