Stirrup Courage

10/01/2025

So many reasons to be thankful for the year we had in 2024–here are some of our Saturday reasons from this fall 🤗 If you know a child who you’d like to give a chance to join our program in 2025, now is the time to get them on the waiting list to ensure they get a spot when new student classes open up in the spring/summer sessions! Visit the child sign-up page on our website (link in comments).

06/01/2025

Snow-covered and 20 degrees in January is a great time to flash back to the last beautiful afternoon fall gave us when we were able to get these two super-excited young ladies out for a pasture trail ride in November!

20/12/2024

Coloring contest entries from Deck the Stalls narrowed down to top 4 with the most color, detail, and unique additions to the scenes! Now fans, I need your help! Comment your favorite masterpiece!

19/12/2024

Finally caught up to the last days of October 😅 Wednesday and Thursday classes doing great work remembering and putting together all the elements of their patterns!

18/12/2024

Skipping back to catch up on the patterns theme lesson week that ended our October session. Pattern manuevers included weaving, circles, groundpoles, and backing up.

14/12/2024

Here's a little peek into all the fun that we had last weekend at Deck the Stalls!!!🎄Posing with the Christmas pony, horse head ornament crafting, bouncy pony races, coloring contest, sugary hot chocolate topping creations, and great gifts taken home from the silent auction! Thanks to everyone who came out to see us, and for helping us raise over $1,800! (photo booth photography thanks to Emily G Photography, and thanks to Sue Maxymiv for snapping some action shots of the craft and games stations and the decorations). Anyone else who took photos at the event, share in the comments! :)

06/12/2024

SO MANY AMAZING DONORS have contributed to our silent auction fundraiser for Sunday’s Christmas Open House, baskets and crafts that will make great ready-made gifts for your friends and family—so here is your preview before the event! More items will be coming in, and I will keep adding as they do, as well as adding to descriptions of what is in each package. If you see something you’d like to place a bid on but can’t be there Sunday in person, comment with a bid offer to get things started, and we will update with where bidding stands when the official silent auction begins!

05/12/2024

Check out the 2024 Year-in-Review newsletter on our website!

Keep up with all the excitement! Here you can find the most current and all previous issues of our Stirrup Courage newsletters updating our supporters on the progress of the project! If you would like to be added to our email mailing list to receive newsletter updates as soon as they come out, reque...

04/12/2024

The theme for the final week of October was “Patterns.” Flowing from the Memory theme the previous week, we talked about how many horse riding disciplines require you to remember and follow a pattern of movements in a correct order. Riders drew a series of colored beanbags at random which corresponded to obstacles around the arena, then had to try to remember and follow their unique pattern, ending with the back-up obstacle each round to signal the end of that pattern.

30/11/2024

Some of our reasons to GIVE THANKS on Thursdays this fall 😊

29/11/2024

More of the faces we are most thankful for as we come to the end of another lesson season! 🤗

28/11/2024

GIVE THANKS!! 😊❤️

28/11/2024

Final Sunday afternoon rides for October were spent discussing good friendship qualities and collecting fall “leaves” with words chosen to best describe themselves as a friend 🍁 🤗

27/11/2024

Final Saturday rides of October, criss-crossing the arena trying to remember where they saw the matching pictures of a saddle, halter, bridle, farrier, and other horse vocabulary hanging on the arena fence or opposite wall. 🤔💭

25/11/2024

Tack identification memory game for the Thursday groups in fall session #2. These boys were COMPETITIVE as always 😅😂 Buddy blowing raspberries at the competition 😜

24/11/2024

Tuesday and Wednesday fall riders took on the horse tack memory matching challenge with great enthusiasm and recognition of important vocabulary they have learned so far!

21/11/2024

Set a goal to try to get as many of my Star riders out for a trail ride experience as I can this fall while we have weather that allows it. Hunter and Alanna’s daytime homeschool lessons made it easier to catch the sunshine while we still had it for some beautiful fall days in mid-October! And spot the extra tag-along who invited herself on the hike 😹

21/11/2024

For the start of our second fall session at the end of October, Hadley and Jules tested their memory of horse tack identification in our matching game, while Brayden graduated into Beginner Level 2 and started learning to use reins for the first time!