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Tamarak Equestrian

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Canada
Saint Catharines, ON
Tamarak Equestrian

Tamarak Equestrian An individualized, boutique hunter/jumper show and training program. We are located in St.

We focus on building confident, successful riders and producing top quality hunter ponies that are extremely rideable and competitive at the highest levels. Tamarak Equestrian aims to find talented hunter prospects, polish them, and match them up with the right rider. Catharines, ON, approx 1 hour from both the Toronto and Buffalo airports.

04/22/2025

We are pleased to officially welcome our working student Keri McLeod to Team Tamarak! Keri grew up in Calgary, Alberta, where her passion for horses started at a young age. She began showing and quickly progressed to leasing horses and competing at venues like RMSJ and Spruce Meadows, as well as other local events. In 2020, Keri moved to Nova Scotia and spent four years working in the equine industry before relocating to Ontario where she completed the Horse Groom program through Skilled Trades Ontario at ICANTER. As part of the Tamarak team, Keri is continuing to grow her career in the horse world while also working towards becoming a Certified Equine Massage Therapist.

04/08/2025

Winners don’t settle for “good enough”; they keep reaching for “as good as it gets”.

We don’t stop working on flatwork because your horse knows how to walk, trot, and canter.
➡️ Do they do these things well? While relaxed, supple, and balanced? In collection and extension? With lateral movements?

We don’t move right on to courses because your horse knows how to jump.
➡️ Are they straight the whole time? Do they turn well? Is the pace consistent? Is their form excellent? Is the arc of their jump correct?

We don’t move up in division height just because you survived the height you’re currently doing.
➡️ Are you consistently putting in performances without many technical errors? Are your trips smooth? Is your current foundation strong enough to stand up to bigger challenges without undue risk to you or your horse?

We don’t rush to the show ring just because your green horse is jumping at home.
➡️ Are they jumping full courses with filler? Are they able to do this smoothly with straight lines? Do they have any off property experience? Can we introduce showing in a way that won’t be intimidating for them?

Winners understand that the way to succeed at advanced skills is to master the “simple” things that underlie those skills.

Winners perfect their skills at their current level before moving on to harder ones.

Winners understand that excellence takes time: they’re playing the long game.

You can race to mediocrity, or you can hone your abilities to the highest ex*****on.

Which one are you going to choose?

04/01/2025

If your show team’s morale plummets or turns toxic when someone isn’t doing well, then it’s not really a team, it’s a trauma dump.

Your team (this includes riders, coaches, parents, grooms, etc) should always be lifting you up, never dragging you down.

🚩 If you can’t celebrate your win because other people didn’t win, that team doesn’t serve you.

🚩 If you get sh*t on for not winning, that team doesn’t serve you.

🚩 If you’re only treated well or only get attention when you’re winning, that team doesn’t serve you.

🚩 If there’s mind games and backhanded compliments, that team doesn’t serve you.

I’ve been the one who wasn’t allowed to be happy because I won the class that someone else was crying over.

I’ve been the one who was berated if they didn’t win (sometimes even when I did, because I didn’t win easily enough).

I’ve been the one on the receiving end of comments from teammates like “no pressure, but everyone is expecting you to be champion”.

I walked out of all of those environments (and in most cases, I wish I’d done it sooner). Those are not the kind of people you want in your corner. They are hindering your progress, whether or not you realize it yet.

Get in a space that makes you feel GOOD.

Surround yourself with people who want you to succeed - but still BELIEVE IN YOU and SUPPORT you when you don’t.

Put yourself in a team that INSPIRES you to keep working hard, to VALUE yourself as a rider, and to be a good teammate yourself.

You won’t rise to the top if you’re surrounded with negativity that will pull you down.

03/21/2025

Photo: Abi Kelley gives her horse, Ishana III an appreciative hug after a great round in the Low Junior Jumpers. By Kirstie Dobbs and Hailey Johns What’s the first question that you ask a young rider when they return home from a horse show? Is it, “How did you ride?” Or, is it, “How did […...

03/19/2025

Interested in trying silver but don’t want to commit to a full season? Or maybe you just want to see what showing with us is like? We have the solution. Introducing… Rent-A-Mickey!

Mickey D is available on a per-show basis for Silver West for either 1 or 2 divisions. Mickey is loved by all, and an honest, straightforward ride. Reserve Champion small horse at playoffs last year, and 3rd overall 2’ derby for central despite not doing every show and having 3 different riders!

DM for pricing, some dates are already booked so don’t hesitate 😉

03/16/2025

I always try to set a horse up for success. A horse that is rushed is a horse that ends up stressed, and that doesn’t do anyone any good.

