BrownHill Stable

11/16/2024

Congrats to everyone on their year end awards for the dressage show season at Friendly Horseman's Club!! 🏆

11/02/2024

Our condolences to Eileen as she said goodbye to Scout this week. Scout made Eileen’s childhood dream of owning a horse come true and in return, she gave him the absolute best life! 💔

On a happier note, we would also like to congratulate Eileen on her adoption of Wrangler! Wrangler is ready to be mostly retired from the lesson program and Eileen is ready to love and spoil another horse. Both are so deserving of this transition!! ❤️

*Wrangler will still be used for some extremely low level lessons as he does thrive on having a job.

10/25/2024

Congrats to our riders on their year end placings for the dressage shows this season!!

10/12/2024

What a great way to end the show season- we’ve seen so much growth this year!

💙❤️💛🤍🩷💚

🔦Special highlight on Joie and Emma for getting year end champion in their divisions!!

09/21/2024

One of our favorite events at the barn each year! Thank you to everyone who made our annual equitation show run smoothly! With an added bonus of a chicken BBQ picnic afterwards 🍗🏆

09/14/2024

It’s beginning to look a lot like fall, but it sure didn’t feel like it today 🍂🍁🥵

09/12/2024

We’re so excited that Pony Tails Club is back after our summer break! Join us tonight from 6:30-8:00pm for unmounted education and lots of FUN!!

Please contact us if you would like to join!!
📧[email protected]
☎️717-354-8718

09/12/2024

Yes!

All I Want To Do Is Jump

I ran a fairly large lesson program for almost 20 years. This is a statement I have heard over and over, both in my lesson barn days and from colleagues today.

All I want to do is jump.

There are a few problems with this. Let's start with the horse. I love the old horseman's saying " horses only have so many jumps in them ". Is that 100, 1000 before it becomes lame.... No one knows....but horses certainly weigh a lot and the concussion landing on those small little legs is significant. Horses also get bored, burned out....and let's face it...sour.
Respect for the horse . The riders job is to do the best thing for the horse. Most horses only need jumped a few days a week. That means if a lesson horse works 5 days a week, only 2 of those are jumping days. 3 of those are purely flatwork or hacking.

Riders : most of jumping well has NOTHING to do with jumping. Riders need to work on pace, transitions, straightness, their position, effectiveness of aids, balance, ability to change positions smoothly ( from 2 point to sitting etc ) and so much more.

So if you are one of those students who Just Wants To Jump , please replace that with "I want to be an effective rider and horseman or woman . I want to do what is best for the horse "

And instructors who cave to this plea from students
Only YOU can set the CULTURE of your barn. Talk frequently about horsemanship and doing right by the animals.

09/07/2024

It went from summer ☀️🍦 to fall 🍂☔️ right in the middle of our day! There were so many good moments, but below are a few of our favorite highlights.

-Emma got reserve champion out of 10 riders.
-Sam cantered for the first time in a hunter show and placed near the top of a big class.
-Aila kept her cool and placed 2nd out of 7 riders over fences after Chessy was a little over exuberant in her canter class because of the wind and rain.
-Carly took baby June to her first hunter show and was reserve champion.
-Joie jumped 2 courses on Marigold for the first time and placed well.
-Olivia continues to shine in the open hunter division and was reserve champion.
-Alea placed in the top of a class with 10 riders and jumped for the first time at a show.

This was a day that definitely required us to roll with the punches. All the girls took it in stride, had wonderful attitudes, and rode fantastic 👊

08/26/2024

We love seeing riders who got their start with us succeed! One of the hardest parts of our job is knowing the right time to encourage students on to new opportunities, but knowing it was the right recommendation makes it all worth it. We knew this horse was talented and special the first time we saw his ‘for sale’ add, when we recommended the pair, and definitely when we took Caden to try him. We love watching this pair progress and can’t wait to see what is next for them!

*Bonus picture of Caden at his first show with us in the comments!!

New to the Real Rider Cup this year is Team Pastured Place....and we'd like to introduce you to CADEN NOLT. Caden is a student from Denver, PA, who has been riding for ten years. He and Virginia-bred Gio Lemon have been partners for four years.

https://therealridercup.com/competitor/cadennolt/?event=2024

! 🏇🏆

Fair Hill Thoroughbred Show
New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program
Retired Racehorse Project

08/13/2024

The room service is pretty good here 🙃 So thankful for our barn helpers and stall cleaners for the pride they take in their work to make sure our horses are well taken care of 🫶🧹

08/04/2024

Has always been our philosophy - and I appreciate how this is written.

