Mary Homicz’s Equine Services

Home
United States
Carlotta, CA
Mary Homicz’s Equine Services

Providing safe & responsible horsemanship instruction and equine training. Licensed and insured.

02/10/2025

Cherish what time you have with patience and meaning. Our dear little friends are only here for a snippet of our lifespan and if we rush what time we have, wether it be training, or getting saddle ready, or trying to compete in an event, we’ll be left with so little of it. Take your time and you may surprised with more years than you had ever hoped.

They live but a short while compared to us, but to them we are their lifetime. Give them a full cherished life and be with them until their end, even though they may not be there for ours.

Last night we experienced the loss of a beloved little family critter. Our cat Boots of 21 years.

It may seem silly to most for one to be so affected by the passing of a cat but she was my fluffy little rock I leaned on in some of my toughest times. It’s instilled even more in me to appreciate my animals with what little time they give to our lives.

This loss has wained me and slowed what plans I had set to accomplish this day. Apologies for not completing my project for you all, that being an educational writing of senior horse care in the winter in place of today’s lessons. Of which were cancelled due to Jake being a bit kinked up from this last cold front and storm. As a side note, I’m happy to say he’s doing well in recovering. ❤️‍🩹

But this is the cycle of life, and life sometimes slows to have a moment to breathe. Which in turn can give us another opportunity of growth and learning.

I will be resuming my projects tomorrow and get them sent out to you all. In fortunate news my health is doing quite well and I’m beyond excited to take on the work season in a more sustainably building approach. I can’t wait to see you all again once this weather begins to clear! 💕
-
-
-
-
-
-

11/27/2024

Oh no! I woke to Spirit having grown 3 hands this morning! I think he was over watered from the rainstorm and sprouted! 😭

Hopefully I get this sorted soon. Quite the head scratcher! 🫣

11/24/2024

Today I provided the last service of the season and my winter break is officially starting. The horses and I will be taking our much needed respite to rebuild and recover stronger for next year!

As an update to my health, I’m doing well and slowly improving. I’ve gained back a couple lbs! Unfortunately I have gotten sick several times in a row, most likely due to my immune system weakening with my digestive health. But that will improve as well.

Because of this, and the recent weather, I was quite cooped up. This did make my usually active self get a little stir crazy but I’m fortunate that I have many hobbies and activities to keep my mental spirits up.

I’ve been very focused on the office side of things while I had this time as well and building up towards working more on online content/resources. I can’t wait to share what I’ll be working on providing in the future!

Thank you to all of my students and clients for an amazing year and I will see you all next year! Have a safe and warm winter and an amazing holidays! ❄️✨

11/08/2024

It seems nature had other plans for me today. I’ve come down with the stomach flu this morning, on top of everything else. Not an ideal thing to have in my condition but with my mighty critters at my side I will get through it!

My biggest frustration is that I feel horribly guilty to have had to cancel lessons today at such short notice. Especially since they were to be the last day of the season for Friday students to say goodbye to the ponies.

My deepest apologies to you all. I am forever grateful for your understanding, encouragement, and support.

As I have previously stated, I promise you I will win the war for my health and come back stronger to provide the quality, and consistent, services you deserve.

I hope to be up and moving in time Sunday to plan a farewell day for everyone to have an opportunity to see the horses one last time before next year.

Again, thank you to all my students for your patience and support. I would not be what I am without you. 💕

11/08/2024

WINTER BREAK NOTICE
Attn. clients/students,

Starting Nov 25th the horses and I will be taking a 2 month winter break, from farm call trainings/lessons, to allow time for recovery, rest, and to stay warm with our little hibernation from the worst of winter.

Starting Nov 11th we will be taking a break from onsite lessons. Lessons will be ended two weeks earlier than planned due to unfortunate and unforeseen health issues that have just arisen for me and that require me to limit my activities.

This two month break will be yearly as it is vital to allow our horses, and even ourselves, time to heal and recover for our longevity.

Fortunately I will be able to continue the rest of this season’s farm call trainings/lessons as they demand less physical exertion from me and will allow me to have a level amount of activity to keep my physical health maintained.

