What are the opening hours?

Wednesday 5:30pm - 8:30pm Thursday 5:30pm - 8:30pm Friday 5:30pm - 8pm Saturday 9am - 5pm Sunday 4pm - 7pm

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Crossroads Ranch

We are a local Veteran owned and operated horse training ranch, training horses, mustangs, & folks.
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08/28/2024

Just ol Billboard giving a 4 year old a fun evening of riding.

08/25/2024

Patience and a willing to learn is what we strive for at the ranch. Billboard is our go do man for teaching the required skills for horsemanship. He will patiently wait to be groomed and tacked while his rider learns all the small steps. He also will make his rider learn in a safe yet thinking manner.

08/17/2024

Today we let all the horses go out together after Reno's return from babysitting duty. Billboard is very protective to Kiona, not letting a new herd mate get close until they learn the rules...again. This also helps work on his buddy sourness.

08/14/2024

Having an good ol horse whose calm and willing to take the young minds through new experiences is a great thing to have. He also helped Tonka learn that when in an arena and under saddle with a handler, he can't just go greet any horse. Billboard stood quietly when needed to work with Tonka and then also helped by ignoring the young horse when riding by. We also taught Tonka that it was okay to be ponied off another horse - however shorter they may be.

08/10/2024

It's fashion day on the ranch for Kiona!

08/08/2024

Another day on the ranch for hoof care!

Hoof care is vitial if you want your horse to be balanced and ensure that they don't become lame or have other problems if you let them go to long. That's why we love K.P. Farrier Services for keeping our guys so well maintained and spiffy. She also takes her time letting Wild Mustang Mo - who's only been on the ranch for 2 months and apart of our &Hooves program - earn his trust before we take rasp to hoof.

And as usual, she is assisted with her vaccum Luna!

08/03/2024

Kiona got a bath the other night! Our working student is learning the skills of horsemanship and taking care of animals.

07/20/2024

Kiona and Billboard are our go to horses for young kids wanting to learn horsemanship. With their calm demeanor and willingness to teach, many of their riders learn how to listen and direct.

07/11/2024

Another good night for a lesson and Billboard was a patient boy as we went over new things.

07/11/2024

Another night of Billboard showing his gentle and kind nature!

07/10/2024

This is the reason we ask to keep an eye out when on the ranch. The previous tennants had a habit of having junk piles or just dropping the items.

07/07/2024

Roy is our special boy here on the ranch! He has come to learn as the trailer as "his "box" - his safe area for when I'm handling horses and he needs to stay out of the way or when we start the tractor/lawnmower. He doesn't like fireworks or thunder but he's still a very friendly dog who loves his pets.

07/06/2024

Before it got to hot, Kiona got a ride in working on arena work and then a relaxing ride off property with Luna taking the lead!

06/28/2024

To beat the heat, we've added sun shades to the stalls. It defiantly makes it cooler within the stalls in the afternoon.

06/26/2024

Three bay horses here at the ranch! 1 is wild while the other 2 are trained!

06/21/2024

"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy." -Dale Carnegie.

Sometimes life throws bucks at us and it is upon us to get back up and on the horse. It might be something small or large that creates that fear, however, once you work through what caused the fear, your confidence comes back stronger! It takes people who will push you out of your comfort zone in a safe and uplifting way. It takes getting out there and keep doing it until you feel confident again. It might take only a couple times or it might take longer. The key is to not give up.

06/19/2024

Billboard adds another skill to his belt! He did really well with shooting today. Now we just need to order more rounds to keep practicing!

06/18/2024

Early mornings means I find a horse on the side we're trying to rest.

06/16/2024

It's been a busy day! Between finishing the other side of the pasture, redoing the center line and sectioning off the existing pasture to help grow and do rotation, building a new cart for hay, and a small wheelbarrow for the little ones, it's been a productive day.

06/16/2024

Someone decided that he wanted to play in the water so he's been upgraded to the big trough so he can't dump it.

06/15/2024

Hay pickup day means pups get to go on a road trip! Per typical, Luna decides Roy's spots hould be hers.

06/14/2024

"I call my horses 'divine mirrors' - they reflect back the emotions you put in. If you put in love and respect and kidness and curiosity, the horse will return that." -Allan Hamilton

We are excited to watch Sgt Hillard and her Mustang build their bond over the next months! It'll take time and patience and understanding, however, we know that they will build a connection.

06/09/2024

It was a productive day!

Rode old Billboard at a mounting shooting competition to see how he would do in the environment, came back to the ranch and worked on the second pasture fencing, and mowed.

06/07/2024

Teaching a kid one day to change gears and go to a mounted shooting clinic. We're going to see how Ol Billboard does I'm the coming months and see if his civil war reenactment days keep him calm.

06/07/2024

If we take over the tasks that the students are to learn, they will never truly learn to think for themselves and how to problem solve. I have found that if we let them struggle and figure it out without jumping at the first sight of difficulty, that teaching moment becomes hardgrained into their brain and they will use it later on down the road. We can always step in and help, however, we must do it in an encourging way and show them different ways to look at a problem.

