Empire Equestrian, LLC

11/26/2023

We had a great day at Wonderland Farm’s final hunter show for 2023! Marissa and Spice were Champion for the day in the Entry Division and Reserve Champion for the year. Amilya and Spice were Champion in Walk/Trot for the day and year. They also showed in the Maiden Hunters and were Champion for the day and Reserve Champion for the year. Ava and Buddy were reserve Champion in the Novice Hunter and had a win in the Open Equitation Walk/trot. Spice also showed over fences for the first time and was on her best behavior. Looking forward to next year!

11/25/2023

I will have an opening for full training or boarding January 1st!

11/19/2023

We had a long but successful day at the final WESS hunter show of the year! Harper with Lollypop and Addison with Chesney started off the morning in the Maiden Hunter with great ribbons. Chesney went back in the ring with her owner Victoria for the Hunter Please and Sr crossrails. They were in the top four for all but one of their classes and were 2nd in the crossrail equitation medal. Lauren and Snoopy wrapped up the day with a 3rd in the 2’ equitation medal as well as Reserve Champion in the Hunter Pleasure and 2’3” Hopeful Hunters. Congratulations everyone on a great day. I can’t wait to see what you all accomplish next year!

11/12/2023

11/10/2023

So close to being done; I need to get a new pair of blades to finish her head and legs. Loving all the dapples in her coat!

11/07/2023

Come join us this Saturday from 2-5 pm!

10/31/2023

A huge thank you to my parents and adult ammys for taking the time this weekend to deep clean the barn! In order to continue keeping it neat and tidy, riders will have more responsibilities after grooming, tacking, and untacking. Everyone will need to be a little more diligent about cleaning up after themselves. I will be going over additional procedures for before and after lessons this week!

10/30/2023

We had a great time Haunted Classic!

10/28/2023

Wrapped up our show day with a ba****ck sunset walk!

10/26/2023

Come enjoy an afternoon painting and meeting all our farm friends!

Please join us for a day on the farm, as we partner with Empire Equestrian to bring you this fun event where children will get to create their own canvas horse painting, as well as another canvas painting with a horse.. that the horse paints for them! Children will get to take both paintings home as a memory of this fun and special day! In addition to painting and exploring their creative side, children will also have an opportunity to interact with the horses and other animals on the farm, including bunnies, chickens and goats! Snacks and drinks will also be provided! This is a drop off event for ages 5 and up. Space is limited and registration is required. For more information, or to register, please visit www.thecreativechildstudio.com, or call (910) 359-2112. This event will be held at Empire Equestrian Farm 3630 Prince George Ave, Castle Hayne, NC 28429.

10/25/2023

Who needs eggs?! I have an 18 pack of Bantam eggs and an extra 3 dozen from my laying hens.

10/22/2023

We had another great day at Wonderland Farm’s Hunter Schooling show. All three of our riders came home with Champion or Reserve. Congratulations Marissa, Amilya, and Ava!

10/21/2023

Busy day full of lessons! Had a fun group lesson with my adult ammys and their OTTBs.

10/01/2023

Staying busy with lessons today! My riders from this morning worked on putting small courses together and staying committed to the jump.

09/30/2023

We had a great morning showing at Waccamaw Equestrian Show Series Hunter show! Antoinette and Spice had lots of great ribbons in the Maiden Hunter and Novice Walk/trot. Harper and Lollipop were Reserve Champion in the Maiden Hunter. Ava and her horse Buddy moved up a division; they had great placings in the Hunter Pleasure and were Champion in the Jr. Crossrails. Great job girls!

09/28/2023

As the cooler weather starts to arrive, the grass in my turnouts starts to die/go dormant. To ensure the horses and ponies maintain their weight, I feed alfalfa/orchard or timothy hay free choice in their stalls and while out..

09/28/2023

I’m a firm believer of mastering the basics. My program is based on mostly flatwork and having riders master their balance before they even think about getting to jump. Once they get to the point to over fences work, they stay at the crossrail level for a while especially if they only ride 1-2 times per week on one of my lessons horses…but that’s a post for another day. 😉

09/25/2023

Isn’t he cute?! I currently have an extra bantam cochin rooster looking for a new home. I’m in no rush to find him a new flock as he is extremely sweet and my two Roos get along. However they’re the same color and breed, so long term I don’t need both. He is almost 6 months old. He is available for $10 or I’ll trade for an Old English Bantam rooster. I will also have a couple of laying hens available. They are 10 months to 1.5 yrs old. Currently laying. One olive egger, a blue rock (lays light brown), and a Brahma (lays light brown). Hens are available to make room my next batch of chicks I plan to grown out. Hens are $25/hen

09/25/2023

09/21/2023

Gran Estrella: 7 yr old 15.2 TB mare. Wtc and jumps cross rails and small boxes. Has done up to 2’6” with ease. Has a change but not yet auto. Sweet and willing but still has green moments. Show experience in eventing, jumpers, and hunter pleasure. Available offsite lease

09/18/2023

Hooray for new fencing! We have upgraded our solar box and replaced the tape with a wider one. Just a friendly reminder to not touch the fence! It is working very well 😉

09/17/2023

We had a great day for everyone at Wonderland Farm’s schooling show. Harper and Amilya were Champion in their divisions with Spice. Victoria and Chesney had great placings in their hunter classes and a win in Open Equitation. Brittany and Ella wrapped up the day with a Champion in the Open Hunter. We head off to SATP next weekend!

09/17/2023

Busy day of lessons!

