Full service Dressage Facility. Training, Coaching and Boarding available. Open for trailer in lessons now.
The lovely ladies of came for a dressage basics lesson yesterday! We started their session with to help their horses relax.
Judy and Kim are beautiful riders with a great feel for their horses. Additionally, both horses were light and responsive to basic aids. The gray gelding, Traveler, is a former lesson horse that our team knew nearly a decade ago, and it was a joy to see him thriving 🥹🦄
We love showing that dressage can be fun and useful across disciplines 🤓
We love Sagmae
🥰
Afton Stables had a fabulous time this week! This show brings together our local horse community with warmth, encouragement, and fun!
We are proud of all our students and horses… who showed and rode ALL DAY. We are especially grateful for our quiet and sweet horses, who are just easy to be around. We are proud particularly of
~the progress and Gigi have made
~the winning scores that and Quique consistently achieve
~our super assistant trainer who brought back her days and did some solid catch riding
~ our own Angela and Maddie who made significant strides in 3rd level respectively ❤️
~ our other students who don’t do the whole social media thing, but do the whole team thing and CONSTANTLY help us get in the ring, laugh, and make good choices 😂
Next year’s goal : Bring back the breed show! More to follow, but anyone out there with an Andalusian or a Lusitano needs to come to the show and celebrate Iberian horses! It’s literally the most fun.
A few images from unpacking day
What we’ve learned…
Our team always shows up ❤️
It’s very important to stretch with your horse 😂
Different breeds have different muscling 💪🏻 (see TB vs Andalusian)
Cantering is FUN
… y’all better know your test because basically everybody’s riding at the same time 😂😂😂😂
This is a warm, welcoming dressage show and we love Shannon 🎉
Yunque is super excited to go see his people at tomorrow! We love this show 🐴🎉
Friday is packed full of fun! Join us August 23rd after the symposium for an evening of great food, music, and friends.
We live to serve them 🫡 … and the cats 🐈🐈⬛
✨Thank you and Bruno Greber for a wonderful clinic weekend! Thank you also to our participants and auditors 🦄
Stay tuned for future clinic dates 🗓️
One of the best things about sports is the community. We are beyond grateful to and Bruno Greber for coming to our farm this weekend for a fantastic clinic.
Thank you also to all of our participants and auditors, we loved watching you ride and getting to know you a little bit more ❤️.
We believe that to be successful in the saddle requires not only physical knowledge, but mental determination. Both of our clinicians brought that to the table this weekend.
We had a great first day with 😄
due to a scheduling change, we will start with Bruno Greber tomorrow morning at 9:15 AM. See you there!!!!!
✨Angela and Gerry getting ready for this weekend’s clinic, Wendy Murdoch tomorrow and Bruno Greber on Saturday 🦄
Come and see Wendy work with our riders tomorrow - Friday August 2nd. Her first rider will be on deck at 9.00AM!
🤩Inspired by the Olympics? Come to our clinic this weekend and learn from the best 🥳
AftonStables Angela Doolan and Gerry enjoy a bit of SURE FOOT Equine pad time before their ride. Our horses thrive on the love they receive from their riders 🩷🩷🩷
🎈Our clinic with and Bruno Greber starts just one week from tomorrow! 🎉
Bruno and Wendy are part of the Afton Stables extended family, and we are so grateful for their knowledge.
The opportunity to learn from Wendy’s unique perspective on movement for both the horse and rider should not be missed! Her and pads are very different from what you see at a typical dressage clinic.
Bruno Greber is a USDF Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medalist. He is also a renowned coach and clinician and has produced many Grand Prix horses and FEI level students. He is also, importantly, our trainer Maddie’s coach ☺️
🦄 The big boy is back🎉
Eoghain likes to experience medical issues that we’ve never heard of before… this year he picked Quittor, an infection of the collateral cartilage. 😵💫
We are grateful to our team that helped him feel better… and for our pads! Come audit our
clinic next Friday to learn how they can help your program.
Good riding requires that we re wire our natural instincts. When we get afraid, we tip forward, or clutch, or pull. We stop breathing, and somewhere deep down we hope the horse will adapt and take care of us. But a good steward takes responsibility: it is our duty to practice honing our reflexes. It is our job to practice controlling our position, our breath, and learning to create a productive mindset.
It is the hardest thing in the world to do to control our natural instincts- but it is the most important. And expecting the horse to adjust to us without the necessary skills is folly. Take the time, put the hours in, get a good coach and an appropriate horse, and master your body and mind.
🌼Last night’s thunderstorms cooled us off enough to get some good cardio in this morning 🏃🏼♀️
There are still a few spots open to audit this clinic with Wendy and Bruno Greber at Afton Stables in Afton Virginia!
Click here for more information and to sign up to audit now!
https://www.aftonstables.com/upcoming-events-and-clinics
A few more images from Dressage at Lexington… thank you so much for capturing these lovely moments 📸
Angela and Gerry had a fantastic show, getting a personal best in the colosseum 🏟️
Maddie and Yunque had a blast as always, working through warm up and test strategy with the help of super-coach Bruno Greber.
We are grateful to for beautiful braids and all-around assisting 💪
We didn’t bring as many students this time due to scheduling conflicts, but we are so proud of everyone who came and rode with us. We absolutely love our team. And as always, we enjoy the camaraderie at these wonderful Dressage shows.
