Willow Ridge - Sport & Performance Horses

11/17/2024

11/17/2024

FREESTYLE CLINIC DAY 1
Day one was group classroom lecture and testing out individual choreography options/mounted instruction. Tomorrow will be a floor plan/choreography design workshop in the morning and then testing music individually in the afternoon.

Almost all of the riders left with a rough draft of their choreography today, we’ll be able to tweak most of that in the workshop in the morning. 🙏

11/16/2024

Welcome Aubrey & Anne!

Equisonic Studio

11/15/2024

SCHEDULE - Suzanne Biomechanics clinic
Dec 14/15

Attention Team Willow Ridge:

Please plan to be around at lunch on Saturday - Suzanne is going to do an umounted lesson/demo and I want you all to participate.

I will be providing lunch both days but feel free to bring a snack or dessert to share if you’d like!

I encourage you to stay and watch as many of the other lessons as possible - it is a great learning opportunity and understanding this material will directly help improve your riding - please take advantage!

11/10/2024

Fun day with the Willow Ridge Show Team!

10/06/2024

Apparently, it is National Coaches Day!

I am beyond grateful for an amazing team of coaches who make up my perfect support system!

Thank to you Carrie Wilson, Katie Hiller Rohe and Suzanne Galdun for being the best mentors, coaches, and friends.

10/05/2024

Day 1 - continuing to work on softer aids with a more potent response and alignment leading to more throughness and uphill balance.

10/03/2024

Now what are we up to? 😉

10/01/2024

ISO:

$25/HOUR

*~*~Weekend Chore Person needed*~*~

Please read carefully:

Must have experience with horses, including young horses.
Must be able to do at least 3 weekends per month.
Must be local (within 20 minutes of the barn 49426)
Must be comfortable getting to the barn even in winter

Duties:
Check and refill hay nets as needed
Check auto water fountains
Bring in on days with poor weather
Change blankets (as needed)
Do a final wellness check/walk through
Sweep/tidy up/close up
NO stall cleaning
Possibility for occasional more hours during week if desired (not required)

Typically takes 1-2 hours
Start time can be somewhat flexible but ideally between 5-7pm

PM - Serious inquires only, please.

09/24/2024

Oh Dior, you really are a Unicorn. 🦄 Such a good princess 👑

09/13/2024

I forgot how fun it is training young horses - every day is a whole new world and the progress comes so fast at times.

Enjoying my time with HF Aurora, who is about 8” taller and 2 city blocks longer than any of my current personal horses 🦒

She is a doll. So sweet and tries so very hard. So excited for her future with ❤️🦄

09/11/2024

HELP WANTED to start ASAP!

Experienced horse person needed for 1-2 hours on Sat & Sun PM.

Approximate start time 5-7pm (can be flexible)

Possible duties:

Check automatic waters
Check that all horses have enough hay until morning
Bring horses in (only in poor weather)
Top of waters (if horses are inside, they are out most nights)
Wellness checks - check that horses all look healthy and alert
Final walk through of barn - turn off lights, sweep up
Change blankets if needed

NO stall cleaning
Must be at least 18 and have own transportation
Must be able to lift a full bale of hay occasionally
Must have experience handling young horses

~*~*~*~ We realize this is a premium time of day, premium pay offered ~*~*~*~

Please private message me.

09/02/2024

It was a great weekend of education! Got to ride with two people who have been very influential on my training and riding, and !

I’ve followed JJ for as long as I can remember and have been so blessed to have met and started working with Suzanne last year. To have them both in the ring at the same time was incredible!!

A huge thank you to for organizing the event and selecting me to be one of the riders, to , .farmers.elevator, & for their ongoing support and to the event sponsors for making it possible!!



And to for the perfect venue!

🙏🦄❤️🍾👏⭐️

08/31/2024

Great first ride with & !

