Crossroads Farm

12/22/2025

CRF will be closed for Christmas break from Monday December 22nd until January 2nd.

Thank you to all our wonderful students and families for your continuing support ❤️

Merry Christmas 🎄

12/18/2025

Unicorns do exist 🦄

11/30/2025

Horses... I have been swimming in some deep water recently. Treading water actually.

Last Monday I had the vet out for Frazier due to an eye issue that came up over the weekend 😑

After a consultation with UGA's ophthalmology specialist we have determined that Frazier has a serious abcess inside his left eye. Treatment is lengthy and expensive. 4-6 times per day/ or every 2 hours with 5 different medications.

Despite this aggressive treatment plan it could be 2 months before we know if the eye can be saved or if removal is required.

I'm for the most part carrying this farm and lesson program by myself on the daily. Adding on this treatment protocol has pushed me over my physical limit on top of now needing to replace Frazier temporarily in the program and Fool who has just retired.

I'm maxed out on my stress level but 100% determined to see Frazier through whatever is required for his well-being.

All this to say. I need some help friends. I'm going to need a budget friendly/ care lease lesson unicorn pretty quickly. I'd be very grateful if anyone has anything that might work for CRF. I'd much prefer to get a Unicorn from someone I know rather than going through dealers or sales.

For Thanksgiving this year, I'm thankful Frazier is extremely good for medical treatment. Lord knows, we have had plenty of practice.

11/20/2025

*** EQUINE DISEASE ALERT UPDATE ***

Clemson University Livestock-Poultry Health is suspending the use of Extended Equine Certificates of Veterinary Inspection (EECVIs) to transport horses into South Carolina for at least 30 days following an outbreak of Equine Herpesvirus Type 1 Neurologic (EHM- Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy) reported by Texas veterinarians during the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) World Finals in Waco, Texas, held November 5–9.

According to reports, the WPRA event involved approximately 650 horses representing 30 states and four Canadian provinces. The event was followed by the Barrel Futurities of America (BFA) World Championships, held November 15–22 in Guthrie, Oklahoma. The remainder of the BFA event was cancelled on November 18 after a case of EHV-1 was confirmed.

Equine events in South Carolina may continue as scheduled, based on their risk assessments, and that they review the Certificates of Veterinary Inspection to ensure accuracy.

11/20/2025

⚠️⚠️⚠️CRF Students ⚠️⚠️⚠️ Out of an abundance of caution, if you have ANY contact with horses outside the CRF facility please reach out to me before coming to your lesson. We are not causing a panic over this situation, however precautions will be taken to ensure the health of our precious horses.

As we continue to monitor the current outbreak of the neurologic form of equine herpesvirus (EHM) infection, let's take this opportunity to discuss once more the importance of biosecurity measures to stop disease spread. We recommend the following biosecurity precautions for horse owners, particularly if their horses have recently traveled to horse shows or were exposed to horses that have traveled:

1) Monitor horses for clinical signs (including fever, discharge from the nostrils, toe-dragging or a lack of balance) and take the temperature twice daily. Temperature greater than 101.5 F is considered a fever.

2) Immediately isolate any horse(s) showing clinical signs. Equine herpesvirus is an aerosolized virus and is spread through shared airspace, direct contact, and contaminated caretakers or equipment. A good isolation area is a separate barn or shelter that does not share airspace with healthy horses.

3) Implement movement restrictions until the situation is evaluated.

4) Contact your veterinarian to evaluate your horse and to propose a comprehensive biosecurity protocol.

5) Increase biosecurity measures that include extensive cleaning and disinfection of surfaces and equipment that come in contact with affected horses: wash or sanitize your hands between interacting with horses; take time while filling water buckets and feed tubs, do not cross contaminate; minimize the use of shared equipment and tack.

6) Make sure your horse is up to date on vaccinations.

7) Establish communication with all parties involved (owners, boarders, trainers, etc.).

More resources and information regarding biosecurity are available on the Equine Disease Communication Center's website at https://equinediseasecc.org/biosecurity

To learn more Equine Herpesvirus (EHV), visit: https://www.equinediseasecc.org/equine-herpesvirus

11/19/2025

Fuzzy ponies and sunny Fall days. We have been quietly working away while the weather's been so nice. 🌞

11/19/2025

Lesson horses are the beating heart of Crossroads Farm and deserve all the love ❤️

🐎🙌 Let’s give the quiet heroes of the barn their well-deserved shout-out: lesson horses. They’re steady when we’re shaky, patient when we’re panicking, and always there for the next student with zero attitude (well, minimal attitude 😜).