A more in depth post will be shared on the subject as I hope my health journey will inspire and provide a blueprint for others.

I cannot thank you all enough for your support this year and have enjoyed every moment of every day supporting you on your journey with horses.

Please confirm if you will, or will not, be resuming your schedule with my services for next year and I will plan accordingly.

If there any scheduling charges you need to make, whether you need to adjust your session time, your session resume date, etc, please notify me as soon as you are able.

This notification will be both emailed and sent via text to all current students/clients.

Have a safe and warm winter and hope to see you all next season! ❄️✨🐴

11/01/2024

We wish you all a very Happy Halloween from the trail! ✨🍁🎃

Jake and I got to go out for a little rainy fall forest galavant. Although we waited till most of the storm had passed.

Tomorrow will be lots more rain! Stay warm and dry everyone! Winter is on its way. ❄️

09/26/2024

What better way to build confidence, trust, and true balance than riding ba****ck? It fully connects you to the horse and allows you to feel the true movement of their body without hindrance. This establishes better communication between horse and rider, while also furthering deeper trust.

Your core and lower leg muscles will strengthen more so as well, improving overall balance. This benefits greatly to all other aspects of riding. For the horse it can also be beneficial in building their own different muscle groups. Although, ba****ck riding can be detrimental, if done too often, as the undistributed weight on the horses back can create damage over the long term. Saddles allow for the weight to evenly distribute across their back, provided it is a properly fitted saddle of course.

Now all of this can also be quite an intimidating thought and exercise for some. However, more often than not this immediately boosts confidence as soon as it is done. Most students end up actually preferring ba****ck to being tacked up as they love the ability to so closely connect and communicate with their horse. This can happen so much so that I have to create required tack days so as to prevent the aforementioned long term discomfort and damage to the horse’s back. Which doubles as a perfect learning opportunity. At the end of the day the horse comes first and we must keep that in mind. They are providing quite a vast amount of effort and work for us and we should offer the same in return.

Do some riders prefer their tack over ba****ck? Yes, and that is perfectly okay. Confidence building can happen in many different shapes and forms and it is important to flexible to the individual to ensure that they are going down their needed route to build into the most well rounded equestrian they can be.

09/19/2024

On September 7th we completed the AERC Cuneo Creek 35 mile LD!

It was an absolute joy to get back on the AERC trails with Spirit again and even though this is his 3rd completion this is actually his first official ride photo! Thank you so much Dominique Cognee!

Spirit had high vet scores all day and the next day he was moving full out with high energy in his pasture. He was proud of his job well done, and of course as a Morgan Arabian he thrives on his high mileage achievements.

I ran about 5 miles of downhill shale and gravel road to protect Spirit’s back, and to prevent any other injuries that can be sustained after long durations of downhill speed amount your horse. This also can be faster and easier for you to make cutoff time, let alone the aforementioned aspects of preserving your horse’s body.

Unfortunately I did damage a tendon in my right foot but I’m currently focusing on healing it up and have it in a brace, I will be back on the trails in no time. So long as I patiently allow my injury to heal rather than stubbornly trying to work and ride, sigh, as all us horse people struggle with.

The ride was originally set for 30 miles with a cutoff time of 7 hours and 15 minutes. Now unfortunately the ride proved to be much more difficult than anticipated with a majority of riders being uncomfortably close to cutoff time, to even flat out not making it in time. We were about 20 minutes from original cutoff time ourselves and our friend was 10 minutes from cutoff. The ride is being resanctioned for 35 miles with a cutoff time for 8 hours however.

It’s near impossible to not at least have one unanticipated event take place while managing a ride. After being in a AERC ride management family for years we experienced this first hand. From broken down trucks, stuck trailers, lost horses, hikers moving marking ribbons during the event causing lost riders, and really anything you can imagine is possible with a ride can and most likely will happen. Just give it enough time. The 2024 Cuneo Creek ride management did a fantastic job with everything they provided and held.

It is just the same when working with horses, you must be adaptable and flexible to change. In turn it is important to proceed with a cool head to undo and safely proceed in unpredictable situations.

