Kaity Etches Horseback Riding Services

12/25/2023

The ponies and I want to wish all friends, family, students, visitors, and supporters of the horses a very Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone got what they wanted and got to spend lots of time with those who make you happiest! 😊🎅

11/25/2023

Today was the 5km Santa Run for Make a Wish!

With the help of mostly students, parents of students and supporters of the lesson program we raised over the $100 goal and raised $109 for my individual goal!

Thanks to everyone who donated and all those who ran in the 5k, I hope we were able to make alot of kids wishes come true with the money raised! ❤️😊

As promised, pictures of the Santa suit, beard an all!

Now to see if we can't take some cute Christmas photos with the ponies with our newly acquired Santa suits 😜

11/11/2023

Oh my goodness I can't believe it's been since July that I've posted, even though we've be running and operating everyday since then!

As alot of you may know, I'm in school to become a Paramedic and so having time to post pictures from riding lessons between studying and my other job , can sometimes hit the backburner 😅

But! I'm making today's post as I will be running in the HoHoHoliday 5km Santa run to help raise money for Make a Wish and hoping we can spread word about the event/ potentially raise some money so we can make these special children's Christmas wishes come true!

As someone who currently works with, and has always worked with children, including those who have been incredibly sick, it is close to my heart this charity and I want to do my best by participating to help raise money for such a good cause!

If you've stuck with me so far on this long post, I appreciate it and if we can raise some money for this run that'd be amazing!☺️

Plus I'll post pictures of me running with the full Santa suit and beard if that persuades any one to share or donate 😜🧑‍🎄

**And please know, as times are tough and money can be tight, even just a share can help raise awareness to this event and spread the word to help raise money!**

I work with a lot of kids as a coach and would like to help to make children's wishes come true.

07/30/2023

For once Kaity got some pictures?!

Yes, yes I did. And by Kaity I mean one of my favourite volunteers❤️

Today was a beautiful day for lessons, so we had to capture a moment from each of them!

Hopefully we can bring ya some more photos, more consistently!

Look at all my little stars! All progressing so well!

06/04/2023

Em and Cece working through a new obstacle together!

Took a few tries to keep Cierra between the poles but eventually the both got it and worked through it like a charm!

Sometimes the horses just need small steps to work through a new challenge. We started by walking through and woahing just before each turn to get Cierra to pay attention, slow down and take her time to bend.

This took about 3-4 times, getting further along each new time through. Eventually, Cierra went through no issues!

For the rider, this exercise keeps them thinking and looking one step ahead, executing quick reining skills, and teaches the rider how to help their horse work through a puzzle!

Great job all round! 😁

05/24/2023

Hello everyone!

One of our rider's parent has dropped off some riding gear and equipment for any of our riders that require them to have, and ride in and use! 😮😀

This is the first time we've recieved a donation so big for our riders!❤️

An absolute huge thank you to Billy Reed! Riding can be very expensive, and while we try to keep our costs low and affordable, acquiring equipment can become costly to riders. Giving riders an opportunity to cut costs anywhere in this sport is huge and your generosity will not go unnoticed or uncelebrated!

If any of our riders require boots, half chaps, brushes or a saddle pad please let me know and we can see if any of the 3 pairs of boots/half chaps fit! The saddle pad and brushes will be on a first come first serve as well.

Riders and parents please feel free to reach out if in need of anything listed! I can set up time during the week or weekend to try on boots/half chaps or see the brush kit and saddle pad.

😁

05/09/2023

I wanted to take a moment to spotlight one of my volunteers!

He has been working so hard learning the skills to halter, lead, brush, tack up, clean stalls, feed and water the horses and lunge the horses. Today was his first day riding with us.

I am so so proud of how hard he has been working, his bravery to try new things and ability to learn quickly!

The big smiles he had riding were well worth it! I think he and Cece will make a great riding team with our future lessons! 😊

04/09/2023

Apparently I don't know how to edit posts without deleting them, so lets try again lol

We had some easter bunnies early this morning! 🐰🐇

Hope everybody got spoiled and has an extra hop in their step today like the girls do!

Happy Easter from Cierra, Nevy and I! 😁

03/27/2023

It's always okay to get off and try for another day.