06/07/2024

"The horse is a teacher of honesty and self-awareness. They see through our facade and reveal our true intentions."

One must learn how to approach a horse. You approach too quickly with anxinous or a sense of rush, they will feed off your body langage and what you feel. It's once you have a calm and easy going yet firm body language and sense will your partner become more open to listening.

06/06/2024

This is our new program for Veterans and Mustangs! We'll be doing updates on this page as we continue to watch the progress!

We are 1 week away from welcoming Sgt Meghan Hillard and her Mustang on to Crossroads Ranch!

Next Friday (6/14/2024) we will be picking up 0144 from Doswell, VA and bringing him back to the ranch. From there, we will be watching as their bond grows strong and the go on to do amazing things!

06/04/2024

When used properly and you've prepared your horse, draw reins can be an excellent tool to help teach your partner how to collect. However, you want to stop using them once your partner has learned how to hold themselves with minimul reminder.

Address

3116 Summit Crossing Road
Fredericksburg, VA
22408

Opening Hours

Wednesday	5:30pm - 8:30pm
Thursday	5:30pm - 8:30pm
Friday	5:30pm - 8pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm
Sunday	4pm - 7pm

Telephone

+15714064082

Website

facebook.com

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Videos

Before it got to hot, Kiona got a ride in working on arena work and then a relaxing ride off property with Luna taking the lead!

Billboard adds another skill to his belt! He did really well with shooting today. Now we just need to order more rounds to keep practicing!

Reno has learned how to navigate the pool noodles at Bushy Mountain Horsemanship. He's a hoot as hill dip under them so he doesn't have to deal with them.

Reno did amazing with today at Bushy Mountain Horsemanship. He amazed us with taking everything in stride and excelling at a lot of the challenges.

Reno has had a fear of ropes around his butt or anywhere behind him so I pulled an old system out. Many will tighten it down but I like to use this as a training tool for scared horses. It teaches them that the pressure is there (just laying on him) and they have to figure a way to think through the situation. By the end of the session, Reno was calmly chewing and licking, telling me that good endorphins were running through his mind and he was learning that it's okay.

Kiona and I worked on some shooting after not doing so well at the competition this weekend. With time and consistency we'll get better.

Billboard may be 20 years old, but he can still book it.

I think Kiona is glad to be home and able to stretch her legs!

Even though Kiona was exhausted, she did her best for the 3rd day of the Expo. Brody and Pocket were both great showing the speed while Kiona showed the lay-backness of a Musgang.

This is the video that we played at our booth in the Expo this weekend. So far, the network has included American Mustang School (NC), DLR Mustang Ranch (OH), Operation Wild Horse - Veterans R&R (IL), and New Freedom Farm, Inc., (VA).

The tootsie roll after a good ride in the arena.

And this is why we run low on water in the trough. Kiona loves playing in water.

These two are a hoot! They have a mineral block but yet decide to lick the dirt.

Leroy is one of those special boys. We've been working hard to get to him to this point. He still likes to test to make sure I will be consistent with the cues, but he listens and has come to enjoy work again. We will keep making it fun and his mind working every minute to keep the progress up. This takes hard work and consistency. Just jumping on a horse without a plan will set you up for failure. Now granted there are those days where you just want to putts around and that's okay. There also days where the plan to work on a specific thing goes out the window and you have to work on something else before that one thing you wanted to do. However if you have goal and work towards it, your partnership will grow stronger. Sometimes you have to take a step back and retrain something but I'd rather do that then rush the horse when they're not ready or understand what you're asking.

This has been something I've been working on with Kiona. After going back to the basics and teaching her a different way to move sideways, we have finally been able to open a gate in a calm manner.

When it feels nice out, a good gallop is called for.

These are the sessions that I love to see over time. It has taken Reno a long time to get to the point where he listens to every body cue and has a collected trot. When we first started, he would full up canter in the round pen without any prompting. I knew then he'd had a different training by those who didn't understand the purpose of a round pen: to learn body language and create a bond. Yes, you can use it for working them but you have to also be able to control them with no lead or whip. It takes a long time to get to that point but it's well worth it in the end!

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About Cross Rifle Equestrian

Cross Rifle Equestrian is owned and solely operated by myself. I am a horse trainer who mainly works with tune up training and am slowly working myself into training both owners and their partners (their horses) as well as training a 4 year old Mustang--who’s never been touched by another being.

A little about myself so you know who you will be communicating with in the future. I have served four years in the United States Marine Corps, ending my service as a Corporal, hence Cross Rifle. I’m a no non-sense kind of person and believe a direct route is often the best. I also believe having an all around horse (who can carry a flag flying upon their back, jumping from 1/5 foot to 2 foot 6 inches, a calm trail horse, team penning/cattle working, western pleasure and anything else you can think of) is the best kind of horse. You can take them anywhere and do anything you want to.

Every horse that is put into my training program goes through a 30 minute session to figure out the root problems. The 30 minutes doesn’t mean I only do it in the saddle. A lot of times the problems that the owners/riders find while riding can be fixed on the ground, but that is not the case for every horse so I figure out the issue before jumping heads over heels into the training.