What are the opening hours?

Tuesday 9am - 6pm Wednesday 9am - 6pm Thursday 9am - 6pm Friday 9am - 6pm Saturday 9am - 6pm Sunday 9am - 3pm

Empire Equestrian, LLC

Home
United States
Castle Hayne, NC
Empire Equestrian, LLC

Empire Equestrian is a small private hunter/jumper lesson & training facility The farm consists of a seven stall barn with tack room.

Empire Equestrian is situated on six acres in Castle Hayne, NC within minutes of Wilmington. Since we are a smaller facility, we are capable of having more individualized programs for our students & horses/ponies. Each stall has its own attached paddock to give horses/ponies the option of being inside or out. We only feed the highest quality of grain & hay available. We also have a 100' x 190' gra

ss riding arena conveniently located right outside of the barn. Owner/trainer Mackenzie Ring lives onsite & oversees the daily care of the horses/ponies as well as the lesson & training programs. While she is one of the younger trainers & barn owners in the area, she is very knowledgeable. She has almost 10 years of experience working in boarding facilities & caring for everything from OTTBs, show horses/ponies, to retirees. She has been riding since she was very young, but has always had a love for the hunter ring. While in middle school, she rode with Anne Sibson in Massachusetts. With Anne, she developed a solid foundation in proper equitation. When she moved to NC in high school, she began riding & working for Wonderland Farm. In the 7 years there, she became a more effective rider & began riding the green horses/ponies & tuning up lesson & sale horses. She also furthered her knowledge in the care & keeping of horses & developed her teaching skills. After her time at Wonderland, she went on to ride for O'shea Stables for a year. In that time, she continued to work with green horses/ponies, sale horses, & tune up lesson horses. She also took on two of her own projects. In the past two years, Mackenzie has successfully ran her own boarding & lesson facility. She is known for providing excellent care for both boarders & her own horses. Her lesson program caters to all levels of riders whether they wish to ride for pleasure or compete. Her show team has been successful in the local hunter shows & will be pursuing larger shows this fall.

01/09/2025

We have some exciting news! I currently have limited availability for beginner horsemanship lessons with my wonderful kids pony, Lollypop. Our beginner horsemanship program is geared towards children ages 5-11. Lessons are approximately 1 hour and are private 1 on 1 sessions. Children will learn how to lead, groom, and tack along with riding. Lessons are held rain or shine. On rainy days, lessons will be unmounted horsemanship lessons focusing on parts of the horse, tack, nutrition, etc. Please message me for availability and pricing.

01/03/2025

Coconut 13.3 hand 11 yr old Quarter pony cross mare located in SE NC. She had a late start to life due to no fault of her own and has been in a professional program since June 2024. She currently wtc on light contact and jumps small fences. She goes on group trail rides around the farm and has been to a few hunter schooling shows.

She did participate in our winter Pony Camp today and was happy to play follow the leader with the other ponies. She does best with a confident, tactful rider, but has the potential to be a fabulous babysitter someday. I could see her being an asset to someone’s lesson program with her inviting size and versatility.

She is an easy keeper, barefoot, and utd on shots and coggins. Please message for more information or additional videos.

01/01/2025

Everyone’s favorite part of Pony Camp…playing with the chickens 🤣

12/13/2024

Happy National Day of the Horse to my current herd of wonderful equines!

12/11/2024

How do you get to ride lots of different horses?

Good question.

1. Be born mega rich, buy em and ride em.
2. Be a barn rat. Ride anything that won`t hurt you too badly.
3. Never say "not today, thanks" if you are offered a ride on any horse. Your key word is "yes", followed by "thank you."
4.Work to become good enough so that people want you to ride their horses.
5. Like the guys in Top Gun, when they walked into the bar full of young women "YES! A target rich environment!" Hang where there are lots of horses, not where there aren`t any.
6.Learn the Yiddish expression, "No for an answer I already got." Ask if you can ride extra horses. Maybe they say no. You`re no worse off than if you hadn`t asked.
7. Don`t be a lazy toad. If your barn owner offers to trade extra riding for weekend stall cleaning, be the kid who says "yes", and let your worthless friends sleep in and miss out.
8.Get a horse job, and be the eager beaver. Many horse owners are not truly horse riders, and they are often looking for a way to weasel out of riding today. Be there to pick up the ride.
9. Think of other ways.