You're not failing or letting your horse down, you're just allowing both of you to step away and come back with a fresh start and mind when you're ready to.

Sometimes the bravest thing you can do as a rider is get off and try again another day.

You don’t need to put yourself in danger and ride it out if both you and your horse aren’t up for it.

Sometimes, courage is knowing when to not continue pushing and choosing safety over grittiness.

There is absolutely no shame in not wanting to endanger yourself on a horse who is reacting in a way you’re not equipped to deal with, scared to deal with or simply don’t want to deal with.

Groundwork DOES work and is a perfectly acceptable answer to a situation that is getting dangerous under saddle, as is taking a deep breath, putting the horse away and starting fresh another day.

Bravery is advocating for yourself despite others mocking you for it. Bravery is valuing your horse’s emotional state even when you’re encouraged to just push them through it.

There are many forms of bravery that don’t involve riding through all sorts of dangerous antics and I think those acts of courage deserve recognition.

Valuing your safety and reacting in a way that preserves your longterm health and soundness is sometimes the bravest thing you can do.

➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖

Bridle & baselayer from our shop: http://shopmilestoneeq.com

03/17/2023

Today was a great day for lessons! Each and every student worked hard today! 😊😊

Everyone achieved a level of progress today. Some learned a new ground work skill, some worked on confidence building and pushing past fears, and some worked on schooling unfamiliar horses.

No matter how they progressed, or what they individually achieved today, I am very proud of everyone.

Sometimes we forget as humans that progress isn't always linear. Some days are great, and some days are more of a struggle.

Just because we struggle once, twice or ten times, does not mean our progress can't move forward in large or small steps.

As long as we are always learning, trying our best and doing good by our horse partners, that's all we can ask as a coach!

Again very proud of everyone today! 😁

03/14/2023

Very true words!

Horseback rising isn't easy, but it's the hard work and determination in every ride and horse interaction that makes it all worth it!

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!

03/03/2023

This was from this past weekend, Nevys had some energy kicked into her as of late and we love to see it!

Means our riders that started on Nevy can learn their Canter on her as well!

We're going to keep working on her stamina in the canter, but we've been very impressed with her improvements as of late! 😁

Please enjoy her sweet little canter on the lunge!

02/26/2023

Today was massage day for the ponies! Look at their happy relaxed faces 🥰

For those who don't know, once a month Cierra and Nevy get a full body massage from their favourite body worker Carly!

Carly owns C.C Equine Therapy and has been working with our girls since the past summer. I have seen such vast improvement in both their performance and attitudes after a visit with Carly!

Carly is always the first to show us new stretches and techniques that I can do in-between visits to help the girls and I absolutely love it!

In Nevys body alone, seeing her improve in her ability to lift her back and open up her chest so she isn't as narrow, and helps her breathing is incredible!

We love massage day! Thank you Carly for always giving the girls the best treatment! 😊

02/20/2023

Today was a beautiful day for lessons and volunteering!

I didn't get pictures of everybody, but the few I did get were so sweet!

Thanks for spending your family day with the ponies and I!

02/14/2023

Mom took the time to cut hearts into apples, bananas and carrots today!

Did we appreciate the effort? No.

Did we give mom lots of cuddles and pony kisses? Yes🥰

Happy Valentines Day from the ponies and I! We hope everyone got spoiled just like the girls did!

01/28/2023

**A bit of a read, but well worth it!**

Today's lesson with R was a good lesson in listening to your horse.

The lesson started off decently well, Cierra only gave a little bit of what seemed like naughty behaviour by not going out onto the rail.

After some circles when she'd go off course, we managed to get her doing full laps to the left. Great! Issue solved right? We just had to work her through her problems or so we thought.

We go to cross the diagonal to switch directions to the right when cierra gave a bit of a bucking fit. This is strange as she doesn't often do this and especially not at the walk. We go to try again and same result.

We check to see if she's in pain anywhere, if the saddle maybe is loose and slipping thus causing her to react and there's nothing. Strange. I go to walk with both R and Cierra together through this troublesome spot when R tells me she can feel how cierra is tensing everytime we go to the spot. Alright noted. Then I observe as we try one more attempt and can see her ears forward and alert and her heart going in her neck. Okay so she's scared.

