Chik Equestrian LLC

08/28/2024

I have so much back posting to do but this one needed to be made.

Michelle, don’t hate me for leaving the sound on 🫣
Cheers to this lady for being the woman behind the scenes, right up front; and sometimes in costume! We can always get it done and we will always have fun somehow. I am so grateful for you.
I am so grateful to have this beautiful, peaceful place to do everything from silly to serious. To have clients that will entrust me with their horses to bring them along like Sara’s Clover. So thank you to all you moving pieces; barn owners, caretakers, clients, friends… there’s nothing quite like a barn family ❤️

Please enjoy some sillies with “baby” Clover because we sure had fun!!

06/04/2024

I can’t even wait to find out the scores to say how incredibly PROUD I am of this pair!! 🤩 Elizabeth Johnson Lynch has worked so hard to build the partnership she now has with Romeo and it is paying off with a fantastic ride even after a loose horse! I’ll let Liz have the pleasure of sharing the whole video, well done and time to jump some sticks too!!

04/10/2024

thank you for making me smile today, Steele 🥰

01/30/2024

What better way to beat this dreary weather we’ve been having than to let the kids strut their stuff a little! HUGE shout out to Michelle for being a super woman and helping me make this happen!!

We all knew Elvis was fantastic already but he even warmed up in a perfect circle around me each way and enjoyed himself so much, he just kept taking himself through while I adjusted in between. His cool out was to follow me around while I put everything away. You just can’t help but love this horse and this breed 💕

01/30/2024

What better way to beat this dreary weather we’ve been having than to let the kids strut their stuff a little! HUGE shout out to Michelle for being a super woman and helping me make this happen!!

Jasper 😍 This little man is going to be something special! It was nice to get to see him move a little and be just as athletic over fences as I thought but still a lazy boy! He even followed me around to cool out afterwards ☺️

01/30/2024

What better way to beat this dreary weather we’ve been having than to let the kids strut their stuff a little! HUGE shout out to Michelle for being a super woman and helping me make this happen!!

Taz, the slinky, thinks trot poles are nonsense and doesn’t it’s really worth his while to do this “go” thing. The ball was his favorite part.

01/30/2024

I could look at these boys all day 😍

01/14/2024

Perfectionism is a form of self sabotage. Perfectionism takes away from your confidence and resilience. Perfectionism inhibits you from being coachable. I’ll say it louder for the people in the back. I get it: we compete in a sport that is middle school us’ worst nightmare because it starts with “you’re now being judged.” A gorgeous hunter or eq round will see its score crippled by one drastic mistake. The winning jump off time is irrelevant when the last rail falls. We lose sight of the trees in the forest because of “one” mistake and deem the whole round a failure. Bonus points if you play that one mistake over and over in your head- what happened once has now happened a hundred hypothetical times… yay! Do yourself a favor and adopt a learning mindset. Your mistakes are not personal attacks on your ability or character; they’re opportunities to learn and improve. Whether it’s a mistake in one round or a learning curve season of life, embracing your challenges fosters your resilience. Resilience fuels confidence. And confidence realizes perfectionism is an unattainable standard. So next time you think about beating yourself up for being less than perfect, use what you did well to motivate you and what you left unfinished to set your next goal.

01/01/2024

Welcome New Year, newly shaved ponies, and Jasper’s first romp around the indoor 😍

12/29/2023

Welcome to your next chapter of life, Ignite NG aka Jasper! I can’t wait to see what this adorable little dude can be!!
Thank you, Taz, for being a perfect buddy right away. More updates on this guy coming too 😉

12/26/2023

Merry Christmas from the cutest Rudolph stand-in 🥰🎄

12/16/2023

it’s always a bittersweet day but I am happy to congratulate the Cauble family on welcoming DCF Hangon Melody into their farm 🤗

Thank you Michelle Casale for trusting me to bring this special mare back to work and find her forever home, she has been an absolute pleasure. Linnea, I hope you love and enjoy her as much as we all have!

She was hardly down the driveway and we were already missing her! Happy trails miss Melody and enjoy your new, forever family ❤️

11/12/2023

Located in Tewksbury, NJ.
Elvis is a 2016 15.3hh Dutch Harness Horse gelding by Waldemar (KWPN).

Competed Recognized Novice throughout 2023 for experience and exposure at Essex, HPNJ, Loch Boy, Fair Hill, Flora Lea, and Radnor. Elvis ended the season with a schooling ride around the BCHP Training XC course to put our work this year to the test and blew me away.