Dream come true to ride with both these people who I look up to so much… to have them both in the arena at same time…. just awesome. 🤩 Edie was quite concerned about something off in the distance and the flies but even so gave me good ridability and try.

Excited to build on it tomorrow.

Thank you .farmers.elevator, and for your ongoing support 🙏🙏🙏
ridge.equestrian

08/25/2024

First time out for Emily and her young horse “Lucky”. Welcome to Dressage, guys! Great coaching by .ag .ridge.equestrian

08/14/2024

From the archives:

𝔻𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝔻𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤: ℍ𝔸𝕃𝔽 ℍ𝔸𝕃𝕋

As an instructor and clinician, one thing I run into often when working with someone new to me is the misunderstanding of the phrase “Half Halt”. This phrase is industry standard, so we hear it often and see it constantly in print. However, if it has never been explained, many riders perceive it to be something you do with the reins or that there is some sort of “shutting down” of the horse to achieve it.

Remember, most of the words and phrases we use in Dressage were translated from other languages. Some of them translated less clear than others. Half halt is one that I think translated poorly, but it's one of the most important concepts a rider must understand. Half halts are used in many ways, but typically are used for preparation, correction and maintenance of balance and attentiveness.

I call half halts the “whole body experience” because they typically involves many parts of the body/aids. Of course, based on the needed result, WHAT aids/body parts you are using can vary greatly.

For example, I train my horses to sit back and “check in” off a deep breath, so sometimes a simple exhale is all I need for my horses to tune-in, lighten and reorganize themselves. Other times I need my entire body, starting with my leg (to energize and say “keep going!”) and my seat/back/shoulders to give the support and communication of what I desire to my horse. (For those who need greater clarification on what I consider the “seat”, please look for articles in the "Seat" category on this blog.)

The reins ARE usually involved, but I like to think of them like the garlic of the aids – important, but too much will ruin the recipe; you need to use it sparingly and tactfully.

Truly, the art of using half halts could be the single most important thing that allows a rider to progress up the levels. Without an understanding and basic mastery of this skill set, the rider will either end up hanging on the reins and clamping with the aids or being entirely too passive. Half halts are sort of like breathing air in and out – they must go on and they must go off for the balance and communication to survive.

Half halts can be difficult to understand and apply until a rider develops a good feel for what is going on under them. The strength, duration, and frequency, as well as WHAT aids/body parts needed will vary not only from horse to horse or ride to ride, but also from moment to moment, based on how balanced or attentive the horse is.

They certainly differ from rider to rider since every rider is different: different size, different feel, different strengths, and different weaknesses. For example, a rider with a more developed seat will certainly be less dependent on the rein than a newer rider. This is why half halts can be so hard to teach because they happen quick and they can change from stride to stride.

One thing that I have found helps riders grasp this is rephrasing. I use words like “check-in, refresh or reorganize” vs. simply “half halt” until that rider truly understands what it means and feels like. I’ll ask frequently “Do you feel like you could canter from that trot? What about walk or halt? Change direction or bend?" If the answer is “no” than they know they need to check in with the horse and get the answer to YES!

I find this line of thinking/questioning helps the rider start discover the feel of what is going on with their horses balance. From there I explain what aids will help improve whatever we have diagnosed: i.e. too fast, too slow, too heavy, too light, too dull, etc. This makes the thought process of when/how to half halt a bit more clear.

If the half halt is something that has been a bit of a mystery to you, I hope this quick tip helps give you a little more insight on it’s purpose. It’s not some mystical, magical thing; although when done correctly, the response your horse will give you after may feel magical! The bad news is it takes years and thousands of hours in the saddle to develop really great feel. The good news is that any progress you make will immediately improve your communication and effectiveness with your horse!

And remember, the most important part of a half halt is the “release”!

Up later: Why a release is not a throw-away! 😉

Thank you for reading!

~Kimberly

Visit The 𝕊ℂ𝕀𝔼ℕℂ𝔼 of 𝓡𝓲𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 on Facebook!

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