(When Russ Fawcett (directly behind me) asked if I wanted to ride Iron Cloud out in Jackson, Wyoming, I said "yes please", and "thank you.")

12/04/2024

If you missed out on joining us for our Thanksgiving break camp, registration is now open for our New Year’s session of Pony Camp! Camp will run January 1st-3rd from 9-1 and is open to ages 5-11. Camp is $80/ child per day or $225/child for all three days. We will have daily riding lessons, crafts, and enjoy meeting all our other farm animals. Message me today to get registered!

11/27/2024

The thing I did wrong….

I knew when I was a kid and decided that I wanted to be a horse trainer, that I needed a resume to stand on. I was young, looked even younger and already had a half a dozen horses and my own barn. Nonetheless, I needed to get to work to prove myself when I hung my sign on the fence. There wasn’t going to be a working student position for me, I had a full barn to care for already and a bunch of young horses to start. So I began building my resume in the show ring and taking educational courses.

I built a pretty healthy list of accomplishments as a teenager and have continued to build on it all my life, but here’s the thing…

I NEVER STOOD ON IT.

I just kept growing it, which of course is valuable, but I kept telling myself it wasn’t enough. I always need to add or do *one more thing.* (Guess who’s husband this drives nuts.🙈)

I continued to tell myself that I wasn’t enough.

Years ago now, I had a short conversation at the feed store that validated my lack of self worth and I just rode with it. For years. And it wasn’t this guy’s fault at the feed store, he didn’t really know me. These types of situations and conversations happened to me frequently.

And it was my fault.

I let it become a part of my identity.

So I was waiting in line to get my feed loaded and I recognized the person ahead of me, but couldn’t put my finger on their name. Ya know, one of those things that you don’t need to know but it drives you crazy anyway. I asked the feed guy who it was and without missing a beat he said, “It’s your competition, ‘So-and-so.’”

“Oh.” I said meekly as I thanked him and crawled back into my truck.

I didn’t know what to say or how to react. This person teaches kids group lessons with 8 or 10 kids running in all directions on ponies at one time - jumping. I teach private classical dressage and horsemanship lessons. We didn’t run our businesses the same nor did we even teach the same discipline. I didn’t think this person was my “competitor,” until then. I felt lost and not worthy of my hard earned education and experience.

The lesson here…

Know who you are.

Don’t let other people make that decision for you.

Don’t sell yourself short.

Know that you are always enough.

Find a tribe that values you.

Keep showing up for yourself and those who love, respect and appreciate you.

Your people are out there and they’re not the same people at the farm down the road.

There will always be someone who can’t see your worth, don’t let it be you.

🌻 Cara

📸 Scott Trees

11/24/2024

We went on a quick field trip to Wonderland Farm’s final Hunter Schooling show of the year. The girls all rode well and had excellent placings in the Jr Walk/trot!

11/22/2024

We still have a few spots open in Pony Camp next week! Campers will enjoy getting to ride our wonderful kids’ ponies, feed and care for our other farm animals, and make a holiday craft. Camp is November 29th from 9-1 and is open to kids ages 5-11. Please message me today to get registered!

11/19/2024

Located in SE NC! Coconut is an 11 yr old quarter horse cross standing just under 13.3 hands. She had a late start to life due to no fault of her own, but has been in a professional program for 6 months now. She walk/trot/canters on light contact and has been lightly started over fences. She trail rides and will happily lead the way. She attended her first Hunter schooling show over the weekend and was a pleasure in the ring. She stands to be groomed, bathed, and for the vet. She does have some quirks with the farrier that I am happy to discuss with serious inquiries. She is easy to load/unload on the trailer. Coconut could easily be finished by a confident child rider in a program. She is currently priced at $6000. Please pm me with any questions or for videos.

11/16/2024

Busy day final show of the year! Everyone rode well, and we can’t wait to go back next year!

