Wild Ivy Farm, Inc.

11/01/2025

This.
This is why a good school horse is worth more than a fancy show horse.
During this young rider’s lesson on a very windy day, the tarp on the roof of one of the sheds started tearing apart and flapping wildly. Alex never even gave it a thought. Huge pieces of the tarp were banging and whipping around. Sections tore off completely and flew across the farm. Alex kept on doing his job, taking care of this little person, paying no mind to the chaos around him. 🤎🤍🩶

10/31/2025

Dee understands the rules. No horses stepping on the hose!

10/24/2025

Fancy & the fancy boys pt. 2

10/24/2025

Fancy & the fancy boys

10/23/2025

Horses are almost as good as chickens at helping with farm chores.

10/18/2025

Who Wore It Best - Hair Edition

Dee and Steven Tyler both have the cool white sprig in their forelocks and they are both legendary rockstars.

10/10/2025

Ive told my stidents that they have to do enough to get me to shut up about it. They might be doing something but not doing it enough to make a difference.
I’ve also told students to take care of the things they know that they should do (stay on the rail, hands down, legs back…) so that I can have time to teach then something new.
This post makes the same points.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/179RUVteep/?mibextid=wwXIfr

:

Is there a thing your instructor is always telling you? It’s possible she’s always telling it to you because you’re not fixing it, or you’re not fixing it enough. Is she always telling you to shorten your reins? Try focusing on making them TOO short. Is she always telling you to go more forward? Try going TOO forward. And do you always pop your elbows out? Try and bury your elbows into your ribcage, and take your hands too far apart. What feels like too much to you might actually be the right spot, because feel lies to us all the time. And worse case scenario you overcorrect, and then your instructor can rein you back in.

(But your instructor will be delighted to work on something else, because I’m sure she’s tired of repeating it!)

09/25/2025

Winnie had an itch.

09/10/2025

Fence

08/25/2025

I love that kids make artwork featuring their favorite horses.

08/16/2025

Some historical photos!

This was November 1998 just after the farm became mine. There were four stalls in the barn. I brought three horses (Ivy, Gretchen & April), two ducks (Kansas & Green Bean) and one dog (Meatball).

Right now, there are seven stalls in the barn, two shed rows with eight more stalls and two run in sheds. My Dad built the extra stalls and sheds. 19 horses (only four belong to me), 27 chickens and four cats live here now.

08/14/2025

A horse can only be centered when the parameters are clear. Softness is found in the middle- it’s a mistake to believe that softness is mushy.
On the contrary, the softest horsemen I know have the strongest boundaries, the clearest guidance, and the best discipline. They are able to be quiet and soft because these parameters are made clear. It isn’t a kindness to have no structure - in fact, it robs the horse of the opportunity to be mentally and physically centered.