Storybrooke Farms

05/09/2024

RTP NC FRIENDS!!!

I have a very dear friend who may be looking to move for a job at Duke. She’s still a student so will be on a very tight budget, but has a lifetime of horse experience. She could feed or help with horse chores, anyone know of a barn apartment or room or some reasonable living situation for her to explore??? A room in someone’s house/basement? Very clean, polite, quiet young woman. No pets. Her job will only require her to go into an office/lab one or two days a week, mostly working remote.

Let me know!

04/09/2024

THIS SATURDAY!
The Inaugural Grafton Hunter Show will be held at the Upperville C**t & Horse Show grounds on Route 50 in Upperville.
Join the fun "under the oaks" in the Main Parker Ring for a day of community, horses and competition, featuring the $2,000 Grafton Derby and a $500 cash prize to the hunt whose members accumulate the most points throughout the day.

25/07/2024

Equestrian friends!!! Who has the perfect hony!? You can send me details, I’ll forward them along. This is an EXCEPTIONAL home.

21/07/2024

Available 8/15: work-exchange for board spot for 1 GELDING at quiet facility in Catlett, VA off 28 and Bristersburg.

Looking for reliable person to help with feeding, mucking, turn in/out 3 days per week in exchange for board. (Ideally Wednesday PM, Thursday AM & PM , Friday AM & PM) 10 acre farm, easy/tame gelding only herd, grass arena, metabolic friendly. Owners are mother/daughter duo with 20+ years experience as a vet tech and equine functional nutritionist, as well as a combined 50+ years of professional horse experience. Exceptional veterinary care, nutrition program, and facility farrier is the highly sought after Red Headed Farrier.

Spot available is in the shed row barns that open into a large pasture. Horses have the ability to come and go as they please but everyone gets closed into their stalls to eat at meal times. Hay available 24/7, high velocity fans, lights, and cameras in all stalls.

Please EMAIL with interest: storybrookefarms @ gmail . com

Pic for attention.

09/06/2024

Rehab: it conjures up thoughts of bodywork, supplements, red light, magnetic blankets, all the fixings.
It’s fun to get into the toys, and most of us go overboard on the little details.

Those things can be extremely helpful. There is an enormous amount of benefit in supportive treatments, nutrition and other details for helping the horse be healthy

But the horse cannot make true, lasting changes until the human commits to learning to handle and ride to STRAIGHTNESS.

All the therapies in the world won’t fix the problem if the horse is perpetually handled and ridden crooked, without engagement, and in the wrong movement patterns.

Rehab, to be successful, HAS to involve the human taking strides to be straighter, more aware, more fluid and knowing how to guide a horse well.

Don’t let yourself just get caught in the feel good trappings: it’s fun to watch bodywork make the horse feel nice. It’s fun to buy supplements. It’s fun to consult animal communicators and healers and it’s important to keep a broad perspective, BUT

Don’t forget horses body has to learn to have the postural tone to change the problem at the source. All the bodywork and supplements in the world won’t change a bad movement pattern if you keep riding the horse crooked - the only one who can fix that is you-

13/05/2024

Have a trip scheduled to leave from Culpeper, VA heading to Jacksonville, NC on 5/24 with room for one horse, and returning to Warrenton, VA on 5/26 or 5/27 with room for 2 or 3 horses. —F350 with 2+1 (straight load and a box) with rear and side ramps, as well as interior fans. Rest stops every 2-3 hours.

PM if anyone needs ride(s) for anything along the way. (Pic so the post doesn’t get lost.)

25/02/2024

Keep on learning . . .

20/02/2024

STILL ISO BARN HELP:

Small facility in Catlett, VA seeking someone(s) to clean and bed 9 stalls on Mondays - Thursday before 5pm. (Hours will change after daylight savings time.) Position open immediately.

Duties include:
Cleaning stalls
Replacing bedding
Sweeping aisle

Occasional tasks like cleaning feed tubs and cobwebbing may be needed.

Applicants must have previous experience, have a positive attitude, and be unwaveringly reliable. Additional days may be available periodically.

Preference given to proficient English speakers and those 18 years or older. 16 years and older is mandatory.

No smoking allowed on the property. Pay based on experienced.

Please send experience or resume to storybrookefarms at gmail.com

17/02/2024

“Who judges the judges?”

This question, from Carmel O’Callaghan, was one of the responses to a discussion of the power that judges have over the directions of entire breeds, and how the decisions that they make can help or harm the breed’s direction.

And it’s a good question, because in some breeds, some horse shows, there’s some pretty crazy stuff going on, bizarre conformational traits sneaking in, emphasis on ways of moving that may not have much relationship to long term soundness, unbalanced riders winning equitation classes, so many issues that a true, old fashioned horseman/horsewoman would avoid like the bubonic plague, yet here they come.

Who makes the decisions about which people are competent to judge? And what if those decision makers are themselves less than competent? Because bad stuff starts somewhere, and if left unchallenged, before long weird things are the new normal and correct practices are thrown out as “old fashioned.”

I have learned not to trust “those in power” to make good decisions, because so often those that ARE in power got into power because they LIKE power, whether or not they have much of a clue how to use it wisely.

SO---Who judges the judges?

13/02/2024

Why do the basics take so long?

The basics actually don’t take much time at all. Teaching a horse and rider the building blocks of balance and relaxation is not that difficult or complicated, as long as both are a blank slate.