Overall it was an amazing time with my trusty steed! And I’m happy to say that our friend Jaime Vallotton Pronovost, that has been out riding and training with us for the last several months, completed her first AERC ride the same weekend with us.

After 3 broken renegade boots, and tight timing, they completed with 10 minutes to spare. There is also the fact that this horse, named Legend, is a Missouri Fox Trotter, not being a mainstream endurance riding breed. Technically the cutoff time now being an hour and 10 minutes, but the point still stands that they did and amazing job for their first ever ride with many odds stacked against them. They completed higher than some Arabians, the primary endurance breed, at this ride. The next day he looked quite pleased and satisfied with his high mileage achievement as well and was also moving beautifully looking as though he did not ride 35 miles the day before. I’m extremely proud of this little team and can’t wait to see what else they do together!

09/05/2024

So immensely proud of this student of mine! Last Tuesday she rode her first lengthy trail ride, specifically an endurance conditioning ride I invited her to join me on. She has shown interest in the sport, and that being my specialty, I am ecstatic to introduce her into said sport.

This day was 10 miles! Quite a good distance for a new timer! And a 41 year old ex endurance horse! 🐴✨🌿

Chief has been her go to for our little lesson trail rides, but prior to coming out she did think about his age and almost decided to ride the younger pony Jake, aged 25. Huge brownie points for taking the horses’s abilities and welfare into consideration. But old Chief thrives on his slow long trail rides. He’s not necessarily being conditioned for endurance anymore but for maintaining his longevity. Admittedly, a 10 mile 4 hour ride is his limit. He isn’t an invincible horse at the end of the day, just a surprisingly well kept old guy. He does need his routine exercise regime, catered to him individually at his physical capacity, to keep him going.

Of course the next morning he was bouncing and prancing in his pasture awaiting his breakfast and ready for more. Not a slight bit of indication of a long mountain climb in the woods the day prior. 😆✨

Side note, apologies for such a lack of posting lately! My internet was out for a week and I’ve gotten sick a couple of times in a circle of pass the sickness back and forth to each other. 🤧 I’m sick once more but improving and should be ready for Spirit and I’s LD AERC ride at Cuneo Creek this weekend! Super excited to get back to it! And I’ll see all you endurance buddies there!

08/07/2024

I’m pleased to make the announcement that I have been fully authorized to operate as an outside trainer and instructor at Freshwater Valley Stables!

I was the first to complete this process with Freshwater, its establishment being in 1973! Because of this it took quick awhile to get all of the paperwork in order and to create this newly added process to their policies. Thank you to Freshwater for all of your hard work in regard to working with me on this new addition to your facility. Apologies to all who inquired a couple months ago and had to wait until said process was completed. I’m happy to announce this news and to be the first authorized outside trainer to this beautiful stables!

My traveling schedule is currently quite packed, but if you are interested in my services and getting on my schedule in the future please reach out via my contact methods if you have any questions on my services. I will possibly be adding an additional traveling work day into my schedule as well, pending client interest.

Below is the link for my website with all of my information from my methods, what I provide, rates, etc.,

https://www.maplespringsfarmhorsemanship.com

And here is the direct link to my sign up form for equine training/traveling lessons,

https://www.maplespringsfarmhorsemanship.com/book-equine-training

07/21/2024

Now how cute is this? 🥺😂🩷 A lot of information on this flyer is out of date and soon to be the business’s name as well. As soon as I have completed my personal name change I’ll get onto finally doing my dba and officially change the business name to,

Maple Springs Farm Horsemanship. 🍁

I’m super excited to do so and to be done away with the obnoxiously long name that is difficult to pronounce. The original name is due to the fact you are required to file a dba, unless you use your last name within it. I then included, equine services, as I do not provide a single service, but multiple, and not to only horses, but to multiple equines. Although I now wish I had just stuck with horsemanship at the end. 🤷‍♀️

Sigh, business ✨shenaniganry✨ I’m a stickler for getting everything all in order and done with proper procedure, even if it takes a long amount of time. 😂

07/19/2024

A couple of Thursday’s trail trainings. ☀️🌱 Something I love about modern technology is the ability to track these rides in vast detail, from time, average speed, top speed, elevation, pictures, you name it!

