Hickory Hill Farm & Stable

10/16/2024

10/16/2024

10/11/2024

A little northern lights above the farm

09/02/2024

What an exciting and fun weekend we had at the WEC schooling show!

I brushed the dust off my boots and took Jimmy in the ring; we inducted a few new members into the Jimmy fan club along the way—a fan club which he totally deserves! Can’t wait to receive some of the wonderful pictures from Winslow Photography LLC. I was also thankful to have Nancy Arledge around to give me some help and polish up my ride.

Leah and Acts Like Gold tried their hand in the jumpers this weekend. Despite being a little under prepared for the change of scenery from the hunter ring, they laid down a great trip… and maybe have even been made into jumper land converts!

Charleigh and BDR Champagne and Pearls conquered the Sanctuary ring together and earned ribbons in all their classes, and even got to go through WEC’s infamous “ride thru.” Charleigh may be collecting ribbons, but you can tell she’s just happy to be on a horse for every ride, which is what truly matters!

Leah and Jimmy also put in some good rounds despite some less than ideal crowd conditions to earn some great ribbons, and Jimmy continued to impress us.

Many thanks to Leah for being such a hardworking working student, Jackie and Andrew, and Suzie and Jarrett for being the greatest horse show moms and dads around. I am so thankful for a great barn family that I can depend on to step up and pitch in wherever needed. It’s also important to mention the wonderful staff and crew at WEC who were so pleasant to work with and kept things running so smoothly!

I look forward to seeing what everyone can accomplish next time!

07/10/2024

We have TWO rare openings for boarding & lessons and/or training at our serene, hunter/jumper, dressage, and pleasure riding facility.

Come join our friendly, no-drama atmosphere and enjoy the acres of trails, pasture, indoor and outdoor arenas, tack rooms, on-site trainer and manager, hot/cold water washrack, and restroom. Our program includes:

Twice daily feeding
Day or night small group turnout
Lessons for every age and level of rider
Multiple training packages and options
Custom feeding program
Local showing opportunities
Farrier/vet scheduling
Blanketing & fly control

Located in Mount Vernon, 43050, about 40 minutes NE from Polaris/Lewis Center.

Contact us today for a tour!

06/21/2024

The working student summer program just keeps rolling!

After the hay fields got cut last week we took the working student jump lesson to the field! Cross training exercises like these are good practice for dealing with terrain changes.

This week has been hot! Between watering the arena, painting poles and standards, putting away hay, and clipping horses, we recapped clipping and bathing horses, clipper care, and bandage rolling, as well as some ground work “obstacle courses.”

As ever, I am proud to see these girls and guy work so hard at improving their riding, caring for the horses, and tackling projects! The working students and their apprentices have a lot more ahead of them!

06/17/2024

Wow! What an excellent weekend at the World Equestrian Center! The inaugural schooling series was phenomenal!

After making her jumper debut at N.E.S.T. North East Showtime Series last weekend, Mira Allen and “Wishful Thinking” (Aka The Drama) put in some fast rounds for good ribbons in large classes, culminating in a double clear round for fourth on Sunday!

Charleigh and “KeepMeinWhiskey” have been making such progress and got to strut their stuff in the walk trot poles for some ribbons in every class!

It is so rewarding to see such dedication to the horses in my students—they both spent the whole weekend with their horses, hand walking, grazing, and even doing in hand jumping! After all, without horses as special as Whiskey and Hope, we wouldn’t be able to do any of this!

As ever, our faithful horse show and barn manager Molly made friends everywhere; she was especially popular with the next generation of equestrians!

06/06/2024

06/06/2024

End your day with cuddles and a smile!

06/06/2024

Time for a fun afternoon of jumping practice!

06/03/2024

There aren’t enough pictures of this weekend to capture it, so these will have to do!

This Friday kicked off the beginning of the working student summer program, and the new apprenticeship program! The crew gave the outdoor arena a facelift in no time at all, and spent the afternoon conditioning the horses for this summer!

Saturday, the barn community came together to accomplish a tremendous amount of work in the barns and on the trails—laying drain tile, trimming tree lines, and deep cleaning the stalls! The efforts of the whole crew culminated in some fireside eats and fishing!

Of course, no barn affair is complete without the masterful management of Molly, who took a well deserved siesta by the fire at the end of the work day.

05/24/2024

9 Facts About Perfectionism: A mindset that must be unlearned or will ultimately bring your riding down 🧠

1. Every rider makes mistakes, even the best of the best.
It’s an unavoidable, universal experience and all a part of the sport.

2. Mistakes are learning opportunities.
You can grow from them and become better because of them.

3. Hyper-focusing on mistakes helps them happen.
They both become a self-fulfilling prophecy and take your focus away from your ride.

4. Mistakes mean you’re on the right track.
You can’t improve, learn, overcome challenges, and level up without them.

5. It’s not what happened but how you move forward from it that matters the most.
Moving on from the mistake matters more than the mistake itself.

6. Mistakes are temporary.
Work to fix and put them in the past instead of dwelling and allowing them to stick around.

7. Mistakes don’t define you.
You may have had a bad ride, but that doesn’t mean you’re a bad rider.

8. Social media only shows highlights.
Everyone is struggling whether they post about it or not.

9. Perfect doesn’t exist.
It’s impossible to meet unattainable expectations.

A perfectionist mindset and a lack of an ability to accept mistakes will do much more harm than good for an athlete’s mental performance. Mistakes are a normal part of sport and life. Everyone makes mistakes no matter how talented of an athlete they may be. Since perfect doesn’t exist, holding yourself to an unrealistic standard will only set you up for disappointment every ride. Instead, give yourself permission to make mistakes, using them to your advantage by viewing them as valuable feedback and learning opportunities. Refer to this post whenever you begin to feel hard on yourself, and remember that you are not alone! 🏇🏽💭✨
www.mindalignperformance.com

11/04/2023

What a great day at Happily Ever After Horse Show Series for all our riders! Lots of learning and teamwork, and some good ribbons too!