I get in a LOT of greens that have been pushed too hard, taken in too many different directions, or were simply rushed through the basics to get to jumping. It can take a lot of time to unlearn that stress association with work and teach them how to relax and stretch.

You wouldn’t expect a toddler that has only been walking for a couple months to go complete a ninja warrior course, so why do we think it’s okay to expect this of our horses?

A horse is not a bicycle; it’s a living being with its own thoughts and feelings and it needs to learn how to do its job. Respect the “try” and follow the horse’s timeline (which may be different than yours): THAT is how you end up with a happy, comfortable, and thriving horse.

03/11/2025

3️⃣4️⃣🎂 The most handsome prince in the whole wide world turns 34 today! Happy Birthday Kelpie, we ❤️ you!

02/28/2025

Jumpers are a place for technique, precision, strategy, efficiency, and eventually adding speed. Jumpers should not be a dumping ground for the unsuccessful or difficult to train.

Lower level jumpers in particular are good for:
* Green horses being developed by experienced riders
* Riders who are already proficient at jumping and are now learning the ropes of jumpers specifically

Lower level jumpers are NOT the answer to:
* A horse that is uncontrollable over fences
* A rider who can’t “find” 8 jumps to save their life

Jumpers are also NOT where we should:
* Gallop flat out at breakneck speed at a jump
* Be unsafe for the sake of a ribbon
* Kick and flap like our lives depend on it (if Kent and McLain don’t need to do it, neither do you)

Jumpers still requires discipline and rideability, and if you’re aiming to move up the levels, riding like a “cowboy” isn’t going to cut it.

You cheat your and your horse’s development when you value a poor quality round that’s crazy fast over focusing on honing the skills you’ll need later.

02/20/2025

to Mickey D, reserve champion in the small horse division at Silver Playoffs 🏆. Thanks once again to for sponsoring this division ❤️

02/05/2025

This is Shooter. Did he end up being a successful show pony? No. Did he end up being a great lesson pony? No. Did he become the cutest lawn ornament I’ve ever had? He sure did.

That being said, he is the pony who taught me the most about how to ride, train, and troubleshoot green ponies.

He was spooky, always anxious, easily stressed, incredibly sensitive, stubborn, extremely fussy about bits, mistrustful, threw tantrums during training, and could be set right back by one bad ride.

If you knew me back then, you know I would typically never have volunteered to ride one like that. But for some reason he was different.

I studied bits and bought as many as it took to figure out what he liked.

I researched horse behaviour and pain responses.

I tried all kinds of different training exercises, supplements, and treatments.

But most important of all:
➡️ I learned to separate my body and mind to communicate confidence even when I didn’t feel it myself.
➡️ I learned to remain calm, pat him, and continue on with compassion when he spooked, understanding that he didn’t mean any harm.
➡️ I learned that prioritizing flatwork and basics over practicing full courses will give you a more rideable pony.
➡️ I learned that patience and praise will always give you a better horse than punishment and frustration.

After he developed heaves and was struggling with work, I retired him from riding altogether. But while he may be a “failure” by many standards, he’s still a happy pony with a good life. And the knowledge he gave me helps me develop other ponies and set them up for a good, happy life with their kiddos (and lots of ribbons too).

01/31/2025

One of my training mottos is this: the more I can get a horse to understand how to do on their own, without a rider, the easier the rider’s job will be.

Most people just want to get right on, but there are SO many things you can accomplish through lunging and other groundwork. You can work on laterals, driving from behind and into the bridle, improving balance and symmetry, responsiveness/attentiveness, building confidence, relaxation, developing the top line etc etc etc.

In some of these scenarios, you may actually be better off going to ground work. For example: if your horse has a weak top line, getting on them and asking them to use their top line is not going to be super constructive. Give the horse the opportunity to build that muscle slowly on the ground, without a rider, so that when you DO get on, they are capable of doing what you ask.

As a true horse person, sometimes we need to put our desire to ride aside for the benefit of our horse.

You don’t always need to be ON your horse to be training and developing your horse.

01/26/2025

A bit is not a bandaid for training problems.

A physically strong horse working in a correct outline should only need minimal contact. The bit is ideally just a means of communication, not a method of control or a way of “fixing” undesirable behaviour, such as being heavy on the forehand, difficulty turning, rushing to the jumps, etc.

The only time I have EVER had a bit be a successful “quick fix” is when I went DOWN a level, to a softer mouthpiece.

