Rhiannon Farm/Christine Fiore Training

28/02/2024

All of my students had a great year last year but I want to take a moment to give a shout out to Sloane Greiner and her ponies Wonderland and Best Day Ever! Sloane and Lyric won the zone for the small greens and Sloane and I shared the honors throughout the year with Nugget in the 2’ USHJA for zone reserve champion. It is a joy working with Sloane and her ponies. I have always loved the development of young and green horses and these two ponies have been no exception! Congrats on your awards kiddo, and good luck for 2024 to you and all my other students! You make me proud!

22/02/2024

Today’s from the archives is Diane on Nabu in the late 60s or early 70s in CA with Thom Hardy schooling her over a 5ft single rail vertical. While this photo doesn’t show the jump, what is does show is the wonderful base of support she had in her leg position. She’s in her heel, leg in place, absorbing the landing and ready to be there for her horse. Our students diligently practice their leg position because it is the foundation block of good riding. Lots of work without stirrups, two point, practice, practice.

This photo also shows a time when helmet usage wasn’t always the norm and we are thankful modern helmets are now actual safety equipment and not the items of apparel they used to be. Wear your helmets kids and keep working to have Nana’s legs!

26/01/2024

Happy 7th Birthday Sweet Caia! Mother Nature is sure giving you a wonderful gift with this weather today! We can’t wait to see you after school!

17/01/2024

A little winter humor for our friends

Ain’t that the truth…

14/01/2024

What a windy but productive day at Morven Park! We almost got blown to Oz, but the kids had fun and the horses and ponies all made us proud!

Kaydence and Finn made their pony hunter debut and knocked it out of the park with champion honors! Cleo was close behind her with top ribbons on Poppy in the pony hunters…alas the only photo we got of Miss Cleo is noshing with her friend who came to cheer her on 😎. Caia and China rocked the short stirrups, with a class win and other great ribbons! Christine showed Suzie Chewning’s High Heavens to top honors in the low hunter, Maddy picked up the reins for the Low equitation under saddle, which she won, and Savannah and Vance took champion in the Low equitation division. Last but not least we kicked off South Beach’s comeback tour in the pleasure with Sloane and they couldn’t have been any more adorable! We just love this pair and can’t wait for them to get back in the shown ring some more and build their new partnership!

07/01/2024

Smiling faces all around! It was just Maddy & Sloane, their ponies, and the mamas at the Barracks this weekend! Sloane and Lyric took a clean sweep of the blues in the small ponies and won the combined pony classic and Maddy and Dreamy were right there with them for Reserve Champion, qualifying for pony finals-glad to have that out of the way! These girls had the best time together and the mamas had fun exploring downtown Charlottesville for dinner! We need to go back sometime when it’s not cold and at the end of a horse show day!

Next stop for Rhiannon: Morven next week for their local show!

01/01/2024

Hoping our friends, customers, and horses all had a safe New Year’s Eve! Happy New Year!

25/12/2023

Merry Christmas from our farm to yours!

23/12/2023

Thank you Rachel and Sloane for hosting the Rhiannon friends and family holiday party! With the cookie decorating, Secret Santa, ornament exchange and “blind frosty drawing competition” (although we did have some cheaters-you know who you are!) there was more fun than anyone has a right to have in a day! Thank you to everyone in the Rhiannon constellation of stars ⭐️ who makes my job so fun! Each and every one of you is appreciated and loved. Looking forward to 2024!!!!

19/12/2023

Always pat your pony! Caia is the sweetest young lady with the drive trainers dream of having in their students! Hanna Jones Photography thanks for capturing this moment!

16/12/2023

I am such a proud trainer today! We tried out the winter VHSA associate show at Morven Park and it was a highly productive outing! Caia and China were reserve champion in both sections of short stirrup! Caia is riding so well and making progress in leaps and bounds! Cleo and Poppy earned themselves a move up to the regular small ponies today and rocked their way to champion! I just love this partnership! High Heavens owned by Suzie Chewning was champion in the lows and Meagan Vanderveldt's Winsome braved the indoor and put in solid trips despite being green and nervous....such a fun mustang!!!!!

11/12/2023

Customers and local horse friends!

This Thursday evening is the Dover Saddlery Holiday Party with 20% off one item! Great time to get that big ticket item you've been eyeing! And its always fun to see Matthew, the awesome Manager!

03/12/2023

Maddy made her first ever trip to the Homestead for the VHSA banquet this weekend with Sloane’s family to pick up their year and awards! Maddy & Dreamy were 4th in the regular smalls and 4th VPBA, Sloane and Lyric were champion in the small greens and 6th in the regular smalls, and Zola and Rainbow Brite (aka Sheila) were 6th in the associate short stirrup and the girls picked up her ribbon and can’t wait to give it to her.

The girls give the Homestead an enthusiastic two thumbs up. They enjoyed all the fun activities!

We’re so proud of all of our riders this year! Everyone is showing tremendous growth in their riding and we look forward to the year ahead. Some of our riders love to compete, some have no aspirations to show…and we love each and every one of you and appreciate where all of you are in your riding journey! Bring it 2024!

26/11/2023

Today was a good day! We had a wonderful time trail riding around Sunridge Farm! We enjoyed the scenery and the good company and watching everyone enjoying their ponies. Thank you Christina and Caroline for hosting us and thank you Valerie for loaning us perfect Piper! She’s the best.