This helps me keep track of where we are at and of the individual clients/horses. What’s especially helpful is being able to share the detailed information with owners that are not present. That way they can be reassured of what is going on with their equine when they cannot see the training for themselves.

Keeping a consistent, fair, and properly building routine, physically and mentally, is of the utmost importance in my program. Integrity and trust between all those involved, including the equine, is vital as well. Being primarily that of an endurance rider has given me this amazing unique tool that I carry into my trainings. Relive I personally love and highly recommend! 🐴

Although, to note, every tracking app will have its pros and cons as they are GPS tracked at the end of the day, Relive has been the most accurate in my experience.

07/18/2024

Due to an unfortunate amount of conflicts we will be unable to host the Horsemanship Camp this year. The temperatures are set to be in the 100s, of which is dangerous for our equines that are not acclimated to extreme heat, and to the people involved as well. There has also been conflicts working around the 4th of July Rodeo cleanup. We originally planned for June but due to how early they begin arena setup, for the Rodeo, that was conflicting as well. However, next year we will be able to get ready for the second week of June to host a camp and avoid that conflict all together.

The most unfortunate of all is the Hill Fire… the AQI is now in a much too dangerous range for equines in Weaverville along with the dangers of us driving through an active fire, and fire personnel close off Lowden Park for a staging area, which blocks us out of utilizing the arena. I hope all those within vicinity of the fire will be safe and if there is anything I can do to help assist those in need, with livestock and such, please reach out.

We announced early this year to ensure there was enough interest in order to be able to host said camp. We’re happy to say that is the case and the next you hear of us hosting a camp it will be for the direct link to registration rather than just a brief blurb of information. Although we will be unable to host the Horsemanship camp this year we look forward to hopefully doing so next year!

Address

Carlotta, CA
95528

Telephone

+15307392811

Website

https://www.maplespringsfarmhorsemanship.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Mary Homicz’s Equine Services posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Mary Homicz’s Equine Services:

Videos

Take Your Time

Cherish what time you have with patience and meaning. Our dear little friends are only here for a snippet of our lifespan and if we rush what time we have, wether it be training, or getting saddle ready, or trying to compete in an event, we’ll be left with so little of it. Take your time and you may surprised with more years than you had ever hoped. They live but a short while compared to us, but to them we are their lifetime. Give them a full cherished life and be with them until their end, even though they may not be there for ours. Last night we experienced the loss of a beloved little family critter. Our cat Boots of 21 years. It may seem silly to most for one to be so affected by the passing of a cat but she was my fluffy little rock I leaned on in some of my toughest times. It’s instilled even more in me to appreciate my animals with what little time they give to our lives. This loss has wained me and slowed what plans I had set to accomplish this day. Apologies for not completing my project for you all, that being an educational writing of senior horse care in the winter in place of today’s lessons. Of which were cancelled due to Jake being a bit kinked up from this last cold front and storm. As a side note, I’m happy to say he’s doing well in recovering. ❤️‍🩹 But this is the cycle of life, and life sometimes slows to have a moment to breathe. Which in turn can give us another opportunity of growth and learning. I will be resuming my projects tomorrow and get them sent out to you all. In fortunate news my health is doing quite well and I’m beyond excited to take on the work season in a more sustainably building approach. I can’t wait to see you all again once this weather begins to clear! 💕 - - - - - - #horse #seniorhorse #animals #farmlife #aerc #enduranceriding #arabian #horsetraining

Love this boy so much. 💕 I have some updates to come soon, just to preface and to not scare anyone, Chief is more than okay. In fact, he is much healthier than me.

