Appalachian Equestrian Academy

12/06/2024

The cold never bothered us anyway! 😉 Well, maybe some... But good friends and warm ponies make it worth braving the cold! ❄️🩵

11/21/2024

Sky above, earth below, peace within. 🫶🍂🐴

11/19/2024

I want to take the time to share this thought, as most of our horses are in their golden years, or semi-retired due to previous hardships in their lives. Whether that's physical or mental.

What do we do when our horses say "NO."?

It's common to see horses bucking, bolting, and demonstrating "bad" behavior, all the while the rider keeps pushing, or upping the aggression to acheive the desired outcome.

Imagine, you cannot speak, and you're trying to tell your human you're uncomfortable. Your tack doesn't fit right, your back is sore today.

Of course when you're not feeling heard, you try to be louder. Get the point across. Which comes in the form of undesired behavior.

What if... we just...listened.

Not every ride do we need to accomplish a great feat. A new goal. A new height. The glorious thing about horses is that they're living beings. They can connect with us on such a deep level, it would be a shame if we didn't take the time to explore that connection.

They have so much more to offer us than their athletic abilities. Especially on their bad days. (Just like our bad days.)

Learn to love groundwork, quiet time, and relaxation with your equine friend. You'll be surprised what they have to teach you about yourself.

💜

11/09/2024

(Hobby) horsin’ around 🐴🤍

11/08/2024

No stirrup November is in full swing 💪

10/28/2024

Welcome back to our Monday Homeschool Class!!

Today marked our last class for the semester! We got to test all of our Rainbow/ Red Level skills through our Quiz Bowl! In our Quiz Bowl, we have different scenarios on flashcards. In order to get a point, they have to correctly answer each question with their knowledge from our Red Level skills. For a bonus point, they got to do a carrot toss into a bucket!! The horses LOVED the snacks after 😉

With it being so close to Halloween, we felt that it was the perfect time to test their Red Level Horsemanship Skills with our Halloween Games! Mr. Cheetah made the perfect ride to complete each of our games in the arena.

All of our students worked so hard each week to learn hands on what it’s really like to safely care for horses. They worked in teams, played games, took quizzes, and even demonstrated some rules with each other! With all of their hard work and dedication, each of our students officially earned their Red Level Ribbons. We are so proud of all of our students, and can’t wait to see them in the spring for their Homeschool Class!! Here’s to the end of Red Level, let’s get ready for Yellow!!

10/23/2024

It’s time for our Monday Homeschooling recap!!! Here’s what we learned😊

⭐️HORSE SPORTS What are some sports that we do on horseback? Why do we use different tack depending on what discipline we do? After watching some really fun videos on Horse Sports, we drew our favorite one!!! Can you guess what each one was?

⭐️ TACKING UP How do you correctly tack up English/Western ? What are some general safety rules for both styles? After learning saddle parts in our previous class, can you identify the front and the back of each saddle?

⭐️PONY OBSTACLE COURSE We just had to take out our hobby horses with different riding activities!! How high can you jump? Who is the fastest barrel racer?
We had to finish up our obstacle course with our favorite challenge, The Blind Pony Game! With the “horse” blindfolded, the rider navigated the barrel course by using pressure with the reins. This is a great game to practice steering, respect, and trust!!!

10/21/2024

We had a remarkable first show, taking home top honors in dressage with 1st and 2nd place, and the cutest costume class. These two have been working hard, and it truly paid off in the ring on Saturday! Whoo!!! 🎉

10/17/2024

A little late, but here’s a recap of our Monday Homeschooling Class!!

⭐️ Tack Cleaning: Why do we clean our tack? How often should we clean/wipe down our tack? What cleaning supplies should we use to clean our tack, and in what order? We had some nice winds first thing, so we just had to do a Hayloft tack cleaning session!

⭐️Trail riding: After being cooped up in the chat loft, we just had to grab our hobby horses and ride around! To make it educational, we discussed proper trail riding safety. How far apart should you be while riding in a group? Should you put your horses in a particular order? Why or why not? Why do we leave gates open that we pass? Why do we leave gates closed that we go through? What are our 3 emergency stops on horseback? What are some supplies that you should always take on a trail with you?

