Narnia Stables

01/26/2025

I’ve got some room in my schedule this winter to pick up some students through online coaching. If you are interested in doing any video lessons, check out my website for details.

Online coaching is a great way to get some help or feedback from Meg if you don’t live close by or don’t have the ability to truck-in to Narnia for lessons. There are a few options for format. Meg offers live online lessons through Zoom or a Pivo. You just need a tripod for your phone and ear bu...

07/28/2024

Are you interested in coming to Narnia?

We have a joke here that once you end up in Narnia it’s hard to find your way back through the wardrobe. In other words, you don’t ever leave. We also say that once you start to see things differently, you can’t unsee. We don’t follow mainstream horse keeping or horse training practices here, although we believe they should be.

We are of a horses first mindset. Their diet, management and environment comes first and foremost. Last year we converted our traditional paddock set up to a track system. We continue to improve, enrich, and develop that. It’s not large or fancy, but it has been a game changer to provide our horses with more movement, choice, constant access to forage, a family and the ability to play and interact within their social groups. We have a mixed mare and gelding herd of 10 horses. All our horses are barefoot and this is a requirement. Many of them came to me with shoes and we have transitioned them to being barefoot. We do not feed grain here, but give 24/7 access to tested hay we grow here on the farm and some get additional forage pellets or supplements if needed. We are naturalists and believe that giving our horses a more natural environment is critical to both their mental and physical well-being.

We recognize that as humans we are half of the equation so we must also work to be our best selves. Our horses push us down this path to better physical and emotional heath, better self-awareness and better body awareness. We talk to our horses, understanding how horses communicate with each other and being able to read their language, respect what they are telling us and also incorporate it into our training practices. We see our horses as individuals and recognize, just like us they have physical strengths and weaknesss, they have suffered traumas as all living beings do, they have genetic presipositons to certain temperaments, conformations, and maybe disease, but whatever the case we work with that individual animal and respect their boundaries.

We want our horses to thrive in their work and be motivated so we study healthy movement. We also incorporate a lot of positive reinforcement into our training. Meg is a squire in the Academic Art of Riding by Bent Branderup, the only one here in the Americas, and gymnastic groundwork is an essential starting point. We want our horses to be in a position to carry a rider without detriment to their body before we get on their back. We don’t start out horses under saddle until they are 4-6 years old. We play at liberty in a way that develops connection and conversation, not seeking performance or tricks. We enjoy a quiet hack through the woods and also a good gallop through the hayfields. We support each other and help each other through challenges and triumphs. We laugh and sometimes cry together as a community. We do not compete. Competition is for human ego and rarely supports horse welfare so we don’t use our animals for sport.

Nobody is leaving Narnia, but I am expanding a little in how I manage my own herd of horses so that my 5 personal horses can be together as a herd. As a result I will have 2-3 stalls opening in the main barn next summer of 2025. If this community sounds like something you and your horse would like to be a part of, reach out to me for more details. I’m starting to put some feelers out.

06/03/2024

We are in desperate need of hay stackers this afternoon/evening. If you want to get a good workout and earn a little extra cash, shoot me a message. 🙏

04/14/2024

Nova and Impy enjoying a little time together on the track here at Narnia. Video taken by Chloe Ralston

03/20/2024

REGISTRATION WILL OPEN IN APRIL!

For those that have been asking about summer events I’m super excited to share a little teaser for this upcoming series where I will be partnering with dear friend, boarder and licensed Horse Speak practitioner Adrienne Cohn.

Narnia Summer 2024 Series Lecture and Demo Series

Friday, June 21, 2024 6:00 - 9:00 PM

Understanding our Horses Needs Through Herd Observation

Join us for an evening dinner gathering and herd observation. There is so much we can learn about horses by watching them in their environment and interaction with other horses. In Narnia we have a small track system for our 10 horses which gives us the opportunity to understand their personalities and needs through observation of their place in the herd. By watching their body language and how they interact with each other we can learn to understand how we can communicate with them in a way that they understand. In the first of the Narnia summer series, Meg teams up with one of her boarders Adrienne Cohn who is a Horse Speak practitioner. We will enjoy an evening BBQ, maybe a little solstice celebration, and then watch our herd in their turnout setting. Topics covered include, the importance of environment, forage and social interaction to the mental and physical health of our horses, watching herd behavior and different roles of the horses within the group, and observing communication patterns and understanding some of the horse speak buttons. This event is weather dependent and will be rescheduled if weather is unfavorable. We are happy to accommodate various dietary restrictions, but please let us know if you have any food allergies.

Saturday, August 13th, 2024 9:00 - 11:30AM

Combining Horse Speak with Academic Groundwork to Guide Our Horses to Mental Connection and Healthy Posture

In the 2nd of our summer series, Meg and Adrienne will dive into the buttons of horse speak and how they can be incorporated into the aids for groundwork and liberty to teach our horses good balance, posture, and the exercises needed to improve body awareness in a way that makes sense to them. Understanding how horses communicate with each other can bring clarity to how we use our own aids and teach the horse to utilize its body with improved balance and pride. Concepts covered include, securing the environment and creating a safe work space, combining the buttons of horse speak with the development of the aids for groundwork, and working with our horses both online and at liberty. We’ll show how these two philosophies combine brautifu to help our horses find mental engagement in the work and carry themselves in a more balanced and healthy posture. We will show how the development of all the lateral exercises including shoulder-in, haunches-in and half pass and how these side movement help to create body awareness, suppleness and stability and prepare the horse for riding.

Saturday, September 14th, 2024 9:00-11:30 AM

Asking for Consent, Transitioning to Riding and Being a Better Partner to Our Horses

In the final demo or our summer series, Meg and Adrienne will bring the work into the riding. For us, the riding is just the icing on the cake. So much of the work we do begins with the environment and the groundwork, but ultimately it transfers to the work in riding to allow for a relaxed and willing equine partner. In the final demo of the series we will dive into how the academic work and horse speak work combine to allow for better communication with our horses in riding. Topics covered include, consent at the mounting block, feeling imbalances and moving with our horse, how the academic seat influences movement in our horse, and awareness of the buttons and communication when riding.

Events are $80/person or $225 if you register for all 3 up front.