Excited for everything to come with this little superstar!

Flat ride 4/16/22: https://youtu.be/Wh8fI9fcWD4
July jump video: https://youtu.be/rCANQ4m3LsU

11/11/2023

11/04/2023

it’s finally time… ⛵️

DCF Hangon Melody is a stocky 2006 15.2hh Irish Sport Horse mare who is just too good for me to own! Her career highlights consist of jumpers, combined driving, having a beautiful baby, hanging out, and more recently being loved by a seven year old girl - who has taken her to a gymkhana and county fair this summer as her main rider!
Melody is a very straightforward girl, quiet with her own motor and a soft mouth. She knows her basic walk, trot, canter, shoulder in, and leg yield. Per vet recommendation, her jumping abilities are limited to about 2’3” to continue a sound career. Off property, Melody would rather have a snooze, but we did learn she is not a fan of bleating sheep! UTD on everything, barefoot, easy keeper, prefers to live out but appreciates a stall in bad weather, travels well, easy to handle, and a barn favorite! Melody deserves a home that will appreciate her darling personality and enjoy her for pleasure riding. She is currently very loved so the right home is a must!
Located in Readington, NJ. 🕖,✋🏻🥕🥕 or would consider a partial trade for a project horse. PM for more information or videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42C-TP61MgY

10/22/2023

some highlights from the end of this season with these two special horses 🤗

Ocala won her First Level division at ESDCTA Championships on a cold, rainy day braving the walnuts clattering onto the roof of the indoor and bleachers right next to us 🤩

Elvis closed out his recognized season at Radnor Hunt in the rain (again). We caught sight of some cross country fences before going into dressage but he made up for it by being more rideable with more pace and confident as could be.

BLM Championships with Ocala may not have been our day, but my gosh does she look stunning in these photos 😍

Joanne Racaniello Pelosi and Pleasant Meadow PEMF Therapy it has been one hell of a season with you every step of the way and I can’t express my gratitude enough for your support, time, friendship, and keeping our horses feeling their best always 💕

09/06/2023

because he’s just such a cool dude… a little transformation Tuesday of Elvis from May to end of August at the beautiful Pinnacle Farm!
thank you Mary Bethfor letting me bring my horses over to school at your beautiful facility!

Thank you Joanne Racaniello Pelosi and Pleasant Meadow PEMF Therapy for getting us around, being video and jump crew, and keeping this boy feeling fabulous 🥰
I can’t wait to see what this horse becomes 😍

08/30/2023

I did not write this, but everyone needs to see it...

When we rush our horses in their training, we aren't expediting their fitness or building muscles faster - we are breaking them down and rushing to a place that will require more veterinary intervention, more alternative therapies, more time off, more risk of injury, more wear and tear on the fragile structures, and a quicker end to the riding career and soundness of our equine partners.

You cannot rush fitness, you cannot rush collection, suppleness, relaxation, it's impossible. Wherever you do rush and cut corners, you will end up with holes and issues in other areas of your riding and the overall health and welfare of your horse.

Don't want to take the time to teach your horse to collect, and instead just force him into a false frame? Well, you're going to be stuck with fixing the slew of problems that come with the tension you've just created.

Don't want to work your way up the scale to create true endurance and stamina? You now risk your horse pulling a muscle or injuring themselves from overexertion and being pushed too hard for too long when the body simply isn't ready for that workload.

Don't want to get a saddle fitted to your horse? Your horse will suffer the consequences of altering his posture and way of going to alleviate the pressure and pain caused by something that isn't suited to his build, even going so far as risking injury to yourself when he can't pick up his feet enough, causing a stumble which can be catastrophic.

Don't want to do boring small jumps to build up to the larger ones? You risk your horse not being able to find a good take-off spot, knocking rails, refusing and even crashing through the jump. You will also make the horse more nervous, anxious and again, tense and sometimes unwilling to jump again.

Don't want to waste time working up the scale of collection to achieve the proper head set without force? Let's just throw a harsher bit in his mouth, maybe tie the nose shut with both noseband and flash to get him into "frame". You've now lost all relaxation, the wrong muscles are activated and depending on how deep you yank the horses face in will determine if he's even able to swallow. Tension throughout the jaw and neck translate all the way to the hind legs, so zero collection is possible, even the slightest bit of engagement and lift of the back cannot be achieved.

Rushing will lead you nowhere except to more problems that could've been avoided had you taken the proper time for development.

- Unknown