Full Circle Farm

22/08/2024

On site lease available

2009 Mustang Mare. Been there, done that type.

Private farm in York, PA
Reach out for more info.

18/01/2024

Snow day beauty! Thankful the mud is covered, for now.

12/09/2023

Good reminder. We owe it to our horses to invest in our own fitness beyond just riding. 💪🏼

Gentle reminder that, while no one is arguing riding is in fact “work”, riding alone does not keep you fit enough to ride. If you want to promote yourself as an athlete and as a partner to your horse, we need to be doing more.

31/05/2023

Very neat perspective!

Interesting!

26/05/2023

Empathy in all things is important but especially with our animals. 🙌🏻

Developing Empathy

Frustrated by your horse? Try this---

Go for a run. Yes, you, human rider. Intersperse your run with sets of push-ups. See how long it takes before you lose athletic buoyancy, before you “just can’t.”

Fatigue in a horse, which is pretty much the same thing that you just felt, creates leaning, tripping, stumbling, slow reactions, poor coordination, lugging on the hand, all sorts of what you may be mistaking for “bad behavior.”

The tired horse will feel just like a “disobedient” horse. And then what will happen to that horse if the rider doesn’t tune into the horse’s fatigue? You know exactly what will happen to the horse. It will get drilled on. Drilled on just when the exact opposite should happen.

Trainers who lack the ability to sense what the horse is going through are among the worst drillers, and they create tense, scared, resistant horses, and they then do something even worse, they blame the horse.

Change your mind set. Think how YOU would feel if you had gotten beyond your limits and then got ground on and punished to fix your bad behavior.

You think I’m kidding? You think this isn’t going to happen today, all across the world where people ride and drive horses? That unfit for the task horses won’t be cranked and pressured? Dream on.

The best thing that you can do if your goal is to become a competent trainer is to constantly be aware of your own frustration meter. And stop before you create damage, physical and emotional injury and distress. Get a little and end on that. If even a little seems elusive, DO NOT GRIND. Go walk, try again tomorrow. Don’t add fear and anxiety to the training process.

I will say this one more time---“Don’t add fear and anxiety to the training process.”

Why am I saying this so often? Because if I had learned this decades sooner, I would have been a far better trainer and horse person---That’s why. Learn, if you are capable of doing so, from the mistakes that others have made. Do not drill your horse.

25/05/2023

14/04/2023

Testing, testing.....123

14/11/2022

Reminiscing over October's sunshine & color 🤩

04/10/2022

Loved meeting up with old friends for a trail ride at Spring Valley last week. Nothing like riding the bomb proof mustang for some mind/body & soul therapy. She pulled the entire time & I had to circle back a few times but that just proves that she loves being out there as much as I do. 🧡

13/09/2022

Say it louder for the people in the back 🙌🏼

Try this---

If you can't do it, and if you find it causes discomfort to stretch this far, well, obviously you are being disobedient and need to be strapped into the human equivalent of draw reins or some other type of leverage device, so that your body can be forced into this shape.

Doesn't make any sort of logical sense, does it? Why, then, do humans do it every day to so many horses?

It goes beyond bad horsemanship to force horses by mechanical methods that they are powerless to resist. No wiggling or self justifying needed.

25/07/2022

Do you ever just get a feeling that someone is watching you? 😜 The horses were pretty happy to come in during the heat wave & stand under fans. 🧡

12/05/2022

Another good one that's worth the read. I couldn't agree more.
https://dressagetoday.com/.../finding-the-ideal-free-walk/
1️⃣ "I believe that if your butt is in the saddle, you are training your horse"
2️⃣ "Horses need plenty of free walk breaks during training to let their muscles relax. Consistency is the most important quality in the training so the standard must not change when you take a walk break."
3️⃣ "Besides consistency in the training, riding a good free walk is effective strength-building. Think of the difference for yourself if you do a power walk. You are striding down the road with good posture, with your eyes up and your arms swinging. Compare that to strolling along, dragging your feet with your head down. Which one is better for your body?"
4️⃣ "The more energy the horse has in walk, the more he will be willing to stretch. The more he stretches, the bigger you can get the walk."

Really, really great info. Read, read again and go practice!

https://dressagetoday.com/instruction/finding-the-ideal-free-walk/

05/04/2022

I just absolutely love this sentiment! 💜

“It’s absolutely mind boggling if you think about it.

Your horse gets absolutely nothing out of being competitive for you. Not a darn thing. Of course horses are bred for specific jobs, or they’re bred to be athletic to a certain degree. However, horses don’t wake up thinking about chasing cans, or cows, or flying over jumps.

They have no idea how much money is added to the pot.

They have no idea that this is a qualifier. They have no idea that this is the short go.

And DESPITE us... DESPITE our nerves, our flaws, our incorrect ques, our huge emotions, they get the job done to their very best ability. Even when we fail them by letting our emotions get in the way, they come back and they try again. For US. Whoa. Let that sink in. If only we could all be so understanding.

To think of an animal that is forgiving and flexible enough to put up with the repetition of practice, the intense nerves of the rider, the stress of hauling and still meet you at the gate for scratches is MIND. BLOWING.

If you haven’t done so lately. Thank your horse.

If you’re successful, thank the horses that put you there and made you. Thank the horses that gave everything they had for you simply because you ASKED them to.

If you’re still on the journey to success, thank the horses that made you fall in love with your sport and who have helped give you the confidence to want to learn more and be better.

We can never stop learning as horsemen and horsewomen, and by continuing our education every horse in our future will be better off.

Next time you head to the arena leave your ego at the door and thank your horse!”

~Samantha Roffers

17/03/2022

Happy St. Paddy's Day ☘️💚 and Happy 15th birthday to my special redhead 🎂

15/03/2022

14/03/2022

You can't deny its beauty but truly hoping this is it for winter. 🐐🐎

08/03/2022

After a week long vacation in Vieques, Puerto Rico, I was grateful to come home to 70 degree temps in March! It certainly helped motivate me to leg up both of my horses.

My focus this month will be to slowly & correctly bring the girls back up to fitness after a 3 month winter break. I've always given my horses off over the winter to give feet & bodies a break. With Ana coming back from a lesion on her front left stifle in 2019, we will be doing a ton of hacking out to walk on the trails. So thankful we have trails we can access directly from the farm. 💛💛

24/02/2022

Who begs for treats best? 🤓

03/02/2022

Ice to mud, mud to ice. 6 more weeks of winter!

13/01/2022

New fencing was finally installed across the street. Not a job that I ever thought would get done in January! The single digit temps were no match for the machine driving posts into the ground. With a new layout, the horses now have greater access to the stream.

10/01/2022

First snow of 2022 thankfully didn't mess with our farrier visit. Just enough to make things beautiful. 🤩

07/01/2022

Tis the season 💈🪒🐴

07/01/2022

07/01/2022

06/01/2022

Morning help