⭐️ TPR: Learning about how to properly take your horse’s Temperature, Pulse and Respiratory, is very important! Why would we need to keep a record of these? What tools do you need to take TPR?

⭐️ VET or NO VET: Horses are unfortunately known for being a little accident prone, so we often have to treat them! Horses are just a bit too large to fit into your local vets office, so most of the time, we have to call a vet out to the farm to see us!! This can be quite costly, so it’s always best to only use a vet if absolutely necessary!! What are the signs that you need to call a vet? What first aid items can you have on hand, to doctor your horse up yourself? If your horse is bleeding, do you always have to call the vet?

Please come join us for more HorseKeeping skills!! Although we love to ride, it’s also just as important, if not more, to care for your horse! They give us everything they’ve got in the saddle, so it’s important for us to give them everything out of the saddle 🤍

10/16/2024

For more doodles, visit www.danasdoodles.com

10/16/2024

It is officially sweater weather.... 🥶 Thank goodness for warm, fuzzy ponies!! 💓

10/09/2024

10/08/2024

Welcome back to our Monday Homeschooling Class!! Today we learned:

⭐️ Basic Colors: what are the 5 basic colors of a horse? What are the characteristics of these colors? Can you identify the colors of our herd?

⭐️ Face/ Leg markings: what are the different face and leg markings? Can you identify the different markings in our herd?

Why is it important to know your horse’s color, face and leg markings?

Of course, we had to test all of this with our favorite Geo Safari Game !!

⭐️ Mucking a stall: Horses are just a bit too big to use toilets, so when they go into stalls, we’re usually left with quite a mess! It’s very important to make sure your horse’s stalls are cleaned thoroughly after every use. Can you tell us why? What are the tools that we use to clean the stall?

10/05/2024

This is Cash's father. 💜

We are deeply saddened to share the news of the passing of our stallion, The Only Escape. Earl’s absence leaves a vast hole in the heart of the UC Davis Horse Barn as his significant presence in our equine breeding and student teaching program will truly be missed. Since his arrival at the Horse Barn in 2020, he left his mark on future generations of UC Davis bred foals as well as taught several years of undergraduates how to safely and effectively handle and collect stallions through our internship program. Prior to his career as a teaching stallion, Earl leaves behind a powerful legacy of success with AQHA World and Congress Championship titles to his name. His progeny continue to impress and follow in his footsteps with AQHA Reserve World Championship titles, Congress Championships, and stellar performances across multiple disciplines. Earl stamped his foals with powerful elegance, exceptional movement, and tremendous heart which set them up for success and versatility in the show ring. His legacy will live on through them for years to come and we are very fortunate to have a few of his foals on the ground and planned to arrive in 2025. In remembering this spectacular stallion, we would be heartened to hear from those who worked with Earl or his progeny. If you have a memory to share, please share with us and all his friends in the comments.

10/03/2024

Autumn holds a special appeal for horse lovers. The weather and sky this evening are especially delightful here on the farm. 🍂

10/03/2024

Back again with our Homeschool Class!! This past Monday, we learned about:

⭐️ Pony parts: Why is it important to learn about pony parts? How can you use pony parts to better navigate your pony on the ground, or even in the saddle? What if your horse injures himself? Can you explain exactly where to the vet?

⭐️ Blanketing: Why and when would we need to blanket a horse? How do you properly and safely put on a blanket?

⭐ Protective gear: What is the purpose of wearing boots? What are the different types? What do they protect?

⭐️ SCAVENGER HUNT: the best way to recap past and present lessons, of course, are through fun games!! Do you think they were able to find everything?

09/28/2024

Helene threw us a little off schedule 🤪
Here is our recap of our Homeschool Horsemanship Class!

⭐ Hoof anatomy and hoof care.
No hoof ≠ no horse!

⭐ Students learned what tack is, how it works, why it's important to keep it in proper working condition.

⭐ SAFE FEEDING and the consequences of not doing so... What would you do if your horse coliced?! 😱 How to you keep it from happening?

These are the lessons that change our horses lives. learning HOW to care for them is the only way we can show them how much we care! 🫶