Horse Feathers Farm

12/08/2024

These 2 beautiful young ladies and their hard working mounts did awesome today at the last Silver Sands Bridle Club Dressage Show of 2024! Hannah and CheckMark earned 2 first places, and Colynns and Breeze earned 2 thirds! Way to go Ladies!!!

12/01/2024

Let the Christmas season begin! Love this girl!

11/14/2024

WHEW! Things sure have been busy! Congratulations to Hannah and Colyns who had a STELLAR Dressage show! Hannah and CheckMark earned top score in their Western Dressage division, and Colynns and Breeze were Reserve Champion of the day!

Last weekend in the SSBC Jumper show, Emma and Hazel had their first outing. They earned a 4th place in their division, and Colynns and Breeze earned a 5th place and 3rd place.

We are so proud of our show team!

10/13/2024

HFF cleanup crew on duty

10/09/2024

Milton update. All horses are happily munching hay, have been tagged, and are Milton ready. Goats are all set with their protectors Aries and Athena on duty. House animals are all happy and ready. We have done all that is possible and now we wait. Light rain with occasional heavier squall @ 1230 pm.

10/09/2024

Twas the night before Milton
And here on the farm
We were seriously praying
We would come to no harm.

The horses were munching
On piles of hay
Seemingly unaware
What would come the next day.

The goats were nestled
All snug in their beds
While visions of sweet feed
Danced in their heads.

The leaves on the trees
Gave nary a clue
While we prayed for the safety of you.

May the good Lord place
A hedge of protection around
While all of Florida hunkers down.

Praying for the safety of all! ♥️

10/04/2024

Look at these two go! Checkmark took this wonderful kiddo for a hop around some of her first 2 foot fences! And we are only 5 months late on posting about it🙃. Regardless we are very excited for the pair and can’t wait to see what else is in store for them, it looks like he might have a hunter in the making❤️

Want to get back into jumping or start jumping? Come schedule a lesson with!

08/18/2024

A small stab in the heart is what you feel when you put up the day's riding list and you see riders sinking heavily in their shoulders when reading which horse they are assigned for the lesson. A small stab in the heart for that horse that for an hour will carry around a rider who has already decided that he does not like his horse. A small stab in the heart for the horse that did not choose the rider himself but still does his best, lesson after lesson.

Riding is a privilege and something you have chosen to do. If you chose to ride at a riding school, your instructor assumes that you actually want to learn how to ride. The instructor's highest wish is that you get good at it.

Often there is a plan and a thought as to why you are assigned to that exact horse. Before you mount up next time, ask yourself "what can this horse teach me today?" All horses have something to give, a feeling or a new tool in the box.

The art is actually in being able to get a lazy horse to move forward, to get an uncertain horse to gain confidence, a naughty horse to focus or a tense horse to be released. It takes work. If you think a horse is boring, it's more likely that you don't ride the horse as well as you think! It's not easy to be confronted with your own shortcomings, but it is in that very situation that you get the chance to truly grow as a rider.

The excuse that "it's not my kind of horse" is actually a really bad excuse. A good rider can ride any kind of horse. A good rider has trained many hours on different types of horses to become a good rider. A good rider can find and manage the gold nuggets in every horse.

If we absolutely want to ride, it is our duty to strive to do it as best as possible, even if it's only for fun. We owe it to every horse that carries us upon it's back.

Copied and shared with love for all of our horses, ponies and riders 🐎❤🐎

08/04/2024

Make Them Carry Their Saddle

A father of a darling girl and I were talking last week and he said that he wanted his daughter to ride more and not have to do the work part of the catching, grooming, and saddling. I smiled as I explained.

Riding horses is a combination of strength, timing, and balance. Kids in this country are physically weak (unless they are actively involved with weight training and physical conditioning 4+ times a week.)

When you walk out to the field, you are clearing your stress from being under fluorescent lights all day; feeling the sun soak into your bones. As your body moves on uneven surfaces, it strengthens your legs and core.

When you groom your horse (especially currying), you are toning your arms and stabilizing your core.

When you carry your saddle, your arms, chest, and back are doing isolated strengthening work.

Being near horses, calms and makes you tune into the splendor of these empathetic animals.

When you ride at a posting trot, it’s equivalent to a slow jog calorie burn wise.

After a lesson, the riders are physically tired and mentally quiet and balanced.

Horses feel your heart beat and mirror your emotions back.

Riding large and somewhat unpredictable animals makes you resilient and pushes your expectations.

Working with horses is so much more than learning how to ride.

So parents, make your children carry their saddles. Don’t do the hard parts for them, as long term it actually hurts them. To advance with their riding, they must get stronger. You can help by doing the high parts.

I love having you all at the farm, and am so grateful to get to share these fascinating animals with you.

Hannah Campbell Zapletal

07/22/2024

HAZEL!

07/10/2024

Oh Hazel 🤦‍♀️

07/05/2024

Every. Dang. Day.

06/22/2024

Stewie is the king of the hill or rather king of the hay delivery!

06/01/2024

This girl is on FIRE! 🔥 We are so proud of her and all the hard work she has put in to her reach her goals.

Congratulations to Uma Kraskin for being awarded the $1,000 Trip Harting Fund for Pony Club members and alumni from The Dressage Foundation.

Uma, C-1 HM, D-3 EV, is a member of the Wekiva Basin Pony Club in the Sunshine Region. In addition to Dressage and Western Dressage, Uma also participates in endurance riding and enjoys Pony Club Quiz rallies. You may remember her from last fall when she participated in the 2023 FEI Endurance Pan American Championships for Seniors and Young Riders & Juniors as a member of the U.S. Endurance Team that traveled to Llay Llay, Chile.

Congratulations, Uma!

Photo courtesy of The Dressage Foundation

05/12/2024

A huge thank you to Silver Sands Shows for another great day! Two members of the HFF Show Team attended the Dressage show today. Hannah earned high score western division and Colynns earned Reserve Champion! WAY TO GO GIRLS!!

04/28/2024

04/20/2024

Going to be a hot one for the HFF Show Team! Stay chill Flo! Be safe and have fun 😊