Milestone Sport Horses

01/19/2025

Maybe I have a slightly different reach on my business page than my personal. I know a lot of horse folk are also dog people. I have been spending the extra time this so far terrible winter has been giving me working to try to save dogs from this fairly local shelter that is in crisis. Beautiful, happy, friendly dogs are dying every week and I can’t take it anymore. I’m going to keep asking for help because it’s actually been working. I have two friends that have fostered and two that have adopted in the past week, which is amazing. If you have the slightest calling to get involved, please reach out to me and I will help in any and every way I can to facilitate. Thank you for reading!

🆘Update 1/19 at 4 PM: 19 still need a plan!🆘 They will leave on 1/21 in one of two ways: 1) walking out the front door with their freedom ride or 2) with their last breath.

If you have considered fostering, now is the time! Link to album with dog details in comments. 👇

Lovepaws
Perfectly Paired Pitties - P3
Furever Home Animal Rescue
Brave Babes Animal Rescue
Adopt a Homeless Animal Rescue Inc
Vindicated Pit Bull Rescue
Laila’s Legacy Animal Rescue
Key to Lion’s Heart Rescue
Daisy’s Legacy

01/18/2025

Couldn’t wrap up the stories without telling the tale of my bonus child, Dexter. I bought Dex as a sales project in the summer of 2021, after a string of not super successful OTTB projects. I was looking for something cute and simple and hoped maybe it would jump ok. Fun fact - he’s actually the most expensive horse I’ve ever bought 😝 but he was worth every penny. He had been a trail horse and with the same owner since he was a baby. She loved him dearly but knew deep down he wanted to do more in life. She said she had a video of a kid jumping him. I expected it to be a 2’ vertical or something and when she sent it I saw this little 15.2 QH knees to nose over probably a 4’ vertical. Needless to say I got a cashiers check and sent Shawn down to The Outerbanks with the trailer the next day 🤣.

I spent the next three months basically joyriding. I taught him the basics of dressage, did a few starter events with a s**t eating grin on my face and started to have hope that you could actually make money selling horses. I broke a lot of hearts selling him before he ever hit the open market, because it was a perfect home with friends. I got to watch him continue to blossom for the next couple of years with his mom and her trainer.

In March of last year we tragically lost one of my horses I leased out, and Dexter’s owner, because she’s an angel, offered to lease him back to me to fill those big shoes. She hadn’t been jumping him and knew that’s what he loved to do. I must have done something right in life for that good karma. So my Sexy Dexy has been with me putting that same s**t eating grin on the faces of my students. He’s a complete and total unicorn, an energy conservationist at heart that could make you think he’s just a WT beginner horse then turn around and jump the standards of an oxer. I’ve been incredibly lucky to write a couple chapters in his storybook and will forever be on the lookout for another Dexter, though I’m not sure many exist. 🦄

01/16/2025

Around the barn day 9, and it’s time to introduce to you the most perfect princess, my only mare, and pony with the best name ever - Penny Chesney! If you read Victor’s intro you’d know that he was a tough act to follow, but as far as moving onto a new mount goes, anything would be easier to ride than him. We had a pony lined up for Frankie to move up to through pony club that was coming back from an injury, and she helped with his rehab and was SO excited about him. Sadly at this final recheck the vet advised he have an easier career than Frankie was hoping for, and my little girl was crushed. Luckily for me I have friends with treasures hidden in every corner, and a phone call was all it took to have this little angel arrive at Milestone.

Penny had been hanging out babysitting broodmares and foals, and generally driving people nuts with her destructive playing in the water troughs. She’d been mostly out of work for a couple years but Frankie insisted she didn’t want any help from her big sister tuning her up. So they got right to work and Frankie hasn’t looked back. They almost won their first horse trial but Frankie missed a jump. We couldn’t stop laughing because Penny was not amused with the scenic route Frankie took when she got lost. It was almost like she knew she was being taken off course. Having come off a hellraiser that’s goal in life was to make things hard it’s been a very different experience for Frankie to have a pony who just wants to take care of her and do the right thing. I’ve never been a mare person, but now we have this little bulldog, I get it.

