God Given Farm

01/12/2025

Growth requires failure. 💪🏼

01/09/2025

Don’t be afraid to let your horse take it easy during these cold spells, and work smarter not harder during training sessions! Longer warmups are a must too. It’s better to take a day off than speed through a session at the expense of your horse’s health and safety.

Did you know that exercising horses in cold weather can actually damage their airways? 🌬️❄️

In a study, "Airway cooling and mucosal injury during cold weather exercise" that parallels human studies, horses were exposed to air temperatures of -5°C (23°F) and -15°C (5°F) while exercising.

The result suggests that when horses breathe in cold, dry air during intense exercise, it cools and dries out their airways, leading to irritation, inflammation, and even cell damage. 🐴 Over time, repeated exposure can cause long-term respiratory issues.

For a deeper dive into how cold-weather exercise impacts equine airways (and what we can learn from it), check out the study "Airway cooling and mucosal injury during cold weather exercise," which I’ll link in the comments.

Protect your equine athletes this winter by staying informed!

01/07/2025

Both off-site and on-site lessons for today have been cancelled as we encourage our clients to stay off the roads. As of now our area has not been cleared and even one of our best all-weather vehicles was sliding too much for comfort!

We hope everyone stays safe and has a wonderful snow day!

01/05/2025

It’s hard as a trainer not to get caught up in progression when horses are only here for a month. Push, push, push to get the most out of them.

Especially when starting a horse we can get caught up in them being able to do a certain amount in a months time.

Here’s a secret though, the best trainers won’t push your horse to do the “most” in a month, instead they will build your horses confidence, teach them the steps they need, and also give them the mental breaks they need.

If a horse gets something perfect when I’m working with them it’s not uncommon for me to step off and put them away right there. I recently had a horse that could NOT get his right lead, instead of trying over and over again I worked on fundamentals every day and didn’t even ask for him to lope. One day I asked for his lope to the right and he got it right away. This was only about 10 mins into our ride and I STEPPED OFF and put him away. The next ride was amazing he got his lead every time I asked.

The benefit to training this way is that you are building a mentally sounder horse. It’s really just the cliche saying “live in the present” don’t be concerned about what you need to accomplish in a certain amount of time, instead stay in the present training session. Focus on what your working on for the day and you might accomplish even more then you imagined. Pc

01/01/2025

🎊Happy New Year! Here’s a quick look at God Given Farm’s 2025 Season!🎊

📆Beginning in March we will be hosting monthly clinics! If you are an equine professional who would like to utilize our facility for a clinic, we would love to hear from you!

🐴March 29th - Horse Ownership 101 Clinic taught by Clea Ranson
🫏April 26-27th - 2 Day Horsemanship and Riding Clinic taught by KJ Horse and Mulemanship
🗓️May 31st - TBD
🏇🏼June 27-28th - 2 Day Groundwork and Riding Clinic taught by Clea Ranson
⛱️July 25-26th - 2 Day Obstacle Clinic taught by Clea Ranson
🗓️August 30th - TBD
🐎September 20th - Lunging and Liberty, How to Combine Draw + Drive taught by Clea Ranson
🗓️November 15th - TBD

⛱️As we complete our permanent obstacle course we will announce openings for haul-in use.

🏇🏼We will have limited openings for Training with Boarding beginning in June, so contact us to reserve a spot.

🚚We are currently accepting haul-ins for on-site lessons and training sessions. Our traveling sessions are fully booked but our waitlist is open for anyone who would like to be added. On-Site lessons with our program’s horses are fully booked and our waitlist is completely full at this time.

🎉Thank you to everyone who made 2024 such a huge success! We can’t wait to meet more people who share our passion for horses and education this year!

12/29/2024

🌟 Effort Over Outcome 🌟

True progress comes when we focus on the journey, not just the destination.

Make your primary focus on effort, the outcome will follow. Celebrate the hard work, determination, and growth your riders (and you!)

These moments are the building blocks for success, both in and out of the saddle.

12/19/2024

A good reminder that rushing for progress is less progressive and more detrimental than waiting or taking our time. Don’t risk your horse’s health to try to maintain a routine in unsafe footing/weather conditions or a too busy holiday schedule.

Workout Wednesday: As we all get busy for the holidays, this is a Public Service Reminder for your horse's sake. DO NOT show up at the barn in a hurry, decide he needs a frenzied 15-minutes of being chased/longed/round-penned and then put away. This is actually LESS productive than just letting him be. Instead, take him for a brisk walk for those 15 minutes, wander around some obstacles, walk over ground poles. But do NOT send him careening around at speed without a proper warm-up. Why? Until the joint fluids are warmed and lubricating the joints, all the concussive forces end up in the cartilage which does not repair itself well. Further, joint proprioceptors are de-activated, gymnastic muscles stiffen, and postural muscles remain grossly under-utilized. This sets the horse's nervous system up to be in a cranky state, flooded with stress hormones. Okay, rant over.

12/13/2024

It’s that time of year! Gift yourself or your loved one a God Given Farm Hoodie or T-Shirt. These are made right here on the farm, so those who are local won’t have to stress about slow shipping times!

T-Shirt: $20
Hoodie: $25

Sizes:
YS, YM, YL, S, M, L, XL, 2XL

Contact us to place your order!

12/10/2024

We will be CLOSED December 24th-January 4th to allow us to enjoy the holidays with family. Lessons and training sessions will resume as normal the week of January 5th.

If you haven’t already, make sure your December lessons are scheduled! If you are interested in registering for our 2025 season, please contact us! We will not be accepting any new students for Riding Lessons at this time, but do have a few openings for training and our Horsemanship Program.

We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

12/03/2024

Snow Day! All lessons and training sessions have been canceled. We hope everyone stays safe and warm!❄️

11/28/2024

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope everyone is having as restful of a day as Journey! We are so thankful for each and every one of our clients, as well as the many incredible horses we have an opportunity to work with each week. Thank you for another great year here at God Given Farm!

11/14/2024

Even if your horses never leave your farm, it is SO important to stay up to date on vaccinations and have a negative Coggins certificate. Mosquitoes, horseflies, and so many other things travel long distances carrying potential diseases. A farm 10 miles down the road could have a single horse travel to a show, become infected, and your horses would be at risk.

Most of these things are very preventable as long as you stay up to date on veterinary care and vaccinations, so remember to keep your horses safe!

We have received another report of a mosquito-borne disease this week. A horse in Hickman County has tested positive for West Nile Virus. Thankfully, the horse exhibited only mild neurological symptoms and is recovering well. 🐴

Protect your animals:
• Vaccinations: Ensure your horses and pets are up-to-date with their vaccinations to help prevent mosquito-borne diseases.
• Vector Control: Implement effective mosquito control measures on your property. This includes removing standing water, using mosquito repellent, and maintaining clean environments.

Together, we can safeguard the health of our animals.

11/11/2024

Foggy morning on the farm