09/12/2023

Fun fact: did you know horses grow their winter coat based on the days getting shorter? This is why some of my senior ponies have already grown a winter coat even though it’s still in the high 80s/low 90s. Phoenix got her first of many clips for the fall/winter. I decided on a trace clip and face trim for now. This will keep her cool and help keep her head clean since most of her meals are mush.

08/29/2023

Enjoying some quality time!

08/28/2023

I currently have 1/3 and 1/2 leases pending on Spice and Snoopy. Spice is available for lease only at this time and will not be utilized in the lesson program. Snoopy will have limited availability for lessons. Both do still have an additional 1/3 or 1/2 lease option available. If you want to be guaranteed being able to ride either of them please message me today! Leasing is the only way to ensure you get to lesson/show your favorite horse/pony every time!

08/27/2023

Dearest Riders,

Please let me remind you of something very important. Horse showing, riding and training are insanely difficult. If you have a crappy ride, a less than stellar show ring result (or if you made your trainer want to pull their hair out today), it just means there's more to learn. The people who had good rides today are not exempt from disappointing rides tomorrow. They also have bad days and, if they're very experienced riders, they've had a whole bunch of bad days.

There will always be someone out there on a more talented horse, someone with a bigger bank account, someone who never struggled to learn to sit the trot...life isn't fair. You probably can't win the lottery or grow 5 more inches of leg. You can, however, wake up every morning and be thankful that you're able to ride horses. Work hard at becoming the best rider you can be with the body and the bank account that you have right now. Work at being the rider your horse wants up there on his back. Your horse's opinion of your riding is more valuable than any judge's opinion could ever be.

08/26/2023

Snoopy arrived home today from his summer lease!

08/24/2023

I only have one more load of saddle pads left to wash! All clean saddle pads are located behind the tack room door. They must be placed back on the rack after use. I do not want to see any saddle pads on the floor! Any pads on a saddle or in my tack box are not for use in lessons; these either belong to boarders or myself.

08/21/2023

Available September 1st for on or off site lease! Spice is a barn favorite with her sweet and willing attitude. Professionally owned and started. She spent a year being a lesson pony before graduating to lease pony. She schools at home bitless and shows in a rubber snaffle. Easy whoa and easy go; aims to please and take care of her rider. Still green over fences but has proven herself on the flat at home and shows. Safe enough that my 6 yr old can walk/trot her. Always gets a piece of the hack in good company. Message me today for more details!

08/21/2023

I currently have two green ponies who confidently march up to new jumps and are cantering them with ease. They have had very few over fences rides from students to ensure they have success over fences. I’ve jumped enough in the past 20 yrs to know I can set them up for success coming up to a jump. My students are still learning hence why most of them only jump my seasoned school horses. I’m not looking to setup my students or green ponies for failure.

08/20/2023

In case you forgot, I have a great selection of ponies and horses available for lease. Falt rate on-site or paid off-site options to approved show homes only. Please read each photos caption for information on each horse/pony. All currently available are show quality and rates do reflect this. Message me today for more information!

08/20/2023

We took a day trip to and had a great time! Brittany and Ella brought home a 4th in the Open 2’6” jumpers and a 2nd in the Open 3’ jumpers. Ava and Buddy had a 4th in the Walk/Trot hunter. Harper and Lolly made it around successfully in a very busy Walk/Trot division. Can’t wait to go back in September!

08/10/2023

My bay mares wrapped up this morning’s lessons!

08/09/2023

Brittany and Ella stopped by for a lesson this morning!

08/09/2023

Set a new course this morning!

08/08/2023

This is why I try to encourage my clients to spend a little more when horse shopping. One way or another you will end up paying for training on any horse, not just the younger ones. I’ve seen plenty of “green” teenaged horses as well.

Reality check---The cost.

A couple of days ago I posted a photo of an exuberant young stallion, and then talked about how hard it seems to find competent trainers to get through those first couple of years without either getting hurt themselves, or damaging the young horse by using excessive force.

I got a private email from someone who does this for a living, and she made some points that I want to share.

Her first point was “Don’t expect to get a well started horse on the cheap if you can’t do it yourself.”

Her second point was “You don’t know how long it will take until you get into the process. Some are easy, and don’t take many weeks, but others seem to take forever. So those ’30 days’ or ’60 days’ schemes might be OK, or they might not.”

Her third point was “If you get back a well started youngster from a trainer, and you don’t know what you doing enough to keep the process going, you can easily undo the good start in a short time.”

All of which comes back to an old adage about how much it costs to get a well trained horse. It goes something like this---“You can pay for good training up front, or you can pay for good training on the installment plan, but either way, expect to pay.”

08/04/2023

With summer coming to an end, I do need to know when everyone starts school. So adjustments can be made to the lesson schedule. Again, please keep in mind lessons are limited. For riders who do not lease or own, you may be restricted to one lesson per week for the remainder of the summer and fall. This is to prevent overworking my other horses while Luke is on stall rest.

08/03/2023

Spice and Rosie were fabulous for their first time over boxes while being piloted by a junior rider! I think both have the potential to be competitive in the Children’s Ponies and even the Large and Medium Ponies.

08/01/2023

Hi everyone! You will all have to bear with me for the month of August. Luke is currently up at the vet school for a few days having an injury treated and will be on stall rest once he returns. I do not know how he hurt himself. He’s a horse; you could wrap them in bubble wrap and they would still find a way.

I will answer any questions during lessons this week. I kindly ask that you please do not bombard my inbox or phone with questions. It’s been an exhausting day.

Please keep in mind, my lesson schedule will be limited this month. I have to be mindful of workloads for my other horses especially with the heat. Riders MUST arrive on time; there is no wiggle room in my schedule.

Enjoy this cute picture from last summer!