Because this seems to be what we do around here she now has her very own special set of fancy ass shoes. And then earlier this fall she had a very bizarre and worrisome immune mediated myositis after a mild respiratory infection. Cue deep dive into QH genetic mutations! No matter how much you know about horses, there is always more to learn. So Penny is having an easy winter doing snowy hacks in lots of blankets while she builds back the topline she lost. Which is fine because let’s be real, that’s all most of us are doing right now with this incessant and oppressive cold weather.

01/15/2025

Around the barn day 4729857 and it’s clear that I own too many horses. Luckily Mother Nature still has more awful weather in store for us so I should be able to get through the rest before you have better things to do than read my silly stories! Those of you keeping tally will have noted that I have 3 red TB’s. This is number 2/3 of the red QH clan. Baby G is king of the pony field, destroyer of blankets, master of shenanigans and bitey face champion. He was only 2.5 when I bought him, somewhat accidentally, at a WV auction. I had no particular reason for doing so other than I thought to myself “what is a classy little guy like that doing in a place like this?”. I had no idea what to do with him, and 2.5 years later, I kinda still don’t 😝. He has, in my opinion, the best show name of all my horses - MSH Fireworks After Dark, as he was born on the 4th July. Whomever bred him did a much better job of naming him than I did. I just never could settle on something so now he will forever be Baby G. Which is fine because it suits his goofy personality.

G has many amazing features. His long chromey legs that make people question him being full QH, his epic Yoda ears (almost named him Wabbit for those) and his exceptionally expressive muzzle. This horse has personality with a capital P. He’s super social and is the best helper when we are dropping in round bales, fixing fences or trying to retrieve the halters he and Chance have pulled into the paddock to play tug of war with. When the vet comes for shots and we go around the field he escorts her, mugging her for treats and generally exposing my poor efforts at disciplining my first real baby horse. Who can blame me? How can you say no to this face?

I had plans to sell G for a lot of money because he’s flashy and would make a lovely hunter. But the universe had other plans when we discovered he had juvenile arthritis in his hocks. I learned this isn’t uncommon in QH and not really a long term issue as they’re mostly fused now. So he continues the theme of horses being great teachers, and also money pits. I pivoted on my plans and now he is leased out to a couple of lovely girls that spoil him as much as I do ❤️.

01/14/2025

What day is it? In true winter style I have no idea, but I do know that it’s time for this apparently highly anticipated “around the barn” introduction. Chance, Pony-O, Chancey Pants, Poo, Boo-Boo; some of the many names affectionately given to this rescue pony that found his forever with us some 5 years ago. How someone would starve and dump at a kill pen this adorable little munchkin I do not know, but I do know that my wonderful big-hearted friend Talia had a bit too much wine one night and bailed him out. After lovingly fattening him up and getting him started under saddle she was looking for a pint sized pony pilot for a sales video and offered Ryleigh $20 to do it. Not bad to get your first pro gig at age 8! But because I’m a sucker and he’s so cute, somehow instead of helping sell the pony we now own the pony. 🤦‍♀️ Classic.

Chance was told when we got him that he could be anything he wanted to be. So he became a problem. 🤣 He refused to canter, and I’m not entirely sure he actually even knew how. He foundered for no good reason. He rehabbed from that and then learned to canter. And once he knew how to canter he learned how to buck. And buck and buck and buck. Their first XC school he dumped Ryleigh 7 times. I’ve been around the block long enough to know a few things about walking and quacking like a duck, so we x-rayed his back and of course he had some kissing spine. How to be a quarter pony in a thoroughbred world chapter one…KS ✔️ PRP ✔️ chiro ✔️ fancy aluminum shoes with pads ✔️✔️. The easy keeping pokey kids pony became a prissy little turd.

But…he has paid us back in spades. Green and green made black and blue for a long while but slowly Ryleigh and he started to figure each other out. I could literally write a book about their journey but where we are today is that this kill pen save is now going Training and giving her everything he has in that tiny body with a huge heart. They beat me every time we matched up last season (thanks Merry lol). I no longer think I know his limits. They amaze me, and they’re everything “two hearts” implies. Running out of allowed characters so must end with fun fact - he loves BBQ potato chips🤪

01/13/2025

So you have met all the big horses of Milestone and it’s time to move on to the ponies. They’re not all actually ponies but live together in what will forever be known as the pony field so ponies they are!