Thank you 📸 for capturing the vibe of Afton Stables at ✨
💫The clinic is full! Auditors are still welcome. Please see our website for details ✨
We look forward to welcoming everyone for a fun-filled weekend of learning 🤓
Kyra Kyrklund tells a story about strawberry jam. How do you describe the taste of strawberry jam? You can say that it’s sweet, and tart, and sticky, and red, but really, until you’ve had a taste of it, you can’t fully appreciate it 🍓
Learning to ride the upper levels on a horse that was trained to do it by someone else, versus learning alongside one’s horse, are both valid paths. They’re also different paths, teaching different skills. The opportunity to ride schoolmasters, as well as the opportunity to get on your horse after a more educated rider has “tuned up” your horse to be sharper and more honest to the aids than you might be able to get them, is your strawberry jam. You then get to bring that jam knowledge to your next horse, and the horse after that.
No matter what, though, there’s no jam on the planet that makes riding a schoolmaster easy. That meme that goes around about how the low level horse is like an on-off switch, and the upper level horse is like NASA Mission Control? It’s funny because it’s true. No matter how someone gets up the levels, no matter how stellar your jam is, it’s all still freaking hard.
Afton Stables is excited to welcome Wendy Murdoch and Bruno Greber for a two-part clinic Friday, August 2 and Saturday August 3.
Wendy will work with participants on Friday and Bruno will teach on Saturday. We have a few spots still available both days, so visit our website to sign up! 🔗 in Bio
Don’t miss this opportunity for a holistic approach to riding!!! More details to follow. Afton Stables is grateful for our relationship with these world-class equestrians 🤩
To avoid overriding your horse… Use your aids only when you feel the horse is beginning to disrespect them. You can compare this to a kick-sled—when it has picked up the desired speed, you stop pushing it and only push it again when it starts to slow down.—Kyra Kyrklund
Kyra Kyrklund represented Finland at the 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2006 World Equestrian Games. This solution originally appeared in her book, Dressage
with Kyra.
Farm Owner and Gerry are getting some help in the canter with Performance Refinery 🧘
Anatomy slings help the rider’s muscles, facia, and ligaments work together to create stability in the saddle. Sometimes a a short session developing “feel” can allow for a breakthrough 🤯
7451 Dick Woods Road
Afton, VA
22920
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🍂Woodland Bob🍁 We are taking advantage of these warm days, and getting the horses out of the ring as much as possible.
#mudseason in Virginia 🌦️😬
Do you have a pre-ride routine? At Afton Stables we like to explore different ways to make our horses comfortable and ready to do their jobs. In this video, our trainer @madelinepiplico and our groom @northern_lights078 are helping young Freyja feel her best before her exercise. This includes stretches and @surefootequine pads. For other horses it may just be a short hack up and down hills some days. When your horse is properly prepared they are happier to work for you 💕
A beautiful Fall morning at Afton Stables. We love that our boys get to spend the nights outside together, being horses 🍂See everyone tomorrow 😁 for our Fall Friends and Family Event to benefit @hopeslegacy ...#aftonstables #albemarlecounty #crozetva #cville #charlottesville #crozet #albemarleva #horsepower #horse #equine #instahorse #horsesofinstagram #dressage #dressagehorse #autumn #autumnvibes #dressagetraining #horsefarm #usdf #usef #virginiadressageassociation #equestrian #equestrians #equestrianproperty
We are excited to welcome our friends from Hopes Legacy Equine Rescue @hopeslegacy 🦄 All door takings will be dontated to this great organization so please come out and visit us 🦄 . . . #aftonstables #albemarlecounty #crozetva #cville #charlottesville #crozet #albemarleva #beepollen #grasslandbirds #piedmontenviromentalcouncil #onemorestepwellness #horse #equine #instahorse #horsesofinstagram #dressage #dressagehorse #hopeslegacy #dressagetraining #horserescue #usdf #usef #virginiadressageassociation #equestrian #equestrians #dressage
We are excited to welcome our friends from Siller Pollinator Company @sillerpollinatorcompany and Virginia Grassland Bird Initiative @piedmontenviron. Here at Afton Stables we love all things furry 🐝 and feathery 🦉! If you want to know how to care for the wild birds and the bees this winter, stop on by for more information. . . . #aftonstables #albemarlecounty #crozetva #cville #charlottesville #crozet #albemarleva #beepollen #grasslandbirds #piedmontenviromentalcouncil #onemorestepwellness #horse #equine #instahorse #horsesofinstagram #dressage #dressagehorse #hopeslegacy #dressagetraining #horserescue #usdf #usef #virginiadressageassociation #equestrian #equestrians #dressage
🦄The best way to familiarize yourself with a new horse is through transitions. Angela and Gerry are learning to speak the same language 🤩
Gerry keeping the tempo in the trot 🦄🎶 . . . #dressage #dressagehorse #trot #aftonstables
Freyja is a very special 4 year old mare in our training program. She is loving her long and low trot work, and doing plenty of it to strengthen her back while she grows. We are enjoying having this special little lady in our barn! ***and so is old Koko, her bf
A note from our trainer ~ This year the Afton Stables team made the difficult choice to sit out Dressage at Lexington. I want my students and their horses to have a positive experience at shows. This means not entering if either horse or rider feel a bit unfit or haven’t had enough practice time together. While we are at home we are enjoying trail riding and extra turnout for the horses. We look forward to seeing everyone at ERAHC, my personal favorite show. In the meantime, good luck to all of our friends at DAL!
The moment he realizes he’s on camera 😂
Quique is so smooooooth ❤️🦄
Certain members of the Afton Stables family aren’t excited for bath time
Wishing everyone a peaceful and prosperous 2023!
Foggy morning clippity-clop Also, could Koko be any dirtier?
A lovely day for a hack with Ben ⛰️🌿🍁 Hill work helps Ben stay strong and limber
We wash Eoghain’s mane and tail and feathers regularly to prevent them from turning pink with the Virginia clay. Eoghain seems to enjoy his hair wash from Anesia.
Charlottesville and Afton va PET's Page
Dick Woods Road
