Storm Ridge Equestrian

01/06/2026

Yes, yes, yes and yes 🥰🐎🦄

01/06/2026

❤️🐴

I’ve got 99 problems…
so I’m just popping to the yard for 30 minutes.

Just a quick check.
No riding.
No jobs.
No getting involved.

I will:

say hello

check the water

leave

Narrator:
She did not leave.

Because first:

the horse looked slightly more fluffy than usual

which required investigation

Then:

one haynet became two

two became “well they’ll be hungry later”

Then:

a cuddle

which turned into

a sit down

which turned into

an unexpected emotional debrief about life

Then:

“I’ll just sweep that bit”

“I’ll just move that thing”

“I’ll just check the other horse”

“I’ll just stand here for a minute”

Suddenly:

it’s dark

your phone is on 12%

you’re cold but refusing to put your coat back on

and you’re wondering if dinner is overrated anyway

Three hours later you leave the yard feeling:

emotionally regulated

physically tired

smelling strongly of horse

with at least one new problem

But fewer problems as you've sorted them in your head whilst mindfully horsing

Worth it.... 100% ....even if people question your 30 minutes of space...🤣

01/06/2026

Thinking about those summer days 🥰

01/03/2026

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.

I wrote this a few years ago, and i think it's time to share it again.

12/21/2025

I know my Rye-Lee has done this for me and hope, not just him but all horses I'm blessed to have present in my life have helped save others that come out to spend time in their presence. ❤️🐴

To the horse who saved me,

There are moments in a life that never ask permission before changing you.
You were one of those moments.

You did not arrive with answers or promises.
You arrived with breath, warmth, and a steady gravity that pulled me back into my body when my mind wanted to drift too far from it.

When the world felt sharp and unmanageable, you stayed soft without being fragile.
When I had no words for what I was carrying, you seemed to read it anyway, as if grief has its own language and you had always known it.

You stood like something ancient.
Grounded. Watchful. Unmoved by my storms.
As though you had been here long before me, and would remain long after, holding the line between chaos and calm.

Time behaved differently beside you.
Minutes slowed. Breath deepened.
Something old and steady took over, like a drumbeat beneath the noise of everything else.
That was where I learned safety, not as an idea, but as a felt truth that settled into bone and muscle.

You asked nothing of me except honesty.
Not strength. Not bravery. Not performance.
Just presence. Just truth, exactly as it was that day.

I laid my unspoken grief at your side.
You answered with stillness.
That felt like an ancient exchange, older than words, older than explanations.

People speak of being saved as if it is dramatic and loud.
What you offered was quieter, and far more powerful.
You taught me how to breathe again.
How to stand my ground.
How to remain when running would have been easier.

If love can exist without language, without demand, without conditions, then this was it.
A shared stillness.
A borrowed steadiness.
A knowing that did not need proof.

You did not carry me away from my pain like a hero from a book.
You stood beside me like a guardian, a silent shield, until I remembered how to carry myself.

11/23/2025

11/17/2025

New solar lights in the shelter and bedding for the boys 🐴😊

11/13/2025

Happy 18th gotcha day to my heart, my rock, my best guy. Love you to the end of times my Rye-Lee 💕🦄

11/13/2025

True words 🐴❤️

11/10/2025

You know who you are ❤️

11/10/2025

🌟