Freestyle Farm

Freestyle Farm For over 30 years, Freestyle Farm, Inc. has been devoted to producing award-winning dressage riders & horses. We offer individual care for horse and rider.

11/05/2024

In dressage, patience is more powerful than any aid. Give your horse the time to learn, the space to understand, and the confidence to trust you. With patience, the movements will come, and when they do, they will be effortless.

11/03/2024

Dressage is not about quick results. It’s about the long game, the process of learning, growing, and improving with every ride. Stay patient, stay focused, and trust that the rewards will come in their own time.

Two Tractors One Truck does great work! Thank you!
10/28/2024

Two Tractors One Truck does great work! Thank you!

10/28/2024

People love to get easy answers. I’m guilty of wanting them too. It would be so nice sometimes to believe I didn’t have to improve my riding, to improve my feel, to improve my mental awareness and emotional control. Sometimes it’s really tempting to displace the blame - the horse is not responding because of their own deficiency - which is always a possibility of course - but when you witness a masterful hand work the same horse as you, and see it transform immediately into something more balanced, more beautiful, more calm- then you know where your work truly lies.

Everyone wants a teacher to really deliver - but this comes with accepting uncomfortable truths. And to really receive the gifts of this kind of teacher, you have to stop looking for easy outs. Stop looking for cheaper, quicker, nicer, easier. Stop looking for protection emotionally from your skill deficiencies - it’s not an insult to hear you have them , it’s a gift from someone who wants your success. Reprogram your thinking to realize this is not an attack on you but the source of your elevation.

Of course the horse needs training, exposure, and skills. Sometimes the horse’s deficiencies are why they can’t respond correctly.

But unless you work on yourself religiously - your balance, your timing, your mindset, your awareness - how are you going to sort out the difference between you blocking them and the horse not having the skills?

Easy answers are nice to hear. But there are some universal truths- and in texts dating back to Xenophon, we know that the rider is the key to unlocking a horses brilliance, or blocking it. And we know that, throughout time, no shortcut has ever worked or taken hold - we know that there is no escaping self development for the true horseman.

10/20/2024

Time has taught me there will be days when everything goes right, and days when nothing goes as planned. On the good days, remember to be grateful. On the challenging days, remember to be kind to yourself and to your horse. Both kinds of days are essential. The tough rides teach us resilience, while the smooth rides remind us why we fell in love with dressage in the first place.

10/20/2024

Talking with master trainer, Hubertus Schmidt:
Can you tell you are working in the correct way, if the horse is always ready to take the rein and stretch and go long?
“That is one way to check that you are on the right way – in the high collection you must be able to stretch them so they follow the bit and they are not stuck up there. In every situation you must be able to stretch them – even a piaffe or a pirouette, even then, I must be able to do it."
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2024/01/hubertus-schmidt-on-classical-training/

Our view from the south end of the farm. Just love this time of year! 🍁🍃🍂
10/05/2024

Our view from the south end of the farm. Just love this time of year! 🍁🍃🍂

09/28/2024

Nuno Oliveira told us: ‘If the horse is happy, everything will be all right; if he is constrained everything will go wrong. And in case that it is necessary to use force, then one enters a domain that does not fit the equestrian art, neither for that matter, in the circle in which civilised people dwell’.
“I urge my readers to apply the aids to help the horse, not to put him in a mould.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2021/10/the-aids-and-the-horse-a-classical-approach/

A beautiful Fall morning 🍁🍂
09/25/2024

A beautiful Fall morning 🍁🍂

09/02/2024

Nuno Oliveira told us:
“You often hear that so-and-so is an extraordinary rider because he has very good hands. Rarely do you hear that someone is a splendid rider because he knows how to act with his legs very well. Both are of equal importance if you want to be worthy of being called a good rider… The rider’s legs should be connected to the horse, but completely relaxed and lowered so that whenever they need to act or intervene, they act or intervene in a supple way for the horse to respond with suppleness, and not in a rigid and hard manner to which the horse invariably responds with rigidity, hardness or rejection.”
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2024/03/nuno-oliveira-and-his-treasure-trove-of-equestrian-wisdom/

What a perfect end to the season. I could not be more proud of Tracy Engbloom and O’Valhalla, they finished their show s...
08/21/2024

What a perfect end to the season. I could not be more proud of Tracy Engbloom and O’Valhalla, they finished their show season with a brilliant test and her personal best, rated show score with a 68+%! Achieving AA Champion at Training level.

O’Valhalla also finished the weekend off as Champion Open division Training level with myself on an Avererage score of 70.8! What a four year old, the future looks bright!

We accomplished what we set out to do, let a young horse learn how to travel, show and relax in a tense environment! There is no better feeling than knowing you’ve done right by your horse, and them trusting you for it, his performance in the show arena is like proof in the pudding.

Thank you Kevin Bradbury and Horse Show Office for such a wonderful season and putting on top notch shows! See you all next year!

Thank you to everyone along the way that helps keep our horses happy, and sound and furthering our education, we would not be here without you. To name a few:

Lisa Caloia
Alison Allen
Nancy Bryant
Jeff Powers
Collin Thompson Cjf
Moore Equine Veterinary Services
Julia Curtis
Florence Wetzel

Address

1730 N Oxford Road
Oxford, MI
48371

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 9pm
Tuesday 9am - 9pm
Wednesday 9am - 9pm
Thursday 9am - 9pm
Friday 9am - 9pm
Saturday 9am - 9pm
Sunday 9am - 9pm

Telephone

+12483265885

Website

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Videos

Mornings with my Bunny 🐇babe.

Stretchy work. #stretchyfriesian#. learningbalance#basicsrock #lovethisboy

Ideal weather for building confidence with the youngster. Good boy Valhalla, you make 4 look good!

Lookin good youngster…

What a handsome devil you are..

Freshly groomed arena, nothing like fresh footing. 😍

Good night from Freestyle Farm! And happy national day of the horse, here’s to the girl that has taught me the most. Hats off to you Rubydoo ❤️ #rubybaby #GoodnightEveryone #dressagehorse #dressagerider #horsemanshiptraining

Lessons are your core of learning. Dedication, time, effort and help from a professional and a kind horse will help you achieve your goals, whatever they may be! At Freestyle, we offer training, quality full care and a family like atmosphere. Come learn with us on your horse or ours! -Boarding available or haul in lessons.

No horse? No problem! We’ve got you covered! Our little chestnut wonder Mattie is available for a partial lease. Gift your loved one a training package for Christmas! ❄️🎄🎅🏼

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