Great Scot Riding & Training

08/28/2024

Popsicles, fans and indoor arena is how we are getting things done this week !! I'm so proud of my riders for showing up, putting in the work and smiling all the while 😀🔥🥵 we modify the work so the unicorns aren't melting. I look forward to fan breaks, we chat about school and the kids other activities they like doing

08/13/2024

To all my peeps, the process is SO MUCH more than the results !!! There is joy and anguish and every emotion in between....

Friendly reminder to enjoy your 🦄.
💜💜💜💜

www.TonyaJohnston.com

08/12/2024

Good luck to all my students going back to school today and this week !!! Remember to be humble, be kind and be genuine ✨️ just like your horses you love so much ❤️

08/12/2024

League #3 wrap up : 3 day show got pushed to 2 days with impending storm. Management did a great job modifying schedule and facility was fantastic after all the rain. There were ring changes and puddles, but in horse show land you learn to roll with it to the best of your ability. I'm so proud of my riders who navigated well, showed up to WORK and were rewarded with great ribbons. We shared our barn row with the ever talented and friendly Bayberry Riding Center 😀 horse showing is way more fun with friends !! Cheers to League #4

08/08/2024

This pic gives me a calm.... she will sit today and tomorrow out for lessons as we get this storm passing through. Grooming the arena and picking poles up and off the footing is like tucking my kid into bed 😆 she will be smooth, even and dust free after this storm and ready to take on the teaching that goes on here. We moved inside today and I always have to pinch myself that I don't have to shut down during inclement weather, I have the option of the indoor arena with the rain coming down outside 😌

08/05/2024

When a California auntie comes to visit, Cupano loves his aunties ❤️ Ava is here !!

07/28/2024

Played in jumper land today at the lovely and chill, Beverly Equestrian. Was so proud of my little group who put in the work, showed grit and hard work pays off. They made me very proud, rode well, made zero "dumb" mistakes and represented quite nicely 👌 always a great time to share our time and talent with the Bayberry Riding Center group who also had a gritty, put in the work day ! Showing is always more fun with friends

07/19/2024

I spy with my little eye 👁 some beautiful branding embroidery by one of my fabulous clients 😀 these are pads for the unicorns for riding academy lessons

07/11/2024

Such a privilege to support small business and we will be cheering little Bella on as she earns money to get her to her 4H Championships these horse cookies are so cute and unicorn approved 👍👍 Kendyl Stanley Jeannie Rim so reminds me of you and all your boujee cookies you would bring to the barn ❤️❤️

07/01/2024

League Series #2 is a wrap !! We brought a smaller group this time, but we made huge progress. I am so so very proud of my students and horses. I'm such a stickler on "staying on the path", keep moving forward. This is our first year out in the big world of showing filled with multiple days, new courses, new people. Teaching my students to navigate through things you can only practice at horse shows can be challenging but I'm so proud of the positive attitudes and they never forget to pat their ponies 🙌💗 we came home with 2 reserve champions in good company and honestly I think each one came home with ribbons. The staff is top notch here , so kind, so patient. Cant wait for #3 in August

06/19/2024

This was the scene in the barn aisle this afternoon. Today the heat got turned up !! But grateful for breezes and fans and shade. Did a big clinic early this morning with 12 great horses and riders from the esteemed Bayberry Riding Center , Miss Shanna Jones students are always a pleasure to teach. They are keen to learn and put in the work 👏 the latter part of the afternoon my own students came out and Werked. Love what you do, do what you love. Even if some days are harder than others.... love it ❤️❤️

06/14/2024

Baby Olli came over this morning to hang out and learn what this being a big horse stuff is all about. He's a year old quarter horse and I'm obsessed with his baby toofers 😆😆He was perfect baby , a gentleman in the making.

06/03/2024

Another great show for Great Scot Riding & Training, we love hanging out at our home show Lake Of The Woods Equestrian Center !! It's welcoming, staff is friendly, easy to get in and out of, stalls for the unicorns to hang out in, footing is good and jumps are inviting without being "scary" for all of our students just getting started or the student that just wants to have fun without being over fenced 😀 the trainers are all very friendly with each other and it's just a good time ! Thank you Bridget Hutchens Thompson and Shanna Jones and Bailey Rose for just being great people, we just enjoy watching our clients and joking as trainers joke 😅 If I didn't post your kiddo you didn't send me pics, so feel free to post in comments

05/29/2024

From sunny skies to this in 2.2 seconds ! I don't think I'll ever get used to it. Sure was lovely today though, my students only got slightly soaked 🤷‍♀️

05/26/2024

Always new projects around here.... this weekend "we" are removing the floors above our stalls !! Mega project, so big shout out to the ol' farmhand for doing it with a smile. This floor was originally put in to store hay in the barn, but we store our hay in a separate building. By removing the floor boards, sunlight is coming in and spiderwebs will find somewhere else to hang !! Also the air flow will be better as well. Ultimately the unicorns who live in these stalls should be much more comfortable in the summer months.

