North Star Equine

16/11/2024

These boys get their own post. Working on their very own things including leg yields (Thor) and bravery (Grayson).

16/11/2024

One year ago today this girl started full training with me and I can’t count the things she can do now that she couldn’t do a year ago on two hands. Todays on the buckle hack, by ourselves, in the forest preserve, with deer, was brought to you by one year of patience, one year of continuing to try, of problem solving, of trying new things, and to being humbled. Thank you to for trusting me to build her next horse and for letting me do it the best way for the horse. ❤️

28/10/2024

Thought for the day...

Your trainer breathes with you through every movement whether at home or at a show. Your trainer stands at the in gate and physically rides the test with you - mentally moving your horse forward, or giving a whoa or riding your rhythm through every turn. She gives you words of wisdom and encouragement as you go by. Your trainer shares your nerves as you walk in the ring, feels your disappointment when things don’t go right and rejoices when you smack down that amazing test. They celebrate your tiny achievements and are filled with pride when you achieve a huge goal. They love your horse as if it were their own, making sure they are happy and healthy. Your trainer beats themselves up when things don’t go as planned. Your trainer takes on the responsibility of caring for your emotional needs ... both through the good and bad. Your trainer respects your budget and tries with all their might to make a very expensive sport as affordable as possible. Your trainer takes the job of matching you with the horse of your dreams very seriously and are filled with happiness when that partnership produces success. Trainers are therapists, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, doctors, care givers, equine linguists, supporters, cheer leaders, and optimists. We love what we do, love the sport and are forever grateful to the clients and horses that come into our lives!!

Please remember this the next time you see your trainer. They are, like you, human, trying their best to make you successful. They are your biggest fan!! • Jodi Bondar

📸 Photos by Furey

15/10/2024

On Friday I decided that Tillith McGuillicuddy needed a jump school, and boy am I glad I did. For the first time ever she trotted three whole jumps quietly and straight and then cantered around the small course with no issues, even landing the leads when asked. And THEN. Finished by trotting another fence quietly. Some days she is more than humbling and other days I get to feel like I might actually know what I’m doing. Either way, it was glorious.

08/10/2024

One of these days I’m going to get better at documenting….maybe when I stop moving trying to coordinate all the moving pieces and parts of riding, coaching, and all the little details that go into making this work for everyone. This past weekend we took horses to Silverwood for our last show of the season. On the high side, Miss A and Andrew took home the win in their championship division finishing on their dressage score of 28.7 - which if you know Andy….you know how hard the dressage part is. Miss A has worked tirelessly all season to be better - for Andy and for herself and that paid off. Tilly continued to have more non score related improvements. She was mostly calm, cool and collected but most importantly when I needed her to be with me, she met me in spades. Miss Olive went to her first outing with Team North Star as a non-compete and had some lovely moments and let me guide her. Krista & Thor had a much more connected dressage test and by far the BEST and most improved show jumping round in their nearly 2 whole seasons with me. Unfortunately on the low side, Thor tripped on cross country and Krista couldn’t save it. Hoping everyone walks away from that experience being more appreciative and understanding of why we wear helmets and the risks we take when working with these animals. All in all, everyone improved greatly over the duration of this season but what I’m most proud of is this little team we’ve built full of compassionate, encouraging, dig-deep people who love their horses.
From me to them, thank you.

23/09/2024

Everyone is benefitting from some magnawave love today.

18/09/2024

Happy horses getting magnawaved. Thankful to those who help me pursuit bigger and better and who hold my hand for the ride. To my constant cheerleaders. I am so grateful.

16/09/2024

https://emblemathletic.com/collections/north-star-equine

If anyone is interested in some North Star Equine merchandise please feel free to order! As we get going we’ll look to add some more items / designs (looking to one day add some horse items…..bonnets, saddle pads, etc) but for now we’ve got this little “store” set up. No proceeds or profits for me - just sharing my business. Anyone who has ever heard me coaching knows the devil is in the details is one of my favorite phrases - those tiny details are what make up the big picture we’re working toward. ❤️

Emblem Athletic - Purpose built performance apparel designed for a life in service.

15/09/2024

This mare had so many non-score related victories this weekend. The whole weekend was as always, educational for my students. Congrats to everyone and thank you to Otter Creek for another beautiful show.

14/09/2024

Lots of improvements for everyone today at horse trials. Lots of non quantifiable wins for all of my students. Everyone moves on to cross country tomorrow!

13/09/2024

Team North Star is all set up at for their 25th anniversary Fall HT. If you’ve never been here I can’t recommend this venue enough. It’s beautiful, well run, and everyone is so friendly and helpful!

12/09/2024

Big things are coming to North Star Equine’s offerings. ❤️. Tilly girl getting to be my Guinea pig.

28/08/2024

Some days Mother Nature just doesn’t want to cooperate - so what do we do instead? Horsemanship lessons. Yesterday we worked on different styles of braids and brushed up on some wrapping skills.

25/08/2024

Took the A team to the FVSA Mini Event & CT for some more time in front of a crowd. Andrew was, as always, an Angel boi and Miss A piloted him to win on her dressage score of 23.3! Very proud of these two.