W.S. Farms

03/25/2023

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.

*thank you to whoever wrote this! Not my words, but certainly a shared sentiment!

03/21/2023

Make Them Carry Their Saddle

A father of a darling girl and I were talking last week and he said that he wanted his daughter to ride more and not have to do the work part of the catching, grooming, and saddling. I smiled as I explained.

Riding horses is a combination of strength, timing, and balance. Kids in this country are physically weak (unless they are actively involved with weight training and physical conditioning 4+ times a week.)

When you walk out to the field, you are clearing your stress from being under fluorescent lights all day; feeling the sun soak into your bones. As your body moves on uneven surfaces, it strengthens your legs and core.

When you groom your horse (especially currying), you are toning your arms and stabilizing your core.

When you carry your saddle, your arms, chest, and back are doing isolated strengthening work.

Being near horses, calms and makes you tune into the splendor of these empathetic animals.

When you ride at a posting trot, it’s equivalent to a slow jog calorie burn wise.

After a lesson, the riders are physically tired and mentally quiet and balanced.

Horses feel your heart beat and mirror your emotions back.

Riding large and somewhat unpredictable animals makes you resilient and pushes your expectations.

Working with horses is so much more than learning how to ride.

So parents, make your children carry their saddles. Don’t do the hard parts for them, as long term it actually hurts them. To advance with their riding, they must get stronger. You can help by doing the high parts.

I love having you all at the farm, and am so grateful to get to share these fascinating animals with you.

02/25/2023

“Horses are so expensive.”

I agree, they cost me a lot everyday.

Horses cost you your selfishness.

Having horses means everyday you are alive you must consider someone’s needs before your own, multiple times a day. Even when you’re away from them arrangements must be made, this builds character and gives us self worth.
Horses cost you your ego.

Right when you think you have it figured out, you will undoubtedly be presented with a humbling experience either in the arena or out. They will force you to reach out for help when your expertise is maxed out. If you are wise, you will realize life is like this too. Maybe we should reach out for help more frequently and we would get further.

Horses cost you your laziness.
You will never progress with an equine partner by leaving it turned out, just as you will never progress by staying checked out. Do the work and you will get somewhere.

Horses cost you your heart.
They never fail to find a way to touch us deep within even (and especially) when we are feeling cold to the ways of the world. There’s something special about getting to interact with a being that becomes softer when we soften. We should learn to respond to one another similarly.

Yes, horses are so expensive. But everything they’ve ever cost me has also made me 👏🏻

Copied and love it.

01/06/2023

We always appreciate your support!!

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01/01/2023

Happy new year to all from us here at the farm!

12/29/2022

But he’s OUR problem 😂

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12/29/2022

A wonderful illustration of the aids!

12/17/2022

12/14/2022

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12/06/2022

Copied and pasted, original author unknown.

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 themselves 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.

9. Ask questions and communicate, but don't interrupt your instructor, if you listen for long enough, your question may be answered before you ask it. 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.

8. 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 throughout 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.

11/05/2022

AIn’t that the truth! 😂

11/04/2022

A few of us made the trip to the 100th in Toronto!
So nice to be back at the fair with all our people!

11/03/2022

There, we said it! 🤣

09/30/2022

Beautiful addition to our sand ring!

09/29/2022

We would appreciate if you could take a minute to go to the link below and nominate us! ❤️❤️

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08/27/2022

If you give your child a pony, they will want to ride. You’ll buy them the best pony you can find, followed by a helmet, boots and all the other things pony.

You look for a local barn to ride at where you start to socialize with the equestrian community…………And then life as you know it, will end.

Before you know it, they want to show so you find a circuit …..There will be no more lazy weekends watching tv. You will see more sunrises than you ever thought possible.

Every spare minute of your time will be spent hauling campers, horse trailers and horses and enduring a crazy addiction to practice for the next show.

Your house may be a mess, and your car will be dirty. All because you gave your child a pony. Your weekends will be spent freezing or burning to death on a fold up chair. And their weekends will be spent gaining confidence and friends, learning new skills and having fun and getting dirty!!!!

You will be there the day he or she takes the first few steps of canter, the first taste of a jump, first ribbon, first championship. And they will make you SO proud. Other parents will congratulate you, but you feel weird saying thank you because it's not you on the pony, it’s your child. It's everything that they did, they achieved. And right before your eyes, your little boy/girl will be transformed from the baby who bounced around on their rocking horse into an exceptional young horse enthusiast on the hunt for the next pony finals or maybe even the Olympics!

When you give your child a pony , you give them more than just something to ride. You give them a sport, a talent, hope and dreams. Friends, a new family, a place to learn about life, room to grow as a person where they can push their limits, and bravery, and courage, and memories. And they will have ALL of these things, simply because you gave your child a pony.

Because you gave your child a pony, you too will develop new/lifelong friendships, developed solely from the same passion for the sport. You will have a equestrian family because you gave your child a pony.

Then one day, many years from today…they will be in their room and a certain trophy will catch their eye. And they will pick it up and realize instantly that when you gave your child a pony, you also gave them a childhood that they would never forget, at this point, you realize that everything you gave up along the way and sacrificed was totally worth it…..

All because you gave your child a pony🏆 🐎❤️…….

08/22/2022

What an amazing opportunity we have!

08/18/2022

How about last nights beautiful back drop for lessons!
Gucci and cooper are living the life at the all you can eat buffet!

08/07/2022

When asked why our riders don’t use bitted bridles..

our horses are kind enough to let new, beginner riders learn on their backs, which is already physically and emotionally testing for them.. We don’t want to add to the stress.

We do our best to work slowly, and correctly, building future horse OWNERS, not just riders.

Remember to hug your lesson ponies! There’s no horse quite like them! 😊❤️🐴

Soft hands don’t seek weapons.

