Legacy Stables and Karin's Horse Connection

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United States
Caledonia, MI
Legacy Stables and Karin's Horse Connection

Open To The Public By Appointment only. Horseback Riding and Equestrian Vaulting For All!
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We have something for everyone!
'Own-A-Horse' Camp
KinderPony Riding Lesson Program ages 2-6
Trailblazer Riding Lesson Program ages 7-18
Leisure Riding Lesson Program ages 18+
Therapeutic Riding and Adaptive Vaulting
Equestrian Vaulting - Recreational and Competitive
One-Time Rides, Field Trips, Birthday Parties, and more!

12/04/2024

Maree and Charlie enjoying their early bird sunset dinner ❤️

12/03/2024

🎄✨ Introducing the 2024 Legacy Giving Tree! ✨🎄

In the spirit of Giving Tuesday, we are introducing publicly our 2024 Giving Tree: A fun and meaningful way to support the care of our incredible horses. 🐴💖

Our students and current riders have already started giving back to our herd, and we are so grateful for all that has been donated already! We truly have the best community!!

Why a Giving Tree?

Our horses are at the heart of everything we do, bringing joy, confidence, and inspiration to so many. Caring for them—feed, bedding, medical needs, and, yes, plenty of treats! 🍎—requires ongoing support. The Giving Tree makes it easy for anyone to help, in a way that works for them!

How It Works:
🎁 Pick an ornament from the tree in the barn breezeway or DM us "giving tree" for an online option!
🎁 Each ornament represents a specific item or donation, ranging from $20–$100.
🎁 Donate your item or fund by January 11th, 2025 (cash, check, or Venmo accepted ).

Your generosity ensures our horses stay happy and healthy while creating more magical moments for riders and families in 2025. Thank you for being part of this journey! 💕

Additionally, you can donate year-round to our therapeutic riding lesson scholarship fund by visiting the Karin's Horse Connection Programs page on our website! These scholarship funds help pay lessons all year long for many students, and we are grateful to be able to offer this scholarship as a resource!

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11/30/2024

Day 3 of our "Week of Thanks" brings us to our students and parents!

A huge thank you to the wonderful families and students who bring their energy, support, and smiles to our barn every day! 🐴💖 You are the reason we do what we do, and we’re so grateful to have each of you as part of our community.

You’re all amazing, and we appreciate you!

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11/29/2024

To our volunteers,

We are so thankful for you!!! Your time and effort help us care for our horses and support our programs in a variety of ways. Whether it’s helping with chores and horse care or lending a hand at events, you are helping make a huge difference. We appreciate you!

Thank you for sharing your time and talents with us! 💕

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11/28/2024

Happy Thanksgiving from our community to yours! We are so grateful for all the smiles and memories we were able to create with you this year.

In the spirit of thanks, we are kicking off a "Week of Thanks" to highlight those we are grateful for and show our appreciation to everyone involved!

Starting off the week with a big thank you to our entire community! Whether you ride multiple times a week with us or watch from afar and support our mission on social media, we appreciate you so much! We've had the joy of connecting with so many people in our community over the years, and we are so grateful for that opportunity!

What are you most grateful for this year??

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11/26/2024

Garfield and Sunny took a trip to a vaccine clinic last week for their annual vaccines 😻❤️

11/25/2024

We are HIRING A VAULTING COACH
Our Vaulting Club 'A Vaulting Connection' (Legacy Stables and Karin's Horse Connection), is looking to hire a vaulting coach. This position is for interested horse and vaulting enthusiasts who want to come to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for this coming vaulting season. We have over 30 lovely horses and ponies at a beautiful horse farm near Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. We specialize in introducing horses to people of all ages and backgrounds. Our goal is to spread joy and make people happy with our horses. We value a stress-free, positive atmosphere without compromising on a professionally run operation. Happy horses and a team of friendly, reliable staff are vital to us.