Sloane capped off the evening at the MHSA banquet. It has been a joy helping this partnership grow and we are so proud of the progress they made this year!

23/11/2023

Happy Thanksgiving to our friends and family!

23/11/2023

These are great visuals to show the kids what the horse’s digestive system looks like on the inside!

20/11/2023

1 of my customers horses who I love! message me for details

19/11/2023

Yesterday we also took a bunch of the kids to Earth Glaze & Fire in downtown Warrenton for a fundraiser for our friends at Keeper's Haven Animal Sanctuary. Everybody loved it! Thumbs up all around! If you’re looking for a fun indoor activity over the holidays (and beyond) we highly recommend!

19/11/2023

Our little dare devils had a fun time horsing around today! The winter slow down in our show schedule makes for lots of fun bonding time among the kids and the ponies. Kids will be kids!

12/11/2023

That’s a wrap! Sloane, Nugget, Maddy and LuLu closed out our VHSA Associate Finals today with some great riding! Both girls are showing a new depth to their riding and making really good choices real-time while on course and riding the horse underneath them, while following the plan where they can. Nugget continued his winning ways in both the green and regular hacks and Sloane rode her t***y off for a second in the green stake, securing the sm/med green champion and grand green. Maddy and LuLu put in great trips in the gigantic sm/med pony division and came away with a nice ribbon in the pony equitation. She is making really good choices in the tack and I love watching them grow as a pair.

We will be washing Virginia Red Clay out of everything for days but the kids all say it was worth it!

12/11/2023

Another day in the books at Associate Finals! All the girls rode so well and everyone ended up with a ribbon so there were smiles all around! Most importantly, the girls worked together as a team and helped each other out. I’m so proud of these girls! They are all so hard working! Blessed to have such a wonderful group or customers and horses!

11/11/2023

Our first day of the 2023 VHSA Associate Finals is in the books! The girls were great help for setup yesterday and today Sloane and Nugget and Kaydence and Finn kicked off our show! Nugget was the very first ribbon winner of the show and ended up champion in the Section A pleasure. Kaydence and Finn put in solid trips in the Specials for a jump ribbon and hack win in a gigantic division! So proud of them! We also discovered that our friend Kasey Evans used to have Finn in her barn! They had a nice catch up! All the girls schooled well in prep for tomorrow. Good luck young ladies!

06/11/2023

Having customers at different places in their riding often means running around while making sure everyone gets what they need. This past week Nugget and Christine opened the combined USHJA division with wins in both over fences and then Sloane finished out the division with her mom the next day for solid jump ribbons out of 13 horses to take home reserve champion! Then we all returned for the weekend and Sloane and Lyric rocked a very cold and blustery combined pony division for wins in 5 of the 6 classes on their way to champion. So proud of you kiddo!

This week we are off to the VHSA Associate Finals with a bunch of our students! Best of luck Savannah, Zola, Kaydence, Caia, Sloane, and Maddy! Expect some drive-thru safari zebra petting photos in addition to horse show updates!

31/10/2023

It was a divide and conquer weekend! Anna took Zola and Sheila to Hazelwild for some last minute practice before the VHSA associate finals and they brought their A game with a clean sweep in the short stirrup. Good job ladies! Rachel and I took Maddy, Jojo, and Sloane to get some inspiration at WIHS watching the top ponies in the country. JoJo even braved asking Jimmy for his autograph.

27/10/2023

We apologize in advance to anyone who has to deal with our tired children tomorrow, but it was totally worth it! Fun night for the kids at WIHS! We saw some very good riding, did a little shopping, and had lots of fun fan-girling the famous riders we admire. Until next year Washington!

23/10/2023

What a cold and windy but productive outing at the Washington International Regional & Zone 3 Finals Horse Show! We started off the week with Melissa Kirkpatrick’s two horses in the pro divisions. They both jumped around nicely and earned ribbons in big classes! Then it was time for the ponies! Sloane and Nugget stepped up their game in one of their scariest rings to date and did a lot of good riding and practiced being brave! Top ribbons for them in huge divisions to reward their efforts! Caroline joined the fun in her first show with us in leadline and she and Loafer’s Lodge Jujube were 1st and 3rd in leadline! So proud of them! Jujube further proved she’s worth her weight in gold with Cleo in the short stirrup classes! The crowded ring and tough courses provided new challenges for the pair and they held their own with some great ribbons! 💪🏼 Lots of growth and progress for everyone and we had a productive time despite freezing our tushies. Goodbye short sleeve show shirts and summer, hello long sleeves and toe warmers!

20/10/2023

Sometimes you just have to make faces with your pony 🥱😜😮

17/10/2023

It was a cold and blustery weekend at Sandstone Horse Farm but so productive for everyone and I’m so proud of all of our riders. Highlights include:

Cleo and Zola swept both tri colors in the short stirrup out of 18(!), Christine and Isabella-owned by Cheri Kershner-took home two tri colors and reserve circuit champion, Kaydence and Finn were great in their move up to the 2’3” and got good ribbons in a big division as did Savannah and Vance as well! Maddy and Lulu were champion in the limit and Caia and China made us so proud cantering around in the short stirrup—this 6-year-old has a bright future ahead!

Until next time!