SaddleGaits Farm Lessons

07/31/2024

Reminder: SGF has NO lessons for the month of August.

Wishing everyone an amazing 1st day of school & I look forward to seeing you at the farm starting back in September for lessons!
~make sure to schedule soon ~

05/23/2024

We had a great end of the school year party for our little riders on Monday then spent all day yesterday cutting hay fields, but finished in time to watch Sassy graduate!
Now booking summer lessons for morning schedule!

02/28/2024

VERY lightly used Ultrasound machine for sale. Complete package with equine re**al probe.
PM for details

12/25/2023

Just some of what last week was like at the farm 🥰
Lots of my favorites……precious lesson riders, great horses, and beautiful trails!

12/22/2023

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our amazing barn family!!!

11/21/2023

11/04/2023

I will never be able to describe the power of time spent cleaning stalls.

During this time I have made some of the biggest decisions in my life. I have silently walked my way, step by step, through some of the biggest disasters of my life. I have prayed, listened to sermons, and wrestled with God. I have cried my way through heartbreak and loss all while cleaning stalls. I’ve thrown bags of sawdust as I thought about all of the hard things going on in my life.

Each stall has oddly given me a place of comfort as I stood, fork in hand, feeling empty during the times I’ve felt alone. It has taught me to appreciate the serenity of the quiet. Realizing the ones in my life I can count on and the numerous people who are present only when convenient for themselves. I’ve enjoyed a free gym membership, as I’ve sculpted my back and shoulders sift by sift.

I understand that there are those who think us horse people should get “real” jobs. And that all we do is spend our days “playing” around. I’m genuinely sorry that you have never been exposed to a lifestyle that teaches you discipline, how to love unconditionally, put something other then yourself first, bust your butt for the things you want and need, kept humble by a 1200 lb animal, the real meaning of “hard work”, early mornings and late nights spent caring for something other than YOU. Those are things a “real job” will never give you.

Some of you haven’t cleaned stalls .....and it shows.

(Shared and edited from Aubrey Tisdale)
(SaddleGaits Farm photo)

08/31/2023

🐴 SEPT. 11th LESSONS RESTART 🐴
Scheduling now, missed all my little riders.
We will be adding new riders after we start back.

08/30/2023

Praying everyone stays safe in the path of the storm!
SGF is as ready as we can be for the rain coming our way.

07/23/2023

For my current riders:

After this week, We won’t be riding for a few weeks because of the heat and schools starting back. Let me know what works with your schedule after they get back on track with the new school year😊

Riders on the waiting list:
I’ll be getting in touch with some of you during August to plan on getting started in Sept!

07/03/2023

🎇Hope everyone has a safe & happy 4th🎇!! Current riders, I will have lessons Thursday & Friday this week. Text to confirm your time.

06/05/2023

👀Will be posting camp dates soon!!

Finally finished with this cutting of hay😊 so I can schedule!

Comment on this post to be notified about camps 👇👇

05/27/2023

🤠 ONLY MORNING LESSONS for the summer!
Contact me to book your lessons! (Pay per lesson until Sept.)

Send a message to learn more

11/15/2022

Next week SGF lessons will be 11/21 (Monday) & 11/22 (Tuesday).
Times available 1pm-5:30pm.
Schedule your rider a spot soon!

10/31/2022

I go through every # they listed with my kids at SGF!!!! (Picture from my teen show years)

Copied from a fellow instructor :
Things your riding instructor wants you to know:

1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.

2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…

3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..

4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.

5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...

6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.

7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground d with horses than you do in the saddle.

9. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.

8. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.

08/28/2022

I’m diligently working on the school year schedule! If I haven’t contacted you by Wed please contact me!

08/05/2022

I tell ALL of my riders that if someone ever tells you they know everything about horses or riding, run. I tell them constantly that every horse I ride or work teaches me something. (They hear me say both of those phrases a lot😅)

Horsemanship is about growth and always learning.

A point to ponder...

A True Horseman realizes you never "arrive." Horsemanship is a lifelong pursuit who's heights are only limited by the amount of passion, time and dedication to improve one's self, is invested in the pursuit.

Until you realize no two horses are alike, no two situations are alike, no "system, method or program" has all the answers. No set of tools is without fail or holes, or you think you have the right to shame another because they go about what they do differently than you might go about things...you have barely begun your Horsemanship journey.

Until you realize there are unique circumstances that require special considerations, special techniques, and special tools...you have barely begun your Horsemanship journey.

If you think Horse Training is a easy as "x, y, z," you haven't even begun to understand the depth and breath of good Horse Training, applied with good Horsemanship.

A True Horseman learns from the horse and works at applying the principles learned, to our human relationships. They know that just because a C**t doesn't know how to be backed or ridden, doesn't mean he's a bad horse and should be beat up for it. We were all "colts" at one time, and we are all "colts" everytime we reach a new level within our own Horsemanship journey.

Until you realize these things; keep your mouth shut, your ears open, and your mind inquisitive. This Horse Training stuff is incredibly difficult. A True Horseman has pride of skill and level, but is never righteous, because they know they were once a lesser Horseman than they are today. No matter how good we are today, we were much worse yesterday, last week, last month, or 10 years ago.

Be an intelligent leader of your own educational process. Don't follow fear, divisive or fear based teachings of any kind, it will be crippling to the heights your personal Horsemanship could go.

✌️Kalley