11/08/2024

Spice was feeling and looking great in our lesson this morning with

11/07/2024

We still have a few spots open for our first session of Pony Camp on November 11th!

11/03/2024

Come join us this month for one of our fall camps! We will be having camp from 9-1 on November 11th and November 29th. Campers will enjoy riding, crafts, and taking care of all our farm animals. Camp is $80/child and for ages 5-10. Space is limited, so message me today to get registered!

11/01/2024

Coconut is proving to be very brave over fences! I’ll have a sale video available later tonight!

10/28/2024

It was a long weekend at Haunted Classic, but we had a great time! Everyone rode well and had fun in the costume classes.

Ava and Buddy finished out the season with some great trips in Crossrails which was also the biggest division with 29 riders. They also just missed riding for ribbons in the crossrail derby by 2.5 points!

Amilya and Spice had great ribbons in Walk/trot/canter Saturday and earned 3rd place for most Original costume choice.

Annabel and Luke had a great day in walk/trot. Annabel won her walk/trot equitation class!

Harper and Spice wrapped up the series with a Reserve Champion in walk/trot and 3rd in poles for 2024!

This is my favorite show series to attend, and I’m looking forward to next year!

10/24/2024

Buddy is ready to head to Haunted Classic this weekend!

Address

3630 Prince George Avenue
Castle Hayne, NC
28429

Opening Hours

Tuesday	9am - 6pm
Wednesday	9am - 6pm
Thursday	9am - 6pm
Friday	9am - 6pm
Saturday	9am - 6pm
Sunday	9am - 3pm

Website

http://empireeq.weebly.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Empire Equestrian, LLC posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Videos

Wrapped up my last lesson before the ponies and I start our winter break! Just a reminder there will be no lessons December 23rd-30th. I will be available all day New Year’s Eve for lessons and will have camp January 1st-3rd. Space is still available in camp for beginner riders ages 5-11.

Coconut had no problem with her first time jumping a line in our lesson with @mindset_equestrian today! #poniesofinstagram #ponies #horsesofinstagram #equestrianlife #horses #horsetraining

All Coconut wants for Christmas is a kid of her own! 😉 She was on her best behavior this afternoon for our lesson with @mindset_equestrian She had a few days off due to a cold snap and went right back to work today like it was no big deal. #poniesofinstagram #pony #equestrian

Training rides for my boarders while their owners are away for Thanksgiving! #horsesofinstagram #horse #thoroughbred #equestrian #equestrainlife

Coconut had another successful show day! This was her 2nd time showing, and she was schooled and shown by one of my middle schoolers. She had ribbons in every class and was 2nd in the walk/trot hunter undersaddle. She is still available for $6000, but price is subject to change as she continues in training!

Coconut had her first show today! Here she is warming up for her Baby Green Walk/trot class. She finished 5th out of 8 horses & ponies. Not too bad for only being undersaddle for about 6 months. #poniesofinstagram #pony #horseshow #equestrian

Coconut is looking for her next person! She would be a fun winter project for a teenager in a program or a partner for a small adult who doesn’t want to be too high off the ground 😉 She has an in your pocket personality and enjoys getting attention/having a job. She is a good size at 13.3 hands and is only 11 years old. She is currently priced at $6000, but price is subject to change as she continues her training!

Enjoying my Friday afternoon! #poniesofinstagram #pony #equestrian #horsetraining

Coconut was feeling great this afternoon. Thank you @mindset_equestrian for a fabulous lesson! I love being able to get another professional’s perspective while developing my project ponies.

Spent some time this morning working on loading/unloading with Coconut. She has not seen the trailer since I got her Memorial Day weekend. She had quite the opinion about it. I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months building her confidence and gaining her trust. As you can see here, she had no problem quietly and safely getting on/off the trailer. #horsesofinstagram #poniesofinstagram #horsetrainer #equestrian

Between the weather and back to back weekends showing, my projects were put on the back burner. Coconut was great for her first ride in three weeks! #ponies #poniesofinstagram #pony #equestrian #horsetrainer #equestrianlife

Coconut showing off her quiet canter transition #poniesofinstagram #pony #equestrian #horsetrainer