How could we start with anyone but the infamous VICTOR. He’s over 30 now and I adopted him from Maryland Horse Rescue when Ryleigh was a chubby cheeked toddler that wanted something her own size to torture. Jokes on us, he has spent the past 12 years torturing us! Victor is the kind of pony that affectionately gets called the character building type. The kind that makes you a good rider, or at least someone with the will to survive. The only thing about Victor that makes him a good first pony is that he’s 12h. Beyond that he is sensitive, likes quiet hands and to be ridden off the seat, with a very athletic jump and a love of going top speed. I used him for one pony club clinic for kids to borrow and I lost count of how many hit the dirt 🤣. He has the worst manners in the barn and drags us all around and headbutts you for basically no reason anytime you get in the nudge zone. I have completely failed to fix any of this. He’s a toad. But he’s awfully cute!

He has tiny (think devil horn) ears and in the winter the fluffiest coat I’ve ever seen. He absolutely loves foxhunting and still keeps up with second field out with Snickersville on their serious terrain. He’s learned to play games even though he was terrified of all of the equipment at first. And much as it’s damn near impossible to say up-down as fast as he trots, he has taught my girls so much. When Frankie moved on to her bigger pony people asked what I’d do with him. Well we can’t lease him (hello lawsuit) and he doesn’t want to retire either. So Frankie is giving him what he’s always wanted, a life of inconsistent riding at top speed with little purpose or direction. The dream! There will never be another Victor, and given that he’s so full of p**s and vinegar it won’t surprise me if he outlives us all. And I truly hope he does. ❤️

01/12/2025

Well the time has come in our barn introductions to take a serious downgrade…in photo quality that is! The new kid on the block, Alfie, is yet to find himself in front of the lens of any of my fantastic photographer friends. But I’m sure it won’t be long and when he does he’ll be adorable. You can probably already guess that he’s another TB, and that I got him from my friends at TRRAC. But can you guess who he’s related to? I’ll make it easy for you - Venti. They share a grandsire in Tapit.

Alfie, who will be shown as MSH Al’s Frosted (quite the mouthful but I don’t like changing their Jockey Club names), is a 2019 model and is built like an overgrown pony, compete with little wide set ears, pudgy tummy and highly boopable nose. He’s only jumped a handful of times but is a real natural and he’s got a canter to die for. Maybe we’ll do RRP, the plan was to have a stab at field hunters, but it’s vague and non-committal at this point. Whatever Alfie is going to do under saddle it’s clear he’s going to make friends wherever he goes. He’s a friendly and social little dude and is already making a good campaign to stay as Ryleigh’s next horse. Watch this space! What’s it all about Alfie?

01/11/2025

Around the barn day four and we’re moving out to the field boarders because let’s face it, there’s no way I can afford to have 4 stalls in the barn taken up by personal horses 🤣.

MSH Super Coach Fred, otherwise known as Freddie, Freddie Spaghetti, or more recently Fredward, is a 2020 OTTB that came to me (yet again) through my friends at TRRAC. He was a terrible racehorse and luckily for him nobody tried to push that career on him. Apparently he wouldn’t even train without a lead horse. Smart kid! He’s enjoying the slower pace of an eventing life and while he’s absolutely on the lazy side, he’s very happy to shift up the gears going XC or in the hunt field. He might be a plain brown wrapper to look at but he’s pretty impressive to jump and feels like he has springs in his feet. Since he was only 3 when I got him we’ve taken things slow and he’s done a couple BN events and some YEH-qualifiers. We went to RRP last fall where he was such a good boy and made all kinds of new franz. My daughter Ryleigh has been riding him a lot too and he’s an official pony club “pony” having done rallies and camps. He likes the small people of pony club and the sugary treats they seem to have an abundant supply of.

Freddie has recently declared himself the boss of the field because now he is FIVE so a very big grown up 10/10 man child. He loves to eat bananas and groom people. If you think your hair needs attention you should slide a lawn chair next to his stall door at a show and before you know it you’ll be a real trendsetter. His favorite things in life are downward transitions, hunting foxes and the kid trail rides which seem to involve much less walking than the grown up ones. While we love him dearly Freddie was always intended to be a sales horse and is hoping to find his new family this year. Preferably one that has an endless supply of bananas.