What takes so much time is undoing poor basics, undoing poor movement patterns, and letting go of the wrong muscle memories and building the right muscle groups.

I’ve been riding with my teacher for almost a decade now. The first few years I barely made any progress, not because the work wasn’t good, but because I didn’t understand what she was even talking about. It went right over my head, and every lesson I had we sort of repeated the work of the last. My poor teacher repeated herself over and over, but I rode with others who’s work undid what she was trying to do, and I just wasn’t ready to understand it yet.

Then, when it clicked for me, I was all in- but my muscle memories, habits and understanding was counter productive. It took a long time (and I’m still working on it) to let go of the habits I had that stood in the way of progress. Same for my horses - they had habits that weren’t helpful either, especially the habit of coming behind the bit: some of it wasn’t my fault, some of it was. This was a very lengthy, uncomfortable and downright yucky phase. There didn’t feel like there was a lot of winning. This is where most people quit - they find a new instructor because they aren’t getting anywhere, or bounce around to different “methods.”

Then the break through: I finally understood where she was coming from, what the benefits were, and my horses were starting to buy into it too. We were finding harmony, beautiful moments sprinkled in, and getting successes to keep us motivated. This phase required lots of vigilance from my teacher and myself to not revert to old habits when we were tired, distracted or learning something new.

After these new, more productive habits were better cemented, upward progress was possible. It took so long. Not because the learning itself is fated to be arduous, but because I was in my own way for much of the time.

So why does it take so long? It doesn’t. But we make it so- and there’s nothing wrong with that process, because as Ray Hunt said, “you’re not working on your horse, you’re working on yourself.”

03/02/2024

28/01/2024

10/01/2024

Did you know that we are able to test your horse's blood for antibodies against Rabies, Eastern Encephilitis, Western Encephilitis, and West Nile Virus?

Did you know that if they have enough of these antibodies it may be in the best interest of the horse not to be vaccinated annually?

How well do you understand how your horse's immune system works and how annual or semi-annual vaccines can effect their long term health?

Join us Sunday, January 21st as Dr. Hancock clarifies the risk versus reward of both vaccination and vaccine titers, and how you can optimize your horse's long term health.

*Recording of the presentation will be available if you are unable to attend in person.

01/01/2024

ISO BARN HELP:

Small Equine Rehab in Catlett, VA seeking someone(s) to clean and set 9 stalls on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays before 4:30pm. Position open immediately.

Duties include:
Cleaning stalls
Replacing bedding
Sweeping aisle
Monitor water troughs and fill as needed
Occasional tasks like cleaning feed tubs and cobwebbing

Applicants must have previous experience, have a positive attitude, and be unwaveringly reliable. Additional days may be available periodically.

Preference given to fluent English speakers and those 18 years or older.

Background check required. No smoking allowed on the property.

Please send experience or resume to storybrookefarms at gmail.com

Pay is $15/hour.

03/11/2023

Join us for our next educational seminar to meet with Krystin Dennis, practicing equine dentist for nearly 20 years, to discuss about why you should have your horses teeth floated, common problems affecting horses teeth, and how imbalances in the mouth can affect performance. Come with lots of questions!!

Date: Saturday, November 18th
Time: 11:00 - 1:00pm
Location: True North Equine Office
6666 Carters Run Rd.
Marshall, VA 20115
$10 to attend in person or to purchase recording after seminar
Please RSVP by Friday 11/17- 20 slots available

Call or Email our office to RSVP at 540-364-9111 or [email protected]

18/10/2023

08/07/2023

17.5” CWD SE02 TR 3C

Exceptional condition with very few rides because it was never quite the right fit for my guy. Essentially brand new but well oiled so you don’t have the hassle of breaking it in! Grippy Buffalo leather with a slightly deeper seat. Rides like a Cadillac. Not a blemish on it, just a couple white hairs from my horse.

$2750 includes shipping, cover, CWD leathers, and composite irons pictured

Local trial available with written agreement and payment in full. Warrenton, VA

05/06/2023

CHARLOTTE CANNON RELAXATION & CONFIDENCE BUILDING CLINIC: June 17th & 18th

Location with Indoor facility and stalls available:
Quail Run Farm
3165 Five Points Rd
Marshall, VA

Space is limited to 8 horses: $195/horse for one day, $375/horse for both
Auditors welcome: $25/day, $40 for both

Day 1: GROUND WORK and we welcome horses of all ages and stages of training
Day 2: Ground work or mounted per participants' request

Contact the office today to reserve your spot! DEADLINE FOR PARTICIPATION IS THURSDAY, JUNE 9th. 540-364-9111 or [email protected]

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE OF TRAINING

Need Relaxation?
Want more confidence?
Are you ready to skyrocket your understanding, skills, and performance to an entirely new level?

Learn the key to switching off the fear/survival reaction, and to turn on the confidence/joy response!

The Cannon Method: A 5 STEP SYSTEM TO RELAX, REWIRE, RELEASE, REBALANCE
- Teaches you the secret to relaxation, ultimate performance and connection.
- Teaches you the building blocks to a safe, predictable, fun, high performance horse so you can live your dreams.
- Demystify the science behind response vs reaction.
- Show how all reactions/responses are negative/fear based or positive/confidence driven. Every stress has the opportunity to feed fear or build confidence.
- Teaches a simple brain rewiring technique that changes the brain/body response to stress.
- Look at horses, humans, and training from a different point of view using science, to build ultimate partners and superior athletes and partnerships.
- Show this works on every breed and for every discipline.