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Hope's Legacy Equestrian

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United States
Bedford, IN
Hope's Legacy Equestrian

Hope's Legacy Equestrian Hi, My name is Mikayla DeFlorian, John and Josh Lyons certified horse trainer, and Equissage certifi If we give patience the horse will give patience.

My love for horses started at the young age of two when my dad put me on a horse for the first time and I didn't like it one bit. With much perserverence on dads part I grew to love horses and the grace and forgiveness they bring. After being a horse trainer for the past 5 years I believe horses match the energy we give. If we give stress the horse will give stress. With this understanding I choose to further my knowledge and become a certified ESMT through Equissage.

02/13/2025

Look at this pretty lady!!!! It’s still so surreal to me that there are only 3 horses at mom’s now. Anywhozen, the other day I went out and cin and Sage were comfortably sleeping in the sun and for some reason Hope really didn’t like that idea so she pretty much attacked them with annoyance until they got up then got sassy and walked away because Sage wouldn’t leave her alone.

01/26/2025

This morning Flash (or “bones” as I loving started calling him,) went to be with Sky. His heart just couldn’t continue anymore. We got flash one day in the summer of 2010, when I went to take him for a walk when he was at the neighbors I put him in our pasture with our guys and he never left. I like to joke that I stole the horse even though it was known entirely where he was. From the days of barrel racing and thinking “are we gonna stop?” to my favorite story of moms of her not paying attention at a speed show (she was talking to a friend) and she goes “is that thunder?” To her then looking into the arena and seeing Flash and I running towards the first barrel. That horse definitely lived up to his name there is no doubt about that. To then his later days in life where all he wanted was attention and food and trust me, he made that known as well. He was the most vocal in the barn and it’s definitely going to be quiet around moms now. He was the horse I always taught kids how to give treats to because he was so gentle with them which was so fun to watch. He will definitely be missed. “Bones” will definitely be missed but I’m glad he isn’t hurting anymore and he can go run around in big open fields with Sky again. Fly high Bones, you did good.

01/02/2025

Happy birthday to these 3 dorks today.

Hope - 11 years old
Sage - 22 years old
Flash - 36 🤯 years old.

They all got some carrot cake, and by all I mean it was a family affair including the dog being the vacuum cleaner. Hope surprisingly actually tried it and then in the end ended up hating it. Flash was cautious at first, like to the point where I think he thought my thumb would taste better than the cake.

12/21/2024

Some pictures of the horses from today. Winter pictures are probably some of my favorites. Everyone is doing good.

We did decide just today that sky will be retired from lessons due to some health issues we’ve noticed him having after being ridden. So as much as that hurts sky is now fully retired.

Flash is still the same old same old. Loving life, being a pain constantly demanding food and as always being adorable.

Cin is still our over dramatic pasture ornament who’s constantly in the state of mind that goes “oh my god the sky is falling upon me and I’m gonna die”

Sage as always is our hippo who just eats and eats and eats…. And destroys things like last night he shredded his blanket to bits and pieces.

Hope is still my over dramatic red head who things she’s the freaking queen of England. But hey we figured out how to get Cosequin in her without her refusing it. Does she like it? No. Do we shove a syringe and syrup down her throat with the cosequin so she simply can’t reject it? Yes.

Anywho all are alive and thriving and loving life!!!

11/12/2024

Here are some fun Squish moments from the weekend! I'm happy to say that Hope’s shoe modifications from the past weekend have made her even more comfy, which makes me super happy.

Also, in this past week, we discovered that, for the most part, Hope is super chill with riding in the dark with a headlamp on my head, which makes me super happy as then I'll still be able to enjoy my “sanity check rides” after work!

10/31/2024

Fun minor baby squish update! This past weekend, we threw shoes on her, which I personally think are helping already! Her stride is so much more even, not only moving around in her luxury stall ( more about that in a moment ) but also out in the pasture, and when with friends, she seems much more comfortable! Right now, her shoes are just basic everyday shoes with snow pads in them, just in case we do get dumped on before her next farrier visit. This Saturday I'm hoping to have time to be able to jump on her for a little “sanity check ride” and then really see how she feels. Second update and personally my favorite. I with the help of a friend and some logical thinking convinced Mom to move Sky next to Cin, so across from hope and to then join Hopes and the neighboring stall together into a mega stall. If I remember correctly the final dimensions came to 10x23.5 feet. So that makes me super happy and again I think this really helps her so she doesn't feel so cramped in her stall that was a bit too tint for her big old body. Also installed a camera in her stall so when she's in overnight (like tonight) I can spy on her and see what she's doing. Which yes I know sounds insane but when I can't get out there as often as I like it does give me a tiny bit of peace to know that she's not dying or something. And it make it even better usually I'm awakened with Hope making dorky morning faces in the camera at breakfast time.