01/10/2025

Day 3 around the barn - meet Merrykins! MSH Prized Merry is Venti’s half brother. Bred and raced by the same trainer, he was retired through TRRAC at the same time. When I went to meet V, Nina asked me if I wanted to meet him, and I politely declined, knowing I’d want both and couldn’t take two. But the universe had a plan and I took him a year later when nobody else wanted him because of his lumpy face and back conformation (shark fin withers and slight swayback). The joke was on every person that overlooked him because this horse is the real deal. His back may be odd shaped but boy can he use it. He has suspension like I’ve never felt on a TB and literally floats across the ground in the canter and gallop. He feels like he has infinite scope. When he’s good he is GOOD. But the tough part about Merry is…he’s not always good. He’s very sensitive and can be super strong which makes for a tricky game of chess in the bridle. I’ve struggled to find enough brakes that I’m not being run off with without taking away from his somewhat fragile confidence. This horse has made me better in ways I didn’t know I needed to be, and I may never tap his true potential, but boy am I going to keep trying.

In the barn Merry is a character just like his little brother. He too has stall pig status and plays in his water bucket the exact same way. He nickers to me most times I see him and will always walk over to the gate when I call him. He had some interesting GI issues at first which again, taught me things I didn’t know I didn’t know. He’s 11 this year and remedially still at Novice but once I’ve cracked the code at shows he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. At least we don’t bolt in dressage anymore and have mostly put the carousel horse jumps in the rear view! I always say this horse has quite the sense of humor, and I try to keep mine with his shenanigans. He’s a true horseman’s horse, and sometimes I wish we didn’t have to do everything the hard way but that’s just who he is. At the end of the day, the hard ones are our greatest teachers, so I’ll keep trying to be a good student.

01/09/2025

Around the barn day two. Meet MSH Ventriloquism - Venti. VV was a resale fail. I got him a very short time after losing my first heart horse, Otter. I truly believe this horse was sent to me to heal my heavy heart. He was a decent racehorse and came to me right after he retired via TRRAC. It took approximately one hour before I knew I’d be keeping him. He has an A+ personality. If Rigby is a cat this guy is a golden retriever. He loves people, working, going out, coming in, going places, doing things, and America 🤪. Everything is his favorite. He gives amazing hugs, does the cutest little heel tap for attention, and has a heart the size of Texas. Venti has the filthiest stall in the barn and plays incessantly in his water bucket. He drops grain in it and then does a polar plunge to retrieve it, nibbles it on the side of the rim, then guzzles all 5 gallons (or what is left after all the splashing).

Venti has evented through the M/1* level and we’re eyeing some green numbers for 2025. While he’s a dream to me he’s kind of a nightmare for my farrier and he’s had two coffin bone bruises that have been hiccups in our progress. He’s almost 2” downhill and has a short neck, little feet and so many splints there’s no room left for more. He also has horrendous kissing spine and never complains - he’s the living proof that you can’t ride X-rays. But none of this matters to him because he’s the goodest boy and wants nothing more than to try for me. Cross country is effortless for him and he could gallop for days. He’s usually the quickest round of the day. He is powered by his demon tail that flips vertical over every fence and is like a rudder for his juicy peach of a b***y. If you asked him to jump the moon he’d try and if he asked to come live in the house with me I’d probably let him. He’s the OG chestnugget angel face. 😇

01/08/2025

I’ve seen some other folks doing “around the barn” intros to pass the snow day downtime so thought maybe I’d do the same.

First up is Fastidious, known to his friends as Rigby. He’s a 2013 OTTB and I’ve had him since he was coming 4. We started off in eventing and he had a lot of success at the Training and Modified level but was always a bit…fastidious for it. Win one weekend, stop at a straightforward fence the next, and he particularly enjoyed testing out how well I fit in ditches. 🤣 I switched him to pure dressage in the spring of 2023 after a crash that left us both a bit too sore to ignore and we haven’t looked back. He’s now showing 4th level and eyeing Prix St George. I’ll be super excited to be back in tails on him once more (we did a couple 1*’s in his eventing days). He also loves to foxhunt and work cows because he’s that kind of versatile guy.