➡️ Example: I had a pony in that liked to be short-strided and didn’t like to jump from a gap. Went down to a more sympathetic mouthpiece, and those problems were almost immediately resolved.

Even when a stronger bit appears to be fixing the issue at hand, you may actually be creating a secondary issue.

➡️ Example: your horse is being strong, so you get a harsher mouthpiece. Now your horse isn’t pulling, but instead they’re sitting behind your leg. Congratulations - you’ve just replaced one problem with a new one!

I’m not saying that every horse on the planet should go in a plain snaffle, and I’m not saying that gags are innately awful. It’s not that black and white. What I AM saying, is that if you want to actually resolve undesirable behaviour, you likely need to look a lot deeper than just what’s in your horse’s mouth.

It’s one of the main reasons why I consider troubleshooting to be a key skill for me as a trainer. There is almost always a reason your horse has a particular habit, and it is much better for the horse (and easier for you in the long run) if we can get to the source of the problem instead of just slapping a bandaid on it ❤️‍🩹

01/24/2025

This is a “measurement of success” TRAP that I see a lot of riders (especially juniors) get pulled into.

“I’ve been riding for 6 years and I’m only doing 2’9” but she’s been riding for 2 years and jumped 1m.”

SO WHAT?

If you put me on United Touch S, could I stay on over a 1.50m jump? Probably. Does that mean I’m as good as Richard Vogel? Of course not!

There are soooooo many more factors at play in assessing how “good” a rider is.

Maybe you iump lower than another rider, but your horse is really green.
Maybe you execute the jump height you do to a higher standard.
Maybe your technique is better.
Maybe you’re a softer, more sympathetic rider.
Maybe you’re doing full courses and they’re just doing the odd single.
Maybe you’re on a pony and they’re on a former 1.40 horse.
Or maybe that other rider really is a naturally talented prodigy after all.

But even if they are - that doesn’t mean you’re not ALSO an extremely good rider.

Jump height isn’t everything. It isn’t even half of it.

01/22/2025

You don’t need unlimited funds to be successful.

When you sit back and look at the people who seem to have it all (spoiler alert: not all of them actually have boatloads of $$), you give away your own power. You create a narrative about why you can’t have what you really want.

I’ve been the “rich kid” of the barn, who was “lucky” enough to have her own pony - this did not come from endless wealth, but from a family that was willing to sacrifice and get creative. We gave up family vacations, I quit all my other sports, my tack and show clothes were used. My first pony didn’t do lead changes. My second moved like a sewing machine. We part-boarded them out to cut down on bills.

Fast forward a few years and I made the leap to the A circuit - my ultimate dream being the Royal - and I ended up being one of the poorest kids at the barns I rode at. Little known fact: I only half-owned Kelpie as a kid. There were still no vacations, no latest phone or new car, still no other hobbies, still used tack, we drove 2 hours each way for me to ride, I got a job to pay for the new show boots and jacket I needed, and we eventually bought a fancy-but-spooky gold-on-a-budget horse that we half leased in-barn to the other kids trying to chase their dreams on a budget.

And we did it. All of 3 of us kids who showed my horse during those years got to the Royal. All of 3 us who invested what we had as wisely as we could and made the most of my quirky boy.

THAT’S what it’s about - maximizing what you have by investing in the RIGHT THINGS. You don’t need a First Lady, Tuccis, a new CWD, a D’yon bridle, an iPhone 16 pro, or any of the other things you THINK you need to “fit in” with the A circuit kids. You need the most capable horse you can get in your budget, a good trainer, and the willingness to work hard and do whatever it takes.

You can sit back and scroll through TikTok in your jealous girl era, or you can commit to achieving your winning girl era ✨

01/20/2025

Due to the extreme cold, there will be no lessons or training for the next couple days. We advise no more than hand walking for your horses during this time. Regular operations will resume on Thursday 👍

01/10/2025

The right coach can change everything if you’re willing to go all in on yourself.

01/07/2025

❄️Winter time❄️ is also ✨grind time✨

That means we bring it right back and tighten up the basics from the bottom up.

Ground work, bending and suppling, rideability, turns, pole work, grids, you name it.

NOW is when we build a stronger, better horse and a more balanced, educated rider for next season 💪

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of our two and four legged friends!

Address

2835 Oille Street
Saint Catharines, ON
L2R6P7

Opening Hours

Tuesday	8am - 9pm
Wednesday	8am - 9pm
Thursday	8am - 9pm
Friday	8am - 9pm
Saturday	8am - 9pm
Sunday	8am - 9pm

Website

https://www.tamarakequestrian.com/info

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