We try two more times by this spot but this time stop her and pat her on the neck and let her know she's okay. She's still tense, but isn't trying to rush by. She's still alert but isn't making herself dangerous by bucking and reacting.

We can't figure out what is spooking her so we decide to just do half arena circles away from this spot, and we finish the lesson with very little issue and cierra is more relaxed at this point.

As someone who came from previous barns where a horses behaviour was often attributed to being naughty or 'mares being mares', I think it's important when practicing ethical horsemanship and horse care to recognize that there are often contributing factors that lead to negative behaviour.

When we crossed out pain and tack being an issue with Cierra, we read her body language and how she felt to us. Once fear was recognized, we tried to get her to settle and her behaviour improved a bit but she still was observably uncomfortable/scared.

Instead of flooding her (a very unconventional way of trying to desensitize/despook your horse) we gave her praise for being non reactive while she stood still in the spooky spot, and then we took her away so she could focus elsewhere and feel safe.

By doing this, our lesson could continue safely, without interruption and could end on a good note. It is so vital when working with and interacting with horses that we make all training sessions as positive as possible, for both the horse and students benefit.

I push for training sessions and lessons to be as positive as possible so that it's enjoyable for everyone involved. So it won't leave a bad memory or bad feeling for future sessions.

By listening to our horses and assessing any and all things in the immediate surrounding, we can help to prevent future incidents before we get to a bucking fit. Perhaps next time as soon as she feels tense, R can assess the situation and we can redirect Cierras attention.

Some days it's hard to know what's causing a negative behaviour when it seems like all possibilities are tested and there's nothing to show, but as soon as we remember that behaviour often doesn't come without a contributing factor, the better we can do by our horses, our students and overall horsemanship in the equestrian world!

And here's the kicker, our barn owner had told me other horses at the barn had seemed off and spooky in that area for the past few days as well! There's coyotes in the area. We couldn't see them or smell them or hear them, but the horses knew.

Always listen to your horse!

01/14/2023

Very proud of these two today!

First time riding with a neck rope, Cierra listened to the seat aids so nicely and Isabelle gave a beautiful trot!

It's nice to see cierra listen to the students aids and not just my own! Very proud!

01/12/2023

Hello Everyone!

I should have made this post at the first of the month, but better middle of January than never right? 😅😆

As the page has gotten some new followers and likes, and we have gotten some new clients, I'd like to reintroduce myself, the horses and the business for those who don't quite know!

I am Kaity, I am a Recreation Therapy graduate, I currently also work at Community Living North Bay as a DSP for 2 programs, and have been coaching North Bay and area beginner-intermediate horseback riders since 2015.

With over 18 years of riding experience in both English and Western riding disciplines, I have created a curriculum and a multitude of riding and horse care/horsemanship programs to teach both adults and youth about the wonders of horses and horseback riding.

The goal of KEHRS is to provide everyone the opportunity to experience horses in an affordable, accessible, adaptable and safe way. KEHRS can accomodate riders with physical, intellectual, cognitive, developmental disabilities, and even those with mental health conditions.

KEHRS believes in and practices the ethical riding and care for horses. Our horses are our partners and we teach those how to work in partnership with the horses not dominate. We have a reward-based training system in place and train our horses, and students off this practice.

Located directly in North Bay, KEHRS operates out of the Brush Family Farm. I am very thankful to Mike and Adele for supporting the business and always allowing me to grow as a person and as a rider. They have created a family atmosphere with the boarders, and I strive to create a family with our students and clients and have a safe space for all.

Our two lovely lesson horses are Cierra and Nevada. Both girls are trained for Western and English, and love the water!

Cierra was my very first horse, and I've had her since I was 12 and she was 5-6. She is 17 years old, our intermediate riding horse and loves to jump! She's a speedy gal so gaming is always fun with her too.

