Chestnut Ridge Equestrian Center, LLC - Page 2

09/12/2025

09/11/2025

The indoor freshly fluffed, regraded and laser-leveled.

09/04/2025

Indy at his FHANA breed inspection, 2014.

09/03/2025

I once had an FEI level competitor tell me that if he couldn’t compete, he wouldn’t own horses. IMO that’s not a true horseman.

09/03/2025

Well said. 🖖🏼

And here's why I urge people to take those chances, and to have those adventures with horses----

It is so easy to wait until all the stars align, until everything is organized, just right, perfect, ready, no i left un dotted, no t left uncrossed,

But you can wait forever.

Far better to plunge ahead, not totally stupidly, but, actually, pretty stupidly, and learn the hows as you go. The same way you learned how to walk. How to talk.

Aristotle said it best---"For the things we need to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them."

So go start to live your dreams, don't just dream them. Make mistakes along the way---no big deal. Better far to fail trying, as Theodore Roosevelt said, than to be "one of those cold and timid souls who knows neither victory nor defeat."

Sure, ride the appropriate horses, maybe don't start by trying to jump 3'6 or doing 3rd level dressage, but do decide on a probably achievable goal and see where it takes you.

If you like it, take another step. If you don't, stay put or step back. Only you are the best judge of you.

But DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT get to be in your 60s or 70s or 80s and look back with regret for all those dreams you let slip away just because you were afraid to try even a little bit.

09/01/2025

-Two Stalls Available for a mild-mannered gelding.
-Full-day turnout in a large field with like-minded geldings.
-Recently renovated box stalls in wide-aisled barn.
-Enjoy your horse in the relaxed atmosphere of a non-show barn.
-Offering senior, special needs & retired horses superior care.
- Our dressage lesson program allows our amatuer-owners to enhance their riding skills, improve their horses abilities & enjoy true horsemanship.
Millstone, Monmouth Cty, NJ.
Please PM Lisa M Post for more info. (FB often has a multi-day delay in posting business page messages lately)

08/29/2025

Indy 💕

08/28/2025

08/27/2025

A MUST WATCH Video!

Step back to the 1948 Olympics and witness riders training in the timeless art of classical dressage. This rare footage showcases Olympic dressage riders pre...

08/22/2025

Dr Temple Grandin is one of the best known animal scientists in the world. She grew up in America, and she is autistic, which means her brain works a little differently to most people’s. She often says she “thinks in pictures.” This helps her notice tiny details about animals that others might miss.

Most of her career has been spent improving how cattle are handled on farms, making systems calmer and safer. (Which is why many farms have safe handing pens for cattle on farms today)But her ideas are just as useful when we think about horses.

Temple reminds us that animals don’t see the world the same way humans do. A shiny puddle, a flapping jacket, or a garden chair in the wrong place might look like danger to a horse. Horses are prey animals, always on the lookout for threats. What seems silly to us can feel very real to them.

As she explains: “Horses have to see the same object from all angles. They don’t automatically transfer learning from one side of their brain to the other.” In other words, a horse that walks calmly past a wheelbarrow on the left rein may still shy at it on the right.

For coaches and riders, this matters. If a horse spooks or refuses, it isn’t “naughty”, it is reacting in the only way it knows. Our job is to slow down, let the horse look, and give it time to learn.

Temple also talks about how animals respond to pressure. A gentle aid, released at the right moment, helps the horse to understand. But rough hands, loud voices, or constant pushing only build fear. As coaches, that means showing riders how to be clear but kind, guiding, not forcing.

And this links horse welfare with rider welfare. A calm horse gives the rider confidence. A frightened horse makes the rider nervous. By putting the horse’s feelings first, we create safer, happier lessons for both.

Temple Grandin may have made her name with cattle, but her lessons about patience, clear signals for animals are pure gold for anyone who works with horses. When we see the world through the horse’s eyes, we become better kinder horsemen.