Golden Way Farm, LLC

09/21/2024

Please read! This is so so good! ♥️♥️♥️🙏🏻🙏🏻

𝔹𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕥

A lot of people ask me about burnout.

The truth of this sport is it’s not really all that fun. In fact, if you want to be competitive, it really boils down to discipline.

Now I’m not saying don’t enjoy it, but to get to the top of any sport is hard. If you talk to a pro athlete, it’s a lot of work for them too.

After working all day, sometimes the absolute last thing I want to do is ride. So here are some things to help keep the clarity:

•𝙆𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜.

I have implemented a rule for myself where I ask “why” I’m doing something I don’t like, and if I don’t have a good answer… I stop doing it. For example: why am I riding naughty two year olds? Because I like how they feel when I’m done with them… even though I don’t like it lol. That’s a good enough reason for me to push through.

•𝙎𝙚𝙚𝙠 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙘𝙠.

There are wayyyy to many resources these days for someone to get stuck! Reach out and get help. Even Olympic level riders have trainers.

•𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙨 💯

This one saves me. I can usually push that much harder if I just tune it out with my favorite playlist.

•𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙡

I know some people do this the other way around, but I like to get the bad kids over with so I enjoy who’s left. lol

•𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡𝙨.

This is one I live by. Seek what you speak until you see what you say. Have levels to your goals, smaller goals, medium goals, large goals, along with weekly goals, monthly and yearly goals. 5 yr goals and 10 yr goals.

•𝙎𝙚𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨.

This is probably the most important one. Hold yourself accountable. Set specific shows you’re training for, associations, year end, etc. >BE TRAINING FOR SOMETHING<

•𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨.

This ties in to getting help… but don’t listen to every fb Karen there is and make life altering decisions. Make sure you take your advice from someone who is doing what you want to be doing or competing at the level you want to be at. There are a lot of people out there who will try to squash you. Don’t let them. Find someone you trust to give you an honest evaluation. Remember, even though this sport is hard, you still should enjoy many parts of it. You should see glimpses of success.

•𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙨.
You have to find positive and train your brain to start seeing good things instead of negative. This is a 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 skill. It must be honed.

If at first you don’t succeed, try again, many of my lofty goals carry to the next year. That doesn’t make anyone a failure. So keep pushing my friends!

09/18/2024

🐎 NBHA State Show 2024 🐎

My Youth NBHA Members:

I am SO proud of these two girls and their equine teammates! They competed in their very first State Show this weekend, let alone first ever supershow, and blew me away! Both Devin and Emma displayed grit, determination, a never-give-up attitude and an ability to be a sponge and soak up anything I threw at them at the State Show! This was the largest stage they have been on thus far in their barrel racing journeys, and they handled it all with grit and grace! I am so humbled and proud to be on this journey with them. It is amazing to watch the little victories, as they soon will add up to the success that each young lady will most definitely reach in barrel racing! Both of these cowgirls ended the show with their fastest runs of the weekend! 🐎

As I always say, FAIL FORWARD, and let’s get ready for the next one! Constantly working to better ourselves for our horses in and out of the arena!!
💪🏻♥️😘🤠🐎

Heather Heather
Misty Tucker

09/12/2024

09/12/2024

Another BIG weekend coming up for two of our very own!

Georgia’s NBHA State Show is this weekend in Perry, GA! Emma and Devin have been working so hard all season with their equine teammates and are more than ready to attend their very first State Show! I am so proud to be along for their ride! Here’s to this weekend cowgirls! You have done the hard work, now let’s go shine! Good luck and ride hard! 🐎🐎🫶

Heather Heather Misty Tucker

09/07/2024

I want to wish this duo (Scooby & Enslie Padgett) an amazing HS Rodeo this weekend in Franklin!!! The grittiest cowgirl I know! Go out there and have fun! Ride YOUR race and do your thing! We are cheering you on!! 🐎💪🏻🤠

08/31/2024

We take safety very seriously here at the Farm! 🤪🥰🤠 Heather Heather

(In all seriousness, we really do! Helmets are your friend, peeps!)

08/30/2024

Good drill 🐎

08/26/2024

🐎 High School Rodeo 🐎

Y’all come and join us!

08/24/2024

New student joining us from summer camp and a couple of our regular students having fun today at the farm during lessons!! We love Fridays!! Mix in a little horse time, and our Fridays become even better!! 🐎🤠

(Ignore the curb chain on Rocker’s bridle. I know it’s too big 🤪)

Mickayla Kidd Tori Maness

08/21/2024

The later we get into the summer the warmer it seems to get. How are you adjusting your training program to keep your horses ready to win?

The first thing to consider is adjusting the time of day we work our horses. It is best to move our riding hours to early morning or late at night to avoid causing our horses to overheat. This of course can vary every day depending on the temperature.

Some mornings it heats up faster than others, or evenings can take a very long time to cool off to safe temperatures. So what should we do? Sometimes it can be beneficial to change up our training routine. On days that are very humid or hot even into the evening hours, lighter riding can still be beneficial to our horses.

I have always said that walking a horse is a crucial part of the training process. Working with a horse to move off their rider's body, flex in the poll and rib cage, and be able to walk a perfect circle will show when it is time to run the pattern. You can get just as much done at a walk as you can at a lope if you are riding correctly.

08/19/2024

Happy Monday!! 💪🏻

No matter how many mistakes you make you are still way ahead of those who didn't even try.

