Vale Edge Equestrian, LLC

12/22/2024

So much fun at the Santa Hat Formation Ride yesterday! The boarder/leaser and riding school teams really rose to the occasion! It was fabulous to see our younger riders increasing their independence and putting together such great team rides. This has been a busy couple of weeks of learning and team practice. All participants earned the annual medal, and congratulations to the team members who received their year-3 team member plaque.

Thanks so much to the parents and participants that pitched in to help Molly with the photo backdrop and awards table set up, with a special mention for Sarah and Susan ❤️ Monica baked delicious cookies…and none are left 😬. Thanks to Monica and Sharon for organizing helmet covers, and to Sarah for Panda’s fabulous headgear ❤️

With the growing interest in formation riding, starting in January one of the boarder/leaser weekly classes will be designated as a “special focus” class so that we can spend a couple of months exploring the historical and modern examples of formation riding and practicing exercises and related drills. A text will go out in due course confirming the day of the week selected.

Thanks for coming everyone!

12/21/2024

🎄🤶🎄🤶🎄🤶🎄

12/19/2024

It’s beginning to look a lot like….🎄🤶🎄

11/29/2024

This is such a fabulous idea. And, as of this year, I am delighted to realize that we have a wonderful partnership in the barn that would qualify!

How inspiring is this, 70 year old lady riding dressage on her 30 year old horse together they are 100 years old! Just beautiful!

'A friend of mine started talking about something cal
led a Century Club Ride that could be done at the Michigan State University Dressage Club Fall Schooling Show. Since Jack is now 30 and
I am 70, we qualified. I braided, clipped, and made Jack presentable for competition. It was my great pleasure to once again enter at A, halt at X, and share with him this last dressage test. We won Training Level Test 1 with a score of 70%. We concluded our show careers with the judge's kind words - "A pleasure to watch. Thank you." I consider our Century Club ride a gift from Jack. Through the years he has given me so much. He has taken me places I never thought I would go, literally and figuratively. We have made many wonderful memories and friends in our 24 years together.'

11/28/2024

SANTA HAT RIDE 2024!!!!

Save the date for our MOST fun annual tradition - the Santa Hat team performances - Saturday 12/21, in the morning. This is open to EVERYONE in our program, from the most beginner riders to the most advanced, and to our riders of all ages.

We group teams according to age and experience. It is NOT a competition. It IS a really fun time!

Riders perform a synchronized pattern for parents and family and we decorate the horses, who all wear Santa hats. Festive sweaters, etc, are optional for the riders. The boarders and leasers usually coordinate some type of matching attire.

All participants receive the annual Santa Hat Ride medal 🥇🥇

As last year there will be a couple of team practice classes ahead of the day for riders to learn their routines and practice needed skills.

I am a little later than usual putting this together this year 🐎🎈🎉, so I will be looking for numbers in the next few days so I can order this year’s medals. Full details with prices and class schedules to follow!

11/26/2024

A playful Panda with Sparrow today 💜💕

11/25/2024

Schooling horses Sunday afternoon. What a fun day we had!
The “jump specials” (special-focus course jumping classes) are back running most weekends and will continue outdoors until the ground freezes. We are also looking forward to our holiday/winter seaon special classes and activities, including the Santa Hat Ride and the Equitation challenge.
🐎🌲🌲🌲🐎

11/24/2024

Some of the Vale Edge riders at the Rudolph Run 5K in Yorkville yesterday! This is such a fun, festive race and we had a blast! ❤️ We enjoyed awesome gear, a yummy hot chocolate bar (sponsored by the Stephen Alan Salon) and a decorative area for pics. And we love the 4 pm start time - Molly and I were able to finish lessons and training rides for the day, change shoes, and still make it to the start line 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️. Thanks to Yorkville Parks and Recreation for a fun event!

11/23/2024

Changing it up a little last weekend: Team penning with Meave and Panda ❤️
This was a fun opportunity for the horses to practice their flatwork in a different context and to gain some off-property experience. We learned new things and had a great time!

11/20/2024

Congratulations to Monica and Cailin on the purchase of their lovely new horse! Welcome to the farm, Stanley! ❤️
Thank you Emily and the THS team.

11/17/2024

Some of the horses and riders in the 8 a.m. lesson on Saturday morning. So nice to be outdoors!

11/01/2024

From the hunter and jumper rings to the trails: a change of scenery for Panda and Wally yesterday ❤️ These two were also together for their first horse show experience in September and their friendly, kind, larger-than-life personalties add so much fun to the barn!
Thank you Brittany for taking us!

10/28/2024

Our Halloween Obstacle Class, Costume Parade, and Trick or Treat was so much fun! 🎃👻. Thanks to everyone who came! It was wonderful to see the creative costumes and I hope you all had as much fun as we did. I didn’t take enough pics…so here’s one from this year of Molly as a peppermint, and one from last year, with Fancy, as a ghost.

10/26/2024

I just love these awesome photos! They were taken years ago by the very-creative Melissa (Belle) as part of a “Horses and Halloween” themed photo activity. Every year they make me smile! 🙃

09/28/2024

Great start to the horse show! ❤️ Echo (Nels riding for Sharon), Wally (Victoria riding for Brittany and Todd), and Sparrow (Molly).

09/22/2024

Playful Panda ❤️ So agile!
In half the pics none of his hooves are not touching the ground. When we talk about horses having “lift” in canter, or carrying themselves with balance and power, sometimes this can be best understood by watching a horse at play 🐎

Somewhere today or yesterday I saw the phrase “Live it to learn it,” or something along those lines, written by another horse person. Much of the knowledge needed to understand concepts in riding…does not come JUST from riding. Knowledge sources often show up in the world as chores, or work, or play, or are seen as idle “time-wasting,” and yet they form part of the framework on which we hang the things we label as riding skills or achievements.

I took these pics while I was “unproductively” hanging out by the paddock fence, waiting to make sure the horses allowed the dust to settle, before leaving for lunch. (And Panda, with his huge and delightful personality, is a lot of fun to spend time with 😊🙃)