One of the single most common justifications for use of harsh bits or gadgets is “my hands are extremely soft” or “I barely touch the bit!” Or ”I use X harsh bit because it’s actually softer than a nice snaffle since I barely touch it!”

Your hands stop being soft the second you seek to weaponize them. The BELIEF that your hands are soft whilst using harsh and highly aversive equipment is only yours, you didn’t ask, and couldn’t ask, the horse.

First off, let’s discuss hands in general and the simple fact that the vast majority of riders, even decorated upper level riders, are highly likely to be overestimating their softness and underestimating how hard they’re actually pulling on the reins.

Yes, there have actually been rein tension studies featuring upper level professionals and amateur riders alike, all depicting pretty significantly differences in perceived rein pressure versus the actual pressure applied.

What this means is that all of these “soft handed” people using harsh bits are entirely unaware of the degree of pressure they’re actually applying, all while defending their right to use harsh bits with the sole factor often being related to how feather light their hands are.

That aside — the softness of hands is a moot point when the current market of equine products is creating bits with mechanics that are painful at rest and inflate the pressure applied by even the softest cues from the rider. The rider can THINK they’re being soft all while the bit itself amplifies the pressure in the horse’s mouth.

The desire to rush through the steps and force the horse within distance of your goals as quickly as possible will always come at the expense of your horse’s health and happiness but also the expense of a good foundation.

See this photo? The left side is the terrible neck I developed on my OTTB gelding by use of draw reins, bitting up as a means of slowing him down over fences in lieu of training and all in all, prioritizing what was fun for me over what was in the best interest of the horse long term.

Comparatively to the right photo, my rescue gelding, Milo. He has never worn draw reins, has never been ridden in bits harsher than soft snaffles and has been ridden bridleless and bitless often.

His ability to follow soft cues is far beyond that of any horse I tried to train the “quick” way. His ability to build muscle was far superior due to the fact that I wasn’t rushing him and fatiguing him into building the wrong muscles by trying to manufacture a false frame through force.

We cannot ethically use a lot of the quick fix bits and gadgets that are on the market. Many of these products simply shouldn’t exist. They don’t facilitate good training, they’re harmful to the horse and they enable riders in lazy riding practices and lower the amount of empathy we as a community feel towards horses.

So, here’s your reminder that you don’t get to judge the softness of your hands. The horse does. And, as it stands, there’s very little reason to believe horses “like” any bit, much less ones literally created with mechanics intended to force the horse to bend their will earlier due to the high levels of discomfort.

The bit is only as soft as it’s mechanics allow it to be. After that, no matter how soft you try to make your hands, you’re still riding in harsh equipment.

Give your horse the gift of empathy by holding yourself more accountable in the equipment you select and also having the self reflection skills to be honest with yourself about how soft your hands really are.

As soon as those hands seek to be weaponized with harsher mechanics, are they REALLY still soft?

It does not matter if YOU think you’re being soft if your horse doesn’t.
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Reference Studies:

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=rider+perception+rein&btnG= =gs_qabs&t=1659886067942&u=%23p%3DQF7Mds0a8ykJ

https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/wagac/cep/2017/00000013/00000001/art00002

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159106004242

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787814000355

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787810000626

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/comparative-exercise-physiology/article/abs/fluoroscopic-study-of-oral-behaviours-in-response-to-the-presence-of-a-bit-and-the-effects-of-rein-tension/6DEC594DBD54E56FAF3B55E9EB6AA80A

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/comparative-exercise-physiology/article/abs/fluoroscopic-study-of-oral-behaviours-in-response-to-the-presence-of-a-bit-and-the-effects-of-rein-tension/6DEC594DBD54E56FAF3B55E9EB6AA80A

08/07/2022

🙌🏻

08/05/2022

Horses aren’t machines..

Horses are amazingly tolerant, giving creatures.

It unfortunately means they’re often exploited due to the ambitions of the human. After their basic needs are met, you must be very thoughtful in the training of your horse.

Your first duty is to preserve the purity of the paces. What does this mean? Walk has 4 beats, trot has 2, canter has 3, gallop has 4. ALWAYS. If not, something is wrong biomechanically, and your horse is at risk of injury. BTW impure paces can usually be detected in a photograph, even though it is only a “moment in time”, AND this applies to all disciplines.

Strapping a horse’s mouth shut with a crank/flash (or other) noseband very often contributes. The fact is, a horse cannot maintain full range of motion with his hind legs if he can’t move his tongue and jaw. FACT.

For jumping, if the horse bolts off - away from, towards, or after a jump, putting on a bigger bit and a martingale will not fix it. If a horse hesitates or stops, pulling out the whip will NEVER make him more confident.

These are just a few hints that your horse is asking for HELP. Go back. Consolidate the basics. Another wonderful thing about horses is they're retrainable. If you ignore the hints, eventually the horse will either break down, or will SHOUT to get your attention, and you will get hurt.

After all, horses are dangerous. We tell everyone that. But actually they are not. We wouldn’t be able to ride them if they were truly dangerous. You know what’s dangerous? People are.

Ponder this excerpt from Franz Mairinger’s book “Horses are made to be Horses”:

I recall an incident in Sydney when we had a lame horse with a very bad tendon, and the rider wanted to start the horse the next day. We asked Roy Stewart, the veterinary surgeon, and he said, ‘Yes, that’s the trouble. People always think that horses are made for man, but that’s not true. Horses are made to be horses’. I thought about that a lot, and decided that if I should write a book I would call it Horses are made to be Horses.

(Franz Mairinger was the first coach of an Australian Olympic Equestrian Team, his excellent book is out of print, but can occasionally be found second hand - buy it if you see it)

(Picture credit Thinking Art )