Kirklee Farm

Kirklee Farm We are probably the smallest horse farm in Aiken, South Carolina.

For now.

🎉Not anymore!🎉 Now we have nearly eleven acres to build out into paddocks and a training pen. 🐎

12/28/2025

Opal has been “feeling her oats” since her escapade Friday morning.

12/27/2025

Whenever Ben gets “soup” (Replenimash) he gets so excited that he does a little dance. This one is actually pretty sedate; he often gets both fronts going and bobbing his head around. He really is The Best Thing Ever.

Don’t wait until the 31st 🧨; talk to your veterinarian 👩‍⚕️ now about helping your pets get through this holiday. There ...
12/27/2025

Don’t wait until the 31st 🧨; talk to your veterinarian 👩‍⚕️ now about helping your pets get through this holiday. There are anti-anxiety medications 💊 you can give them temporarily so they suffer less.

Better living through chemistry. 🧪

A very gelding Christmas story…
12/26/2025

A very gelding Christmas story…

I was double checking the gate latches after feeding this morning and snapped that foggy picture of Opal. You see, we’d ...
12/26/2025

I was double checking the gate latches after feeding this morning and snapped that foggy picture of Opal. You see, we’d become lax; just draping the chain across the gate while we work. And this least likely horse took advantage of that this morning. I was just a few feet away, letting Mando out of his stall when I heard the chain fall. Mando looked over my shoulder and I thought it was John coming in until I heard the distinctive sound of an excited horse exhaling. I whipped around and there she was licking one of the feed buckets.

She wasn’t out long but wasn’t easy to catch (she didn’t run from us but wouldn’t accept the halter); thankfully she’s highly feed motivated and doesn’t like being separated from her herd.

12/25/2025

I see and hear a lot of horse people feel guilty when they don’t ride.

Even when they’re tired.
Even when the ground’s frozen.
Even when their head is loud and their body’s asking for a pause.

But horses don’t wake up with a diary full of performance goals. They’re not stood at the gate hoping today is the day you school the perfect 20-metre circle that your instructor keeps making you practice.

Their world is simpler than ours.

Safety. Predictability. Comfort. Herd. Food. Space. Rhythm.
That’s the entire ecosystem of their wellbeing.

Choosing not to ride isn’t depriving them of something essential.
Often, it’s meeting their actual needs....

Most days, what your horse responds to isn’t the saddle. It’s you...
Your energy. Your breath. The tension in your jaw. The rush in your footsteps. Horses notice all of it. They adjust to it. They carry it.

A horse would rather stand quietly with a regulated human than carry someone who’s wound tight.

They would rather have an unhurried brush than be pushed through forty-five minutes of schooling while the winter wind , rain or snow rattles the arena boards. ❄️

They would rather feel you settle beside them than compensate on their back.

Riding is a human invention. It is not a horse requirement!

What horses look for is harmony. A safe companion. Someone predictable enough that their body can soften next to yours.

So when you choose not to ride because you’re exhausted, or the conditions aren’t right, or your nervous system is fried, you’re not failing!!

You’re speaking the horse’s language.

A regulated human is more valuable to a horse than a mounted one.

They don’t measure your worth in hours ridden. They don’t keep score. They care that you’re safe company. That you don’t bring storms into their space. That when you do ask something of them, it comes from clarity rather than pressure.

For some horses, riding less for a while is exactly what allows them to thrive. Bodies recover. Minds breathe. Relationships deepen.

If your horse is eating well, moving freely, and living in a rhythm that makes sense to them, you’re doing enough. Actually you're probably doing more than most!

And in the quiet seasons, something shifts.

Because horses remember who chose connection when there was nothing to perform. 🙌❤️

Merry Christmas from our (mostly) cheery elves🎄
12/25/2025

Merry Christmas from our (mostly) cheery elves🎄

Here you see Opal actually deciding it’s safe to come inside the stall. She had already started shifting her weight towa...
12/24/2025

Here you see Opal actually deciding it’s safe to come inside the stall. She had already started shifting her weight towards me and was turning her head.

I had to run some errands after work yesterday and got home late. I found the horses just not cooperating with John so I...
12/23/2025

I had to run some errands after work yesterday and got home late. I found the horses just not cooperating with John so I just quickly changed from office boots to farm boots to help get them stalled for dinner. Then I changed from a “nice” sweater to a hoodie that was hanging off a dollie in the shop.

This is what I ended up looking like… sometimes it be like that.

Address

3159 Old Camp Long Road
Aiken, SC
29805

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