Nevada was my first horse I bought as an adult, and she was a rescue! She came to me as an 18 year old with heaves, swayback and mild arthritis in her back legs. Through work with our massage therapist C.C Equine Therapy, a great vet team, and persistent physical work she has managed to become a lovely begginer/pony ride horse! At 21, she is still quite spritely and only manages to be a grumpy old lady on very hot days 😝

A few of the programs we offer with these lovely ladies are:
* English and Western Riding Lessons
*Pony Rides
*Pony Parties (Birthday Parties)
*Saddle Club
*Horsemanship/Horse Husbandry
*EAL
*Adaptive Riding Lessons
*Horse Training
*Pony Wranglers (our volunteer program)

I will be updating the page frequently with post that are more in-depth on each program, information about reward-based training, benefits of horseback riding, photos of our riders and any other relevant horse-related content!

If anyone had any questions, inquiries of anything, please always feel free to reach out! I am always happy to help people out with their questions on horses or to just talk about ponies! 😊

12/25/2022

The ponies and I would like to wish all our students and clients a very Merry Christmas for those celebrating, a Happy 7th day of Hannukah, Happy Holidays and Joyous Festivities for everyone! ☃️🎄🎉

We hope everyone got spoiled by Santa and their families, and hope you are all staying safe and warm during the holiday break! 🎅😃

We are open during the Christmas break for pony rides or catch up lessons, if you're looking to fill your holiday with some pony loving! 🐴❤

11/28/2022

Like any good supervisor, Cierra just does quality control and watching 😅

She also leaves the actual hard work to us regular ol' workers, just like a real supervisor 🤣

11/13/2022

With the first real snow happening today, and the forecast predicting colder weather all week, the ponies and I just want to remind our riders to dress warm for lessons!

Snowpants are cool!
Gloves are cool!
Extra socks and warm boots are cool!!

There's nobody here you gotta look good for, we rather you be bundled up and comfortable than freezing and miserable when you ride!

You will definitely catch me in my snowsuit, so join me in being warm and functional! 😝

11/11/2022

So the girls made some masterpieces today 😆

They are beauty,

They are grace,

They paint things with their face 🤪

Truly living up to their breed standards as paint horses 🤣

11/02/2022

Please enjoy the annual pumpkin munch after Halloween!

These pumpkins were incredibly Cronchy and I thought they were kinda funny how loudly they snapped the pumpkins 😆

10/30/2022

We did our student and volunteer Halloween party for the barn family!

Both ponies are unicorns, which was a hassle to keep those horns on 😆

We had a pumpkin toss and rope a witch hat!

We also had lots of sugar, candy and treats 😁

We hope that everyone who made it had fun today, we hope everyone who couldn't make it has the absolute most fun tomorrow and we hope you ALL get lots of candy and have a great sugar rush on Monday! 🤪

Stay spooky everyone! 🎃👻

10/10/2022

The ponies and I want to wish all our students, barn family and visitors a Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃🦃🎉

We hope everyone that had lessons over the weekend enjoyed their rides, and hope everybody else had a fun and relaxing long weekend! 😊

09/07/2022

Today is Ceces Gotcha Day!

She got spoiled with her Banana-Carrot Oat cake, 2lb bag of her favourite Peppermint treat, and good ol mommy-cece cuddle time!

12 years ago today, Cierra came into my life. She was my very first horse I owned!

She was a crazy fast little lady that came with a companion goat! 😆

We worked together to get her to slow down and carry herself better without running around like a psycho LOL Then we worked together to get her jumping.

Never did I think, at the time, how far we could get and how we would grow as horse and rider!

Cece has been in the lesson program for 4 years and in that 4 years has given many adults and children the riding experience and passion needed to continue in this sport!

Thank you Cierra for being the best horse a girl could ask for and for being a forgiving and wonderful lesson horse for many of our riders! You big sister Nevy and Mommy love you so much!❤❤

We can't wait for many more years together, your forever home is with Nevy and Mommy!

09/07/2022

Since we saw so many back to school pictures like this, we had to jump on the trend 😎

Please enjoy my school ponies lol

09/06/2022

The ponies and I would like to wish our school-age students a Happy First Day Back at School!

As I'm starting my last semester at college today aswell, I just want you all to know that we are all going through it and that we got this!

Cece, Nevy and I can't wait to hear all about your first days and first week! 😊

Let's have the best school year! 🥳