10/21/2024

Over this past weekend Hope and I trailered to retreat arena to do a demo for the non profit that I adopted her from. The day started with a bunch of what ifs as we are still very much learning her limitations with this foot injury and just trying to figure out what she can and cannot do.

We started pretty anxious which I’m gonna give her grace for as this has only been her 3rd outing in the 7 years I’ve had her, but just like the last time the minute she got in a routine and working she calmed right down. It was nice to be able to tell her story and advocate for her to others that also support abused and neglected horses. While I was telling her story I had my nephew get on her with mom walking next to them and then when Spencer was done riding mom got on before I got on some more. Then to make it even better Natalie and I jumped on and she got to ride for the second time ever!

10/06/2024

Good evening friends, I want to address something here before it becomes too much of a problem. Lessons with myself with cin or whoever I choose to have you ride are by appointment only. We do not offer for people to just come and ride to ride. It’s riding lessons or nothing. Not a single one of these horses are a horse that tolerate someone they don’t know just coming out bring them in, throw a random tack set on them and ride. Any riding with these horses are supervised under my eye and lead by my instruction, I have this business set up this way for your safety and the safety of the horses and others around. Each one of these horses has a unique past and are trained differently because of it. Some have a more simple past that’s not as dark and then there are some like Hope who has some trauma. Lastly where my business is run is my family’s private property. I am a small time business owner and operated by myself. My mother and brother don’t help with any lessons or anything related to my business they help care for the horses but they don’t not help with HLEquestrian in anyway other than that. I don’t not live where Hope is, so I’m not always there for someone to just drop by and do lessons so again please respect my family privacy and my wishes to keep lessons by appointment only. Thank you for understanding.

08/24/2024

So what’s going on with sweet baby Hope? Well long story short she has a bone spur on her pattern joint and some “boney changes” to her pattern bone. What those changes are I’m suspecting and vet as well that it’s trauma, what kind of trauma to know for sure we can only guess but I’m going to suspect it’s from whoever decided to beat the living crap out of this horse. Noe that being said what is next? Can she be ridden? Is she in pain? That we don’t know. We’re working on making her comfortable and yes I believe there is pain hence why we’re doing what we can to make her comfortable. By being on previcox and cosequin I’m hoping that will be enough. If not we’ll go back to the drawing board with the vet and farrier and figure out next step. However I can tell you for now Hope is not to be ridden much if at all which let me tell you has been the hardest part for me to grasp and I already miss it so much.

07/24/2024

As I’m sitting here waiting to go to work scrolling through pictures on my phone. I can’t help but just be amazed at what this horse has become. Not just for me but also for so many others. I love putting lesson kids in her and seeing the smile on their face because they get to ride and how happy Hope seems to be. I love being able to go and see her, give her a hug and just enjoy her. Yeah she may have her weird quirky dorky moments but what can we say she’s a redheaded mare. I love that she has taken the place in my heart as just my sanity horse. Don’t get me wrong sky will always still be that horse for me but now I have 2 sanity horses. I love that I can let her sit for a month or more pull her out and ride as if she was just ridden the day before. To go from what she was to this in my opinion is truly amazing.

07/10/2024

With this Friday being what would be my father’s 72nd birthday he has been on my mind so much this week. This man, yeah we went through fights after fights growing up but he also taught me so much as a horsewoman. He taught me the art of being patient with the horses I’m working with. That being said he also taught me the art of “cowboy up and get the job done” both with horses but also with any task at hand. Both those thoughts and view points on life I will cherish to the day I die.

07/04/2024

and her family came out to see old man Flash yesterday and her kids even jumped on Hope which I’d say Hope really enjoyed. For those of you who don’t know Idji grew up riding Flash (there’s a reason “old man” is tacked onto the front of his name. I actually as a kid still remember being out riding Sky and seeing Idji and flash going by and thinking “oh a friend who rides!!!!” And then wanting to ride together but it just never worked out for us.

07/01/2024

Look at this pretty lady!!!! Yesterday I had the day off from work so just went out to spend time with her. Even jumped on her in shorts and she didn’t care at all which was fun to see. Last week Thursday and I rode nova and blue and I was pleasantly shocked to see and realize later on in the short video clip (was originally seeing if she was moving weird as it kinda felt like she was) that even after having over a year of semi retirement life she is still a pretty awesome little girl!!!!!