We offer a wide range of programs: holistic riding lessons, trail rides, horse camps, birthday parties, therapeutic riding, and much more. We also have an extensive, growing vaulting program.
Your job would be two-fold. You would be a paid VAULTING COACH for about 20 hours a week (competitive pay). We want your active support in coaching our vaulters of all levels and helping with lunging and training our vaulting horses.

In addition, you could learn and help as a WORKING STUDENT (or staff, depending on your experience) in all areas of our operation and gain experience with riding lessons, therapeutic riding/vaulting, birthday parties, and various groups. We would be happy to help with room and board. You will also learn how to run a successful equine business. Training provided.

The requirements are that you are at least 18 years old, can perform compulsory exercises at a canter, and have some experience coaching vaulters and training horses. You should be able to commit to the upcoming vaulting season until September 2025.

One of the incentives is that you can keep actively vaulting and competing.

For more information about who we are and what we do, visit our website, www.LegacyHorses.com, or our page, Legacy Stables and Karin's Horse Connection

Please feel free to send your application or additional questions to [email protected].

Vault On!

11/25/2024

We get asked often what volunteer opportunities we have, so here are our winter volunteer opportunities! Join us on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday through winter⛄

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11/24/2024

Daisy living her best life in her blissfully dirty era ❤️

11/23/2024

Our most recent cat naps!😸😴

Where have you seen our furry friends sleep??

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11/21/2024

Thank you to everyone who is sharing their memories of our sweet Habakkuk. It is amazing to see the number of lives he touched.

Here is Habakkuk’s story (which would not post with the tribute video below):

Karin found Habakkuk in February 2013, living with literal pigs in a pasture with a one-strand electric cow fence. He was neglected and in critical condition.

Leoni had come along to try him out, but he was not rideable. But he had kind eyes, and we hoped for a diamond in disguise. And that he turned out to be!

After we brought him home to Legacy Stables it took us months to bring him back to life. We had to fix his hooves before we could start training him, and only then did we realize the depth of his trauma. He had serious abandonment issues and was bound to the horses in his herd and to his pasture. Anytime he became too stressed, he would turn his backside away from Karin so she couldn’t correct him and escape to his comfort zone, walking backwards. You would have thought he could move faster backwards than forwards. He even did this in his first few vaulting competitions and backed away from Karin, dragging her with him clear across the arena.

Through lots of loving and patient training, he settled into his new life and fell in LOVE with his vaulters and all the attention he would get in the competition ring. He traveled to many competitions all over Michigan, to Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, and even Canada. Over the years, we have shared Habakkuk with many vaulters and vaulters from many different clubs. Karin could trust him with Tiny Tots as well as with high-level Individual and Team Vaulters.

At home, he was a foundational pillar for our lesson program, took countless people on one-time rides, and made kids happy at birthday parties. He was also a tremendous asset to our therapeutic riding program. Kids and adults with all kinds of special needs loved to ride him. Featured in the short documentary “Healing With Horses,” Habakkuk played a big part in the rehabilitation of a young woman who had been in a serious car accident. You can watch the film here:
https://youtu.be/CcBeHo342uQ?si=__qL7nsDNMz3fb1n

Once, Karin and Habakkuk were invited to participate in the circus with the “Flying Pages” for a week. Yes, Habakkuk and Karin ran away to join the circus 😆

Habakkuk was a unique, a one-in-a-million horse, a real character! He got his name from the first horse that Karin got to ride regularly when she was about 12 years old. It is also the name of a prophet in the Bible. His other names include Captain Mustache (because he always develops this funny mustache in the winter, one with handlebars), Habacookie, Mr. Cookie, and "Haba-Canada-Cookie".

2018 was the peak of his vaulting career. The Canadian Team from Meadowview Vaulters asked if they could use him for highest-level individual and team vaulting at the World Equestrian Games. They performed a breathtaking freestyle routine on him to “Beauty and the Beast.” We had a two-week boot camp in West Virginia to get to know each other, and then we competed in Tryon, North Carolina, Colorado, and Virginia. We hauled Habakkuk to Calgary, Canada, to win the year's National Championship. Life-long memories were made for everyone involved.

