High Hopes Farm LLC

10/10/2024

UPDATE!
Due to weather and host obligations Fall Trail Challenge will be rescheduled Saturday Oct 26th. Day before the Spooktavular ECHO.

10/06/2024

Congratulations and thank you Taren Lester Taz.
High Hopes Farm came home with two National Championships.
Two firsts in marathon, Fred best overall marathon for the whole show, and Bugatti best prelim marathon. Good breeding great coaching and team work.
Thank you Ashley Mount, Justin DeMitry, Katie DeMitry and Felicity DeMitry for all your help.

10/06/2024

High Hopes Bugatti and junior driver Felicity Demitry won the open Preliminary Pony National Championship and Best prelim of the whole show. Best prelim marathon.
Sire to High Hopes Mercury. Like father like son.

10/05/2024

High hopes Mercury
First CDE. Dressage is improving. Today we see if he likes marathon.

09/28/2024

I’m thinking of getting a Pivo. Do they work? Can I use my iPad? Lots of different options and packages. What do I really need?
Anyone have a used one for sale?

09/28/2024

Setting up a full cones practice course. $20 per equine.
Available Saturday through Tuesday.
No map. Walk before you drive.

09/25/2024

Nice prospect for sale. I have trained several by this stallion. They have good brains.

09/22/2024

Reserve USEF National Champion. Best FEI marathon. Thank you Onyx , Taren Lester Taz and my village Bruce, Felicity, Ashley, Katie DeMitry, Justin DeMitry, Deb Marcuccilli.

09/17/2024

3 ###l safety vest. New. Asking $100. Can bring to Tryon or garden state CDE

09/05/2024

ECHO practice Friday and Saturday $20 per equine. Ponies available $50 per hour.

09/05/2024

Our time to dance 🕺🦄
Friday Dressage 12:38
Live Stream 🔗
https://tv.fei.org/FEI-Driving-WC-2024
Americans: grab a coffee ☕️, turn on the livestream at 6:38am EST, and cheer on 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

08/29/2024

Establish the walk first. If you don’t have your horse successfully walking under saddle, you will never get 100% from your horse. The walk is so often disregarded and disrespected and always underutilized.

So what does a successful walk mean? It means your horse is happily accepting your contact, stretching down into the bridle, elongating their topline, propelling themselves forward with their hind legs instead of pulling themselves forward with their front legs, and engaging their core. It means that they are willing to extend and move forward without resisting or coming above the bit or hollowing their back, or trying to trot. It means they are willing to collect the walk without losing impulsion, or going behind the bit, or getting crooked and losing straightness, or feeling claustrophobic and swishing their tail or opening their mouth to evade the bit. It means that you can ask them to do a shoulder-in, haunches-in, and leg yields without resistance and without the lateral movements being so hard for them that they have to slow down and lose impulsion and forward momentum. It means that you can do circles while maintaining impulsion and tempo and without them falling in or sliding out or losing their track. It means that you can do transitions on a straight line without them falling to one side or the other because of chronic asymmetry in their strength and flexibility. Pay attention to their resistance. It is their way of communicating what is hard or uncomfortable.

If you have done your job in warming your horse up at the walk, when you ask your horse for something you should be able to only ask once and ask gently. If you’ve done your job at the walk, you’ve given their body and mind enough time to warm up that what you’re asking of them is no longer hard. When you ask these same questions at the trot or the canter or when jumping a course, you should have a supple horse that is confident in what you are asking because you have established the foundation and muscle memory at a gait slow enough that your horse has time to listen, think, and respond. And if you do your job right every ride, and you give them that time at the walk, your horse will relax faster, listen faster, get supple faster, and have a better work ethic because they will be happy and comfortable in their job. You will have a horse under you who responds to your aids by listening instead of resisting, and you won’t be forced to override and overcompensate for a bad foundation. Give them time. Establish your walk first, in the beginning of their training and then every ride after that.

08/29/2024

First draft

08/19/2024

Taren Lester ‘Taz’ clinic at High Hopes Farm August 30,31 and September 1. Audit fee $25
Lessons $150 each or $400 for three. Prep for Geneseo, Garden State and beyond.

08/13/2024

Taren Lester “Taz “ clinic August 30,31 and September 1 at High Hopes Farm

08/11/2024

Last day of Orleton Farm Show.
Most beautiful place to show.
Baby Fred, Onyx and Mouse have been very good boys.

08/04/2024

Tryon CDE and Garden State CDE entries are open.
Join the fun.

08/03/2024