05/23/2024

Did you know there are many services your local co-op offers to help you achieve a high level of care for your animals ? When I very first moved here, I found Southern States Orange now Ever- Gro. At first they just delivered grain to me but soon I had Purina reps coming to visit and offering help. Lesley our rep checks on me almost monthly she is truly invested in our team!! Alan from Ever-Gro came and got samples of our hay to send it in to get tested for nutritional values!! I'm all about the food my horses eat should all be working for them and not against them. Did you know Purina is all scientifically backed ? Their feeds are put together by hired equine nutritionists. This is a big deal for me. There are SO many different feeds to choose from you could get very overwhelmed. I am so grateful to have reps that educate me and help me navigate. I measure and weigh everything that goes into these animals mouths, except cookies and carrots 🥕 so I know as soon as a change arises I have a base number to go off of. It definitely takes a village, and I'm glad Lesley and Alan are on team Great Scot Riding & Training 👍

05/21/2024

Our last post was all about our success and today's post is all about the tragedies of our beloved sport. We lost another prefect unicorn this weekend 😢 completely out of no where. Perfectly healthy and vibrant one minute and the next, we had to make decisions based on quality of life. This one doesn't hurt any less than my last goodbye of my Marley but it stings in the fact she came in to fill the hole of the loss of Our sweet Cosette pony.
Milly turned in her Unicorn 🦄 horn in exchange for her wings Sunday late night. We brought her to hospital in hopes that IV support would give her a better chance, but on viewing the ultrasound images we knew that letting her go would be much more fair to this perfect pony who gave so much to my program and my students in her VERY short time with us. Fly high Milly girl thank you Tammy Fischer for entrusting her to Great Scot Riding & Training We will carry on with our heads high and our hearts full for the gift and opportunities these creatures give us daily. Lessons will be light this week as I need to re-center , wipe my tears, put on my big girl pants and be ready to hug all the kiddos who will be very sad this week.

05/16/2024

Had a wee bit o rain last night (said in a British accent) here is one of our goofballs saving his beloved ball from drowning 😆 I don't usually put them out in the arena when it's this wet but this guy loves water, he's part hippo !! We love our Quey, he's silly. thanks Sarah Nichols for video

05/06/2024

We've started our home show series off with a bang !! I personally was bummed with the cruddy weather forecast but it really wasn't bad. A few on and off showers but mostly pleasant. We ended the day with 3 champions, Arlen, Madison and Angel and 4 reserve champions, Addison, Trinity, Reagan, and Kylie 🙌 my adult braved the rain and brought her young horse out to play in maidens and he was such a good boy earning 2 sixths, Adrienne and Fash. My Isabel earned the Guts and Glue award when one of our new unicorns showed off his boot, scoot and boogie side 😳 she rode like a boss ! So so proud of the hard work my crew has put in over the winter

05/04/2024

All tucked in and ready for show tomorrow, other half of the crew comes in the morning. Let's go team Great Scot Riding & Training 💪 thank you Bridget Hutchens Thompson for making it so homey

05/03/2024

Busy busy putting some foundations on these Two young up and comings. I laugh because I'm always saying "I'm getting too old to train horses anymore" , but the ones I have in my program right now make my job easy. They are so reasonable, so smart, so talented ! These two are both quarter horses, one is 6 the other 7. They make me happy

04/26/2024

Quey has decided the pasture may not just eat him after all, he's learning to eat it 😆😆 alot of show horses, especially ones from the west coast don't know how to "be" in big wide open spaces. So we've had to very slowly introduce some of mine to this new life style. This is day three on 4 hours of grass time and he's doing really well. No stressing, no pacing 🙌 he does still choose human over eating though as you can see in the video

04/20/2024

Happy birthday to our newest unicorn 🦄 Mark !!

04/13/2024

Team Great Scot Riding & Training is playing at Commonwealth Park this weekend checking out a new series they are offering, The League !! Very exciting as this area doesn't offer alot of quality county level showing for our amateurs and young and up and comings. So far the staff is fantastic, office staff so friendly and on point 👉 ring crew very polite and friendly and almost every trainer I chatted with were friendly 😀 today was Warm-ups and I couldn't have asked for the horses to be any better. The students are all just taking it in, as this is kind of a big step for all of them. The wind was brutal !! I Barely took pics I was so busy but here are some 🤷‍♀️

04/08/2024

I asked the unicorns if they wanted some sun protection today, due to the ECLIPSE happening this afternoon, each one swished their tails at me and promptly power walked to their day paddocks..... what a time to be alive right now !! Media is acting all crazy and we are over here , eating our grass, rolling in our mud and living our best lives. Have a great Monday peeps 😀

04/07/2024

Have you voted? Did you know you can vote once a day? Show our unicorns some love and vote for Great Scot under Pets and Riding Lessons.

03/29/2024

Today was a beautiful day to do a clinic with some of the lovely Bayberry Riding Center riders !! We were 8 riders full this morning and worked it worked it. I taught on Doing Simple Things Well. From the moment you enter the ring to the moment you leave the ring you need to be riding with a purpose. So if I asked one of the riders to give me a line in 5 strides and they got a 6, I asked why ? At first they couldn't answer me but soon they were understanding that they weren't getting the correct number because they weren't riding intentionally for it !! It's so important that we ride with purpose, otherwise what are we doing ? Looking forward to doing more clinics this year !!

03/28/2024

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03/17/2024

Fun interview with my Littles this morning, they remind me every week where I came from. Where did your passion start?