His last competition was one year ago, here at Legacy Stables. He carried Karin’s granddaughter, Emi, safely through her routine on his last “go,” earning her a blue ribbon.

Although we officially retired Habakkuk from competitive vaulting, he still had a job in the last year. He was ridden lightly for about an hour several times a week. He loved his kids and the treats they gave him. The light exercise gave him purpose, kept him moving, and helped keep his arthritis in check. In the last few months, his joints started bothering him to the point where he was not even comfortable with strong pain meds. He lived together with Charley and his girlfriends Maree and Windy, who are also retired, in our pasture "Australia," where Karin can watch them graze from her living room. This is where he spent his last days… happy and loved.

Rest in peace, my good boy and faithful companion. Your legacy will live on forever in the hearts of those who have known and loved you.

11/19/2024

One of the many things that we appreciate about our friend, Amigo, is his LOVE of naps! Many mornings, especially Saturdays, Amigo will nap in a stall after eating breakfast. Sometimes he stands up, other times he lays down and sometimes you can even hear him whinny or snore!

Have you seen Amigo while he is in nap mode? Tell us in the comments below!

11/17/2024

Horses being horses!

11/16/2024

Sully is loving life at Legacy Stables ❤

11/15/2024

Fun Fact Friday!

Did you know horses sleep both standing up and lying down?? Now you do!

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11/14/2024

Throwback Therapy Thursday - from July 11, 2022!

11/13/2024

Even the horses know it's World Kindness Day! They are "mutual grooming" each other which has many benefits fir horses including strengthening bonds, conflict resolution, and simply helping each other scratch those hard to reach areas!

Did you already know horses do this??

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11/12/2024

Our vaulting competition season may be over, but that doesn't mean the vaulting stops! We enjoyed some team building, bonding and creativity flow during one of our practices last week!🥰
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Address

8001 Patterson Avenue SE
Caledonia, MI
49316

Telephone

+16165701106

Website

https://legacyhorses.com/

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Videos

Horses being horses!

WALLY

Wally: "It's Monday already?!" . . . . . #horsefarm #equestrianlife #animals #equinetherapyprogram #equinetherapyhorse #horsebarns #grandrapidsmi #horsebarn #bedhead #acaseofthemondays #Wally

Luna

Goooooooood moning!!! Luna is ready for her breakfast now . . . . . . #horsebarn #legacy #horsefarm #caledoniami #lessonbarn #horsefarms #horsebarns #themoreyouknow #grandrapidsmi #caledoniamichigan #equinetherapyprogram #michiganfall #animals #donkeylove #donkeys #donkeysofinstagram #thankful #luna

A heartfelt thank you to SE Agricultural and Commercial Solutions for being more than just a construction company! Your generous sponsorship of our Hearts & Hooves event has made a real difference in the lives of our students. We're truly grateful for your friendship and support. 6th Annual Hearts & Hooves Event Benefitting the Karin’s Horse Connection Scholarship Fund is just around the corner! To learn more on how to become a sponsor, or to purchase tickets and join us at the event, visit www.legacyhorses.com

It’s been a GREAT summer 2024 at Legacy Stables!! ☀️🐴

Another fun week of camp in the books! Thanks for the fun, week 10 campers! . . . . #thankful #michigan #trailride #grandrapids #ridinglessons #horsecamp #summercamp #legacystables #spreadthelove #horsebackriding #holistichorsecare #vaulting #horses #horseriding

Thursdays are pretty special here at Legacy and Karin’s. We can’t wait to share why at the 6th Annual Hearts & Hooves Event Benefitting the Karin’s Horse Connection Scholarship Fund taking place on Saturday, September 21. You’ll meet some of our amazing therapeutic riders and see first-hand the power of their human-horse connections. All proceeds replenish the scholarship fund so those who need our help the most receive it regardless of their financial circumstances.

Week 6 Own a Horse Camp was a blast! Thank you to all our amazing campers and their parents! A special thank you to our hard working camp staff as well ❤️🐴