Chief and I zooming into the week after a break in the rain. ✨🌧️🌿 - - - - - - - - - #horses #horsetrainer #endurance #horse #aerc #arabian #horsetraining #arabianhorse #enduranceriding #equestrian #cowgirl #western #westernlifestyle #redwoods #humboldt #ridinginstructor #seniorhorse

The pages of my books fall out in beautiful detail before me when I am beneath the Pacific Northwest forests with my loyal companion. Horses and nature are a couple of the many things that create the reality that these pages are shaped and inspired from. 🌿🐴 I am beyond lucky and grateful that this is my reality with a horse that inspires stories. I am also thankful I am able to provide others the ability to create their own stories inspired from their ever growing partnership with their companion. I have seen and experienced many stories in the past few years, and cannot wait to help create more. 🍁✨ - - - - - - - #horse #horses #horsetraining #humboldtcounty #horsetrainer #endurance #arabianhorse #horsemanship #redwoods #equestrian #trail #trails #seniorhorse #fall #nature #forest

Hello fall, the ponies and I await your ever changing scenery with your crisp calming air. 🍁🍂🐴 - - - - - - - - - #horse #horses #equestrian #horsetraining #horsetrainer #humboldtcounty #arabianhorse #endurance #horsemanship #warmbloodhorse #trails #nature #trailriding #redwoods

I couldn’t be more thankful for my beautiful work views and to my amazing clients/students. 💕✨🌿It’s every horse persons dream to ride in harmony with their horse, full confidence, communication, trust, etc. Does this take longer for different horses? Riders? Yes, absolutely. But that does not necessarily make you any less of a rider, or devalue the self worth of a horse. If anything, the skills, determination, and everything that goes along with establishing this connection, with your horse, only builds you more as a well rounded horse person, and rounds out your horse as well. It does not break you down by any means to have to take the longer path to achieve this.

Summer is almost here and Spring is in full bloom on the redwood mountains. 🪻🌿✨ Spirit and I went on our fast short ride a couple days ago and his conditioning has been coming along beautifully. 💪🐴 Very excited to get into some endurance rides with him again.

Come Ride With us as we Explore Trail Routes

What is like to go out for a ride with me? What do I train my horse to be capable of doing? And what is one of my biggest specialities as a horsemanship instructor and equine trainer? Come along with us as we ride 16.5 miles of trail exploring on old logging road, skid roads, just plain bushes at some points, and finally reaching the road I’ve been trying to get to for last few months! All in the course of 6 hours. I’ve been looking at satellite imagery and old maps to find routes on this mountain and my Father logged her 30 years ago. So he’s been telling me about these old routes and helping out. Absolutely love exploring a mountain that’s unknown to me. It’s so exciting and an adventure every time I go out! I do want to note that I do not offer these advanced trail rides as a regular service on my own equines. For anyone with their own I do however offer training. For my own equines I provide shorter more accessible rides to regular students during their lesson time. For experienced clients I will occasionally invite them to ride with me on my horses to rebuild themselves for their own. In the video, I’m riding with an experienced friend with her very good minded trail horse. I absolutely do not take beginners on a ride like this, that would be a heck of a doozy. Most of the crazy parts are not in the video, as we were too focused. In general I do not offer trail rides to first time riders as I want to build you up as a rider and set you up for success. Being inexperienced on a crazy trail for the first time can take a lot of the fun away. But it also can cause physical discomfort to the rider and equine. Side note done… I’ve also been working on my tack setup for my trail exploring, bushwacking riding, for the last few months. I have my Mother’s old leather endurance saddle, from back in the day when she rode old man Chief. Turning the old thing into an heirloom but it also preserves my Specialized Endurance Eurolight racing saddle I worked

You can never take Chief’s heart and spirit away. ✨💕 I rencently made a TikTok account for my business, Mary Homicz’s Equine Services, and have made a video about Chief. I have also done an introductory video on myself, and will be doing more on the other ponies. Also, look out for educational content, in video form, that I will be working on here soon. 😉 Feel free to visit my TikTok to learn more about Chief. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - #horse #horses #equestrian #cowgirl #morganhorse #arabianhorse #arabian #morab #endurance #endurancehorse #horsesoftiktok #trainer #horsetraining #seniorhorse #nature #redwoods #humboldt

Mary Homicz’s Equine Services

02/10/2025

11/27/2024

11/24/2024

11/08/2024

11/08/2024

11/01/2024

09/26/2024

09/19/2024

09/05/2024

08/07/2024

07/21/2024

07/19/2024

07/18/2024

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Videos

Take Your Time

Come Ride With us as we Explore Trail Routes

Shortcuts

Share

Category