Check out this week's Tuesday Video: “Lesson Horses Are the Real MVPs” — a tribute to those gentle giants who carry us through our lessons, our muck-ups, our triumphs and our “oops” moments.

💬 We want to hear from YOU:

Which lesson horse changed your riding life? Tag them, name them, and drop your favorite memory. Let’s celebrate these unsung equine stars together.

🔗 Full article (with video!) in the comments below.

11/09/2025

All the Fall colors 😍

10/22/2025

Longevity is the goal! Or it should be...

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬

Polework is the most undervalued training tool we have and it shows. Everyone says they want a sound, confident, long lasting horse. But then you see ponies Grade A at seven years old, and you can’t help but wonder, how much jumping did that take? How many schooling rounds? How many miles on joints that aren’t even fully developed until they’re eight?

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 “𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭.” 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩.

At six and seven, horses should still be learning how to use their body, not hammering around 1.20m tracks twice a weekend. By rights, their job at that age should be rhythm, straightness, balance not chasing points.

And this is where people roll their eyes, because the truth isn’t glamorous, polework is where the real training happens. Not when you’re on top of a fence. Before you ever get there.

A horse that can’t regulate its stride over poles won’t suddenly fix it over a jump. A horse that can’t stay straight on the ground won’t stay straight in the air. If your polework is weak, your jumping is a lie. You’re skipping steps. And skipping steps comes with a bill later usually in the form of lameness or fear.

We don’t have a jumping problem. We have a patience problem. Everyone wants the result, nobody wants to put in the miles. Polework doesn’t “look impressive” on a sales video. It doesn’t get likes online. But you know who did polework religiously? The horses that were still winning in their late teens, the ones who stayed sound long after their peers were “retired due to injury.”

You put a young horse through poles like the set up shown below, and you will learn very quickly if they drift, if they rush, if they lengthen one stride and shorten the next, if they think their way through questions, or panic through them. That’s education.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐝𝐨, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰.

It’s not talent that makes a future horse. It’s time. Time spent in walk over poles. Time spent in trot learning rhythm. Time spent building the brain before asking for the jump. Anyone can point a brave horse at a fence. A horseman builds one from the ground up.

And let’s be honest, this industry has stopped prioritising the horse. It’s not about producing athletes anymore; it’s about producing price tags. Horses are being fast tracked up the levels not because they’re ready, but because someone wants to sell them before the weaknesses start to show. We talk about welfare, but then applaud speed of production. The answer isn’t more jumping. It’s more polework.

𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆.

Photo credit: RFS

10/19/2025

Yesterday was magnificent 🤩

10/18/2025

Safety is not optional. Horses are unpredictable enough without cutting corners and allowing unsafe riding to appease unrealistic clients. I'm definitely "annoying " about my standards! 😂

One of the most important things an instructor can do is not harm their students or the public who admires them

The safety of my students is very important to me. When I give them tools and skills, I work hard to give them what THEY can do safely, and not what I can do.

I am a pretty laid back person in a lot of ways, but basic safety around horses is a topic I’m willing to be annoying over, especially given the wreck and injury stories equestrians love to share (many of which were preventable).

But I find alarming the growing trends and fashions that throw safety to the wayside - seeming to say, if you were as noble as me, if you had the relationship I have with your horse, you don’t need basic safety -

You can lay around on the arena under your horse. You can walk around barefoot beside your loose horse. You can stand on your head and trim. If you really are pure, no horse will hurt you.

Maybe that’s true for those individuals. Horses are very receptive to energy, that’s true. But reflexes, timing, and some athleticism are also very involved..

do I want my students laying on the ground next to their loose horse? Do I want them walking around barefoot in the pasture? No I do not.

In this day of confusing signals from professionals ,  I want to be able to contribute something positive. I don’t want to be the source of anyone  or their horses injury if I can at all help it.

Photo by Nicole Shoup

10/16/2025

Busy week of sunshine and smiles 😃