Make Them Carry Their Saddle

A father of a darling girl and I were talking last week and he said that he wanted his daughter to ride more and not have to do the work part of the catching, grooming, and saddling. I smiled as I explained.

Riding horses is a combination of strength, timing, and balance. Kids in this country are physically weak (unless they are actively involved with weight training and physical conditioning 4+ times a week.)

When you walk out to the field, you are clearing your stress from being under fluorescent lights all day; feeling the sun soak into your bones. As your body moves on uneven surfaces, it strengthens your legs and core.

When you groom your horse (especially currying), you are toning your arms and stabilizing your core.

When you carry your saddle, your arms, chest, and back are doing isolated strengthening work.

Being near horses, calms and makes you tune into the splendor of these empathetic animals.

When you ride at a posting trot, it’s equivalent to a slow jog calorie burn wise.

After a lesson, the riders are physically tired and mentally quiet and balanced.

Horses feel your heart beat and mirror your emotions back.

Riding large and somewhat unpredictable animals makes you resilient and pushes your expectations.

Working with horses is so much more than learning how to ride.

So parents, make your children carry their saddles. Don’t do the hard parts for them, as long term it actually hurts them. To advance with their riding, they must get stronger. You can help by doing the high parts.

I love having you all at the farm, and am so grateful to get to share these fascinating animals with you.

Hannah Campbell Zapletal

08/03/2024

✅7 wonderful riders with great attitudes
✅6 priceless horses
✅12 different horse and rider pairs (love the flexibility of our students and their understanding of the benefits of riding all kinds of horses!)
✅10 super helpful parents
✅2 awesome helpers
✅2 riders showing for the first time
✅8-10 riders in most classes
✅3 riders showing in a derby for the first time (and placing well!)
✅$400 of total prize money won
✅2 greener horses cantering full courses for the first time
✅8 nearly perfect jumping rounds
⛈️1 massive storm that missed us by 30 minutes

08/01/2024

The sure signs that summer is in full swing at the barn ☀️🐝🍧

08/01/2024

Yes!

Riding schools for children -

I used to teach children riding lessons a lot. It was really fun and rewarding to instill in young people care and respect for the horse, and good riding skills. I found chikdren far more receptive and empathetic than many adults, because they hadn’t been taught to ignore horses expressions to get something done.

The pressure from parents to accelerate the kids skills to more fun stuff, or to prevent the child’s boredom, was a steady presence in teaching- along with maintaining the school horses soundness and mental well-being from being ridden by beginners. Keeping lessons good for both horse and rider was a job of creativity and constant adjustment. I believe it can be done, but the culture at large doesn’t typically make it profitable, as many parents struggle to want to pay for lessons on sound husbandry and good riding basics. The kids want to canter, by God!

I have some firm beliefs about good riding stables, and I realize the expense and strain and adjustment is an ever pressing reality, I stand by these beliefs:

-children should learn good riding fundamentals first, and not progress to trotting, cantering, jumping until they have a good understanding of a balanced seat and can demonstrate it

-children should learn care of and respect for the horse comes before their entertainment. Grooming, tacking, warming up and cooling down, quitting an activity or adjusting if the horse is stressed, learning groundwork, etc, should be a non negotiable

-children should learn to feel a balanced horse to the extent possible. A beginner horse should not simply be a lame horse that tolerates them, but one to teach th em how to ride- children should not be set up for a future of kicking and pulling to get a horse to do something, but learn to feel how to direct a horse with their body, and to feel movement that is balanced, setting them up for a lifetime of being able to balance future horses.

- children should learn to read accurately equine expression and well-being. Children should not be taught to describe horses as lazy, stubborn, etc- these are taught by adults and children learn to adapt these views. The adults are responsible for setting the culture and views of horses and their handling.

Many riders struggle with normalizing tight, crooked, and unhappy horses because this is what they learn to ride on. The instructor is responsible for setting the culture of what their program entails, and I believe this means setting firm boundaries on what the purchasing client can expect, instead of catering to unreasonable demands to keep business. That is a whole can of worms in itself, but one worth opening.

07/27/2024

I love seeing the growth in our horses and riders! Another wonderful dressage show ☀️😎

07/20/2024

So glad the heat wave broke so these girls could do their thing!! 💙❤️💛🤍🩷💚

07/19/2024

New opportunities are exciting, but we will certainly miss Maria and her family as they move to Texas next month! Best of luck 💙