06/19/2024

Good evening friends!!!! I’m so excited to finally be able to share it with every single one of you on here. Welcome to “Hope’s Legacy Equestrian” Why the name “Hope’s Legacy Equestrian?” Well there are many reason but the biggest is well Hope. This horse is not only the face of the business logo but she’s also what started it all. She is the horse that was there from the start. Hope has proven to me time and time again that she is ready to step into the position of being my main lesson horse this year. Which I cannot tell you how excited I am for as that was one of my dreams for her after getting back from Tennessee. Now don’t get me wrong I loved the name “Hickory Ridge Ranch” for a few reason but ultimately it was because in a unique way in honored my dad who I lost very suddenly in the fall of 2015. But like with loosing anything one has to learn to let go and move on and I felt like it was time to do that. Don’t get me wrong he will always be with me when riding, training, teaching or even just handling horses. He will always be there but I finally feel like I don’t need him all the time if that makes sense. So with all that being said welcome to Hope’s Legacy Equestrian!!!

Now is much going to change with this change? The answer is no. I will still be offering horse training, lessons, and equine massage therapy. Prices are pretty much the same, including package pricing for lessons and massage therapy. Website is up and running at hopeslegacyequestrian.com there is much more info on there and of course I’m always just a call, text, or email away with is all updated and listed on here and website as well.

06/10/2024

Good evening friends!!!! I'm sure everyone following this page has gotten a notification of the name change by now!!!! Rest assured this was planned This has been something in the works for quite sometime and I'm so excited to finally be able to share it with every single one of you on here. Why the name "Hope's Legacy Equestrian?" Well there are many reason but the biggest is well Hope. This horse is not only the face of the business logo but she's also what started it all. She is the horse that was there from the start. For those of you that don't know Hope came to Tennessee with me in the spring of 2017. I got this horse 2 weeks before I left for the most intense 6 weeks of my life. We went through this program learning and growing together as we went. Now here is the plot twist to the story, I never planned on keeping Hope, the entire time I was there I kept telling myself not to fall in love because I didn't need a second horse (I owned Cin at the time) and we were doing great, until the last week of the program when this horse came running up to me in the pasture excited to see me, her person, the person that she knew she could trust to care for her. That is when I knew that she would be with me until the day that she tells me she's ready to cross that bridge. Hope has also proven to me time and time again that she is ready to step into the position of being my main lesson horse this year. Which I cannot tell you how excited I am for as that was one of my dreams for her after getting back from Tennessee. Now don't get me wrong I loved the name "Hickory Ridge Ranch" for a few reason but ultimately it was because in a unique way in honored my dad who I lost very suddenly in the fall of 2015. But like with loosing anything one has to learn to let go and move on and I felt like it was time to do that. Don't get me wrong he will always be with me when riding, training, teaching or even just handling horses. He will always be there but I finally feel like I don't need him all the time if that makes sense. So with all that being said welcome to Hope's Legacy Equestrian!!!

Now is much going to change with this change? The answer is no. I will still be offering horse training, lessons, and equine massage therapy. Prices are pretty much the same, including package pricing for lessons and massage therapy. Website is up and running at hopeslegacyequestrian.com there is much more info on there and of course I'm always just a call, text, or email away with is all updated and listed on here and website as well

06/03/2024

Went to go see Hope today!!! Broke a few rules (due to an injury to my back I’m not suppose to ride at the moment) and got to smile and spend some time with my favorite redhead in the process! Anyways on another note I am excited to say that I will be doing lessons this year as I can fit them into my schedule with work. Hope has proven then she is an amazing lesson horse so I’m excited to say she and I are available for lessons this year!!!! Also some big changes are coming soon! One being a new name so stay tuned!!!

Address

Bedford, IN

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+16087697261

Website

http://hopeslegacyequestrian.com/

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Videos

Said good bye to the very best childhood horse a girl could ask for. I started riding this horse at the age of 2 and he was 4. Had 26 almost 27 amazing years with this horse. Sky the horse that started the passion, the horse that taught what blind faith is. The horse that taught me that “hey just relax, deep breath and have fun”. The horse that I could do anything on. I could put whatever lesson kid on him and just let them figure it out. Sky the horse that never once intentionally bucked me off. God knows he probably wanted to a few times but never actually tried, his method however was to hit the breaks and over the years I like to think that maybe he started to do that just to test if I had a strong seat. Sky the horse that one weekend we would run barrels and the next we’d dress up in our purple all fancy and fly over jumps. Sky the horse that taught me and through using him for lessons taught others so much. I don’t know what else to say besides fly free Old Man. I hope dad was there at that bridge waiting for you, take him for a good gallop in a field for me and make sure dad takes a mason jar to catch some fireflies. I love you so much Old Man.

In case anyone ever wondered as to why one of Hope’s names is “little red dragon” just watch this with sound and you’ll know. She lost her mind because she realized she was alone in the yard… shes never been let in the yard with a friend… not after her and said friends named Cin went to visit the neighbors shortly after I got her.