In the barn this horse is a cat. He greets you with pinned ears and a scowl but will beg for attention on his terms. He loves to yank the crossties in front of his stall when other horses are in them, or run his teeth down them playing his terrible music on them. He hates having his mane pulled or legs stretched when he’s in crossties and has broken more than I can count. He generally dislikes being touched by anyone other than his chosen people. They are a select few, and I am not one of them. I’ve threatened to sell him several times but never will. We’re an old married couple and he’s going to teach my kids a lot about fancy prancing when the time comes.

01/07/2025

Cracking start to the of the 2025 season at with a 2nd place finish in the Training. We’re back in the frozen tundra that is NoVa right now but have plenty more winter fun planned! Thanks to for the 📸 and for our glorious new X-breath saddle we’re finally getting to break in.

12/26/2024

Next up of our winter clinic offerings is a jump chute with Martin and Joe of The Frame Sport Horses on January 14th. Sign up is now on Strider.

Join Martin Douzant & Joe DeSantis for a jump chute clinic at Milestone Sport Horses, focusing on free jumping, in-hand work, and other training skills. This clinic will fill quickly—don't delay. Martin, hailing from Vaucluse in Provence, France, grew up in France's classical equestrian environmen...

12/24/2024

Milestone Sport Horses proudly presents for sale a lot to love in a small package! Tywyll Bae “Ty” is a 2015 dark bay Welsh pony standing 13.1h. He has experience in the hunters and in the hunt field and is now exploring the world of eventing. This darling pony is an exceptional jumper, with springs in his feet and perfect knees. He is well schooled on the flat and carries himself beautifully. In the hunt field he is polite and brave. Navigating tricky terrain and creek crossings are no problem, nor is keeping up with the big horses! He is schooling Elementary XC and is good with ditches, banks and water. While he is safe and kind he will thrive with a rider with some experience and confidence. Since his arrival he has been ridden solely by my 9 year old daughter who adores him. Ty is ready to make some lucky kid’s dreams come true, and is offered at 20k.

12/10/2024

Winter clinic series dates are rolling out!

Holly Wilmoth Dressage will be with us this coming Sunday December 15th for 45 min private lessons. Limited space left, please PM me to be added to the schedule. Save the date 1/18 for the next!

Tim Bourke’s first jumping clinic is the following Saturday, December 21st. Sign up is on Strider https://www.striderpro.com/a/n6ewDXHkx0yQ-cJ-vI3GBA He will be back with us again on MLK Day in Jan (1/20).

Milestone Sport Horses is excited to announce another year of our popular winter clinic series with 5* eventer Tim Bourke. We will be hosting Tim for an indoor jumping clinic series to include both gymnastics and coursework on 12/21, 1/20 and a Feb date TBD. Groups will consist of 3-4 riders and be....

11/24/2024

Pony-O and Venti throwing some shapes. I’m coming to a place of acceptance that my kid is better than me these days 🤣 Thanks to for the snaps.

11/22/2024

Trailer inspections available by resident house hippo (in her new pajamas of course). Looks like this one passed the test! 🤣

11/18/2024

This weekend wraps up the 2024 season in a pink bow 🎀 with Eventing for the Cure at huntclubfarms. Always a favorite and this year was no different with gorgeous mild fall weather. We had 8 pairs competing and there were some great results as well as bigger life lessons. Ryleigh and Chance were looking forward to another romp around Training but had an uncharacteristically shaky stadium and decided to withdraw before XC. A tough but very mature decision for a 12 year old to have to make and I’m proud of her for it. Brendi and Muffin and Madilyn and Cricket were brilliant in their BN debuts, placing 2nd and 8th respectively finishing on sub 30 dressage scores. WOW! My Elementary team on their (mostly) small but mighty steeds cleaned up snagging 1st through 5th in their various divisions. There was a shuffle in standings when a scoring error was made and Quinn gracefully went to the organizers to let them know she should not be sitting on top of her division after a blip on XC. That put her in 4th and moved Maddy into 1st and Frankie 2nd. Brooklyn was 3rd in her division and Erin and Lincoln snagged 5th as my lone adult in a sea of pink middle schoolers. She probably deserves an extra ribbon for that stat 🤣. I’m quite sure most of these specific results will be forgotten in time, but the sportsmanship and life lessons will not be. It’s been a long year with plenty of ups and downs for everyone. We will rest (maybe), recharge, and be back better than ever in 2025! Photo credit to the fabulous sdh_photography_ 🫶