Shadow Lane Farm

10/25/2024

Ellie is doing an excellent job of making 4-year old Casey work through his baby squirmies!!

10/24/2024

Abbie is a 13 year old equestrian who has a natural ability to understand what to do with pony foolishness. She’s smart, athletic and becoming a very solid rider :)

10/24/2024

The horses are getting fuzzy and the days are shorter, but that doesn’t stop our fun! No matter what the circumstances, you can always learn something from your equine friend 😊

10/24/2024

Rudy and Arya are besties 💕

10/22/2024

Our Monday night crew enjoyed time in the ring and a quick stroll to the road. Getting out of the ring is good for riders and horses 🙂

10/20/2024

2 new faces at the barn were wonderfully quiet when we went for a stroll this evening but they were too wiggly to stand together for a picture… lol… I hope you enjoy our attempts!

10/20/2024

For fun, Abbie thought she’d see if Casey would canter. He’s never been asked to canter! Look at him go!

He’s a gangly goofy 4 year old… but he is the happiest, most willing guy! He will be a barn favourite very soon 💕

10/20/2024

Arya is getting the hang of just being a chill lil’ girl! Nice quiet riding, Ellie!

10/16/2024

A good start 🙂

10/14/2024

10/14/2024

Welcome, little Arya!

10/05/2024

Casey is getting the hang of it! Good baby horse and great riding, Abbie :)

10/05/2024

Busy busy day of lessons!! From tiny beginners to a 2’6” jumping lesson, my wonderful lesson horses took great care of my riders. Thank you to helpers Abbie, Taylor and Mallie for being there and working so hard to keep everyone safe and having fun:)

10/01/2024

So many keen young athletes are riding right now! Some are just getting the hang of riding for fun, and others have competitive goals. I’m happy to be part of the journey for each one of them 🙂

09/17/2024

Monday night is always a pleasure with Grace and Charlotte!

09/16/2024

I wholeheartedly agree with this! The reality of lesson horses (and frankly, all horses) is that you MUST take good care of them if you want them to be happy and healthy.

I stress this to every rider, every lesson. We do what's best for the horse. Less is more.

All I Want To Do Is Jump

I ran a fairly large lesson program for almost 20 years. This is a statement I have heard over and over, both in my lesson barn days and from colleagues today.

All I want to do is jump.

There are a few problems with this. Let's start with the horse. I love the old horseman's saying " horses only have so many jumps in them ". Is that 100, 1000 before it becomes lame.... No one knows....but horses certainly weigh a lot and the concussion landing on those small little legs is significant. Horses also get bored, burned out....and let's face it...sour.
Respect for the horse . The riders job is to do the best thing for the horse. Most horses only need jumped a few days a week. That means if a lesson horse works 5 days a week, only 2 of those are jumping days. 3 of those are purely flatwork or hacking.

Riders : most of jumping well has NOTHING to do with jumping. Riders need to work on pace, transitions, straightness, their position, effectiveness of aids, balance, ability to change positions smoothly ( from 2 point to sitting etc ) and so much more.

So if you are one of those students who Just Wants To Jump , please replace that with "I want to be an effective rider and horseman or woman . I want to do what is best for the horse "

And instructors who cave to this plea from students
Only YOU can set the CULTURE of your barn. Talk frequently about horsemanship and doing right by the animals.

09/10/2024

2 lovely young ladies tonight! Grace is becoming so confident in her trotting and Charlotte’s first ride with us was very positive and fun!

09/05/2024

Beautiful September days mean lots of wonderful time in the saddle:)

08/28/2024

Clothing order has arrived! I have T-shirts available in pink, purple, grey, navy in a variety of youth & adult sizes if anyone is interested!

Let me know specifically what you’re looking for and I’ll check my stock. T-shirts are $25.00 each 😊

08/15/2024

Back to regular routine! The horses have had a well-deserved break and lessons are back in full swing. We’re enjoying the gorgeous weather before we all head back to school:)

08/14/2024

08/12/2024

What a weekend! Maddie, Charlotte, Ellie and Abbie (along with Beau, Vinnie, Bella and Hazel) went to the White Hills Pony Club Horse Show and we knew that it would be learning weekend. We had challenges with inexperienced horses, riders testing their skills and courage, and despite some tough moments, everyone came home having accomplished their goals and our girls were truly a team 🙂 Despite crazy rain and wind, they didn’t give up!

Thank you to our parents for their unwavering support and hard work, and a special thank you to Mindy, Katrina, , Ainsley, Jen, Katie and Jeff for going above and beyond to help our girls. You are wonderful, kind people.

I didn’t have time to take any pictures- but this was a wonderful moment and I’m so glad we got to this lovely show.

08/11/2024

Congratulations to Abbie and Hazel on winning the Pony Club division!

08/10/2024

Congratulations Ellie!! Great job riding in a hurricane, on a hurricane! 😎