Circle Y Saddles | Priefert | Purina Horse Feed | Resistol | Professional's Choice | Wrangler Western | MVP | Big Tex Trailer World | Visit Marshall Texas | | | Back on Track USA

08/18/2024

THIS. Please, all my students and clients read this. So so good!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻

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 🐎❤🐎

08/16/2024

Cheyenne with Country Critter Chiropractic came to the barn this week to give our equine teammates some TLC! Thank you Cheyenne for helping our horses feel their best! ♥️♥️ (Don’t let my horses’ faces fool ya, they loved it 😆.)

08/11/2024

NBHA GA 01 with these chicks yesterday! 🐎

It was a great day in barrel racer land! Can’t wait for State next month! 💪🏻

Thanks for the awesome pics Heather Heather

Misty Tucker Devin Tucker

08/10/2024

💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

Hello Saturday!

08/09/2024

🩵🐎🩵

08/03/2024

First week of school scaries?! Not when you’re at the barn!! I managed to get a few pics of some lessons this week, but I left out so many others. 😅 I get so into the lessons lol. ♥️ Love you all! Happy first week of school! Hope it went well for everyone! 🐎♥️🐎

07/25/2024

🐎🐎 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩 #𝟑 🐎🐎

Last week we held our final summer horse camp to finish the summer out with a bang 💥! We welcomed a great group of amazing cowkids to our facility for a week of summer fun! 🤠 See all the awesome pics below! 👇🏻 🐴

We truly are so blessed for the amazing children that came to our camps this summer! Thank you parents for choosing Golden Way Farm as your child’s summer camp this year! I, along with my team of counselors, really strive to provide hours of horsey fun to your children within each and every camp we put on! I truly hope your children enjoyed their Golden Way Farm Camp experience and brought home many fun memories that’ll last a lifetime!!

As always, a lot of hard work goes into these camps every summer, and I could not have done any of them without my team! Thank you to the best camp counselors for working so hard this summer! Kirstin Chadwick, Enslie Padgett and Kayla Padgett ♥️

07/18/2024

Love this!

Tip of the day: Don’t watch the clock and preparing for your runs!

Whenever I run, if you see me in the warm up, I’m usually playing some jams on my phone, and I don’t listen to the announcer much. I make it a goal not to know the fast time before I make a run.

I’m running my own race.

When I get to the race, I have already done my homework. I have put in the hours. The training. The timing. My horses feel good and I am ready for the test.

Being successful doesn’t always mean winning. It means my horses go in there and do what we trained to do. It doesn’t mean there won’t be mistakes, but it does mean they are trying to do the right things.

If it goes wrong? Well, I go home and do some more homework. Study and get ready for the next test.

>>>I also try to account for things out of my control. Recently, I run at an arena that was probably the deepest mine have ever had to make a run in. When I sit down, it felt like they dropped anchor. I had to pick up three barrels, and it’s been a hot minute since I have had to trick ride. 😅

Instinctually, I want to go home and tune… BUT my horses really weren’t trying to hit barrels, and they feel REALLY good working, really sharp. I truly believe it was just timing in the ground. Since the next few arenas are not like that, I’m sticking to the script, no changes in the program as we get ready to roll into the next show. All week, they have continued to feel strong and confident, so I’m glad I didn’t tune on anyone, I feel ready!

Remember, all horse training is, consistency & repetition. Doing the same thing. Over and over again. Give your horses some slack sometimes. They can only put out what you put in. 👀 .

07/12/2024

🐎🐎 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩 #𝟐 🐎🐎

We just finished another fun few days of barn camp with another great group of kiddos!! Our first July camp of this summer was a blast! From riding horses to painting horseshoes to learning fun horsey facts and everything in between, camp number ✌🏻 was one for the books!

Our camp counselors have worked so hard this summer, and I couldn’t have done any of this without them! A huge thank you to Enslie Padgett, Kayla Padgett and Kirstin Chadwick!! ♥️

We are taking a few days of rest for our horses and ourselves, then onto our last camp of the summer next week!!! See y’all soon!! 🤠🐴

07/08/2024

We are ready for camp number ✌🏻 this week!! We can’t wait to see all our campers tomorrow morning!!! It’s a good week to have a GREAT horse camp week!!! 🐎🐎♥️♥️🤠🤠

06/29/2024

🐎🐎 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩 #𝟏 🐎🐎

We just finished a week full of horse camp with a great group of kids and horses!! The heat didn’t stop this group from having SO MUCH FUN!!! The best days are spent at the barn, and it was so fun sharing our barn with these kiddos all week! We rode, we learned, we crafted, we splashed, we swam, we played and soooo much more!

Thank you to our amazing camp counselors: Enslie PadgettKayla PadgettKirstin Chadwick! Without y’all, we couldn’t have had such a successful first week of camp!! ♥️

We can’t wait for our next two camps of the summer, coming in July!!! 🤠🐴

06/18/2024

WHO IS READY FOR HORSE CAMP NEXT WEEK?!

🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️

I have 𝙏𝙒𝙊 last minute spots left available first come first serve for next week!!!

𝙈𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬! 🐎🐎🐎

06/15/2024

🌞🌞 SWEET SUMMERTIME!! 🌞🌞

Do you need something fun for your child to do the last week of June?!! We have you covered!!! 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️
We have a few last minute camp spots that came available for our June 24-28 horse camp!!

06/13/2024

👏🏻👏🏻

06/10/2024

Forgot to post these pics from the NBHA race at Rabun from a couple weeks ago!

Thank you T&Z Photography 🔥

06/10/2024

Our last camp in June is only 2 weeks away!!! We have a few spots left available for June!!

Please message me today to get your child in! We always have so much fun!! 🤠🐎

Horses, games, crafts, swimming….we have a blast at our camps!! 🐎🐎