JoyRide Equestrian, LLC

08/01/2025

Potato says thank you Paisley for making him feel safe and comfortable. Paisley says thank you Potato for being her napping buddy now that her little friend is gone.

I’m so grateful for both of these beautiful horses.

07/01/2025

New instant besties.

07/01/2025

Today we said goodbye to Brownie 💔

I asked for photos from her closest people and received such a beautiful representation of the joy she has brought us these last few months.

Brownie had a mass inside one nostril that grew rapidly. She was so patient with our extensive diagnostic process including a biopsy at our local clinic and a CT at NC State. When the mass recently moved to the other nostril and began seriously restricting airflow, we decided to euthanize her.

Euthanasia is “a good death” and it certainly felt that way. She enjoyed a buffet of treats from some of her best friends and went peacefully. As Lilah said, she “lived her best mini life.”

Biggest thanks to Dr. Jason Smith, Coco Mendes for letting us borrow this sweet creature, to everyone who loved her, and most of all to Lilah, for everything.

03/01/2025

Are they beautiful, or are they beautiful?

So proud of this team for all the work they’ve put in so that we had a seamless and easy ride over to the incredible Re*****on Run, two lovely lessons, and a lot of learning and fun!

03/01/2025

It occurred to me that this guy is so special that he should have posts made about him and his transformation (a work in progress)…. It’s a long post but really fun to share.

This is Russet Potato, vet aged around 14. He’s a draft cross (I’d guess crossed with a Morgan, but I have no idea). We don’t have much history on him at all, but a couple of clues make me think he pulled a carriage. He has some ligament malformation in front of the withers possibly caused by an ill-fitting harness, and his halt is very square and on-time.

What caught my eye and my heart about him was his big, sweet eyes, which are always asking if I can be his friend, and if he can get inside my pocket and just nestle there for a while. The thing that hurts my heart is signs that he’s been mishandled. He’s kind and sweet and curious but very hesitant to be caught, and if a hand moves too quickly near his head he is very startled, like he’s sure you’re going to hit him. He’s very nervous when asked to do something he’s unsure about, but he’s not nervous about things. He’s nervous about people. He’s scared of us making sudden movements and he’s scared of doing something wrong.

Our mission is to give him a safe space, reliably, with good care and clear instructions, and let him start to trust and be comfortable. I think we’ll see great things from his honest, earnest personality once he feels safe enough to try, including making mistakes, without fear of punishment.

Today, we did some groundwork and then he stood behind me while I taught a lesson. At first he tried to go around me in a circle, which is what we had been working on, but then he figured out how to stand. After a while I felt him come up behind me and sniff…

… and then he started to play. He gently took the rope in his teeth and pulled on it. He wiggled his top lip on my jacket and my hair. He explored those “toys” and then licked me on my shoulder. Play (and learning) can only happen when we feel safe.

That is the beginning and one of the best feelings in the world.

03/01/2025

01/01/2025

Pretty girl.

Photos by Mary.

25/12/2024

Though I met Gabriel on Halloween years ago, he became officially ours on Christmas.

Happy anniversary best buddy!

Photos by Lilah.

25/12/2024

Merry Christmas!!!

25/12/2024

DRESSAGE SOLUTIONS: To encourage your horse to seek the connection and reach into both reins when asking him to stretch forward and down …

Close your leg and give your reins forward, thinking of the reins as telephone lines where the messages can be sent and received only if the circuit is not broken or loopy.
~ Karen Adams

Karen Adams is s a retired U.S. Equestrian Federation “R” dressage judge, instructor and coach in Keedysville, Maryland. Previously, she was the head instructor at Linda Zang’s Idlewilde Farm and competed through Prix St. Georges.

🎨 Sandy Rabinowitz

20/12/2024

Vigo’s recipe for a great day:

1. First, order room service. While you wait, dig a hole in the stall (if the staff didn’t like holes, they would have put mats down).

2. Enjoy alfalfa soup. Best enjoyed warm, and sticky enough in texture to spread easily over the staff’s jacket sleeve (though the staff tend to wash their jackets on occasion, this will make them smell better in the short term).

3. Ensure you drop enough soup into the hole to fill it up. This is important, though I can’t remember why.

4. Go riding!!

TDLR: remember to make a lot of messes. It’s good to keep the staff employed with cleaning so they don’t think they have time to take a vacation or something outlandish like that. Keep up the good work!

19/12/2024

This sweet old lady got her knees done today. She’ll take the whole holiday week off to rest and recoup and then will be back at it in the New Year!

We really believe in keeping our old horses going, gently and mindfully of their wishes and limits, to maintain overall fitness and health.

Here’s to another year of wonderful rides with the best Rosalita 🌹

19/12/2024

If you squint, you can see them — 4 night riders.

🦄🦄🦄🦄

18/12/2024

Why, hello handsome.

Meet Russet Potato, our new pet project. Russet is very sweet but a bit unsure about people’s intentions. You’re welcome to come down to the pasture and say hello to him!

Over the next few months, we’ll be showing him the way we do things here and see what kind of job he’d like best.

💙🥔

Photos by Rachel B

18/12/2024

Cuties

17/12/2024

🦄💙🦄💙

14/12/2024

Lovely Jetta and Sarah.

14/12/2024

To prevent losing engagement and impulsion in the canter after your transition, imagine asking for the transition again on the second and third stride.

Avoid pushing into canter and think about lifting your horse into canter whilst maintaining a good balance that allows and encourages them to keep the weight on their outside hind leg.

A common mistake is for people to drop their weight forwards and to the inside, particularly if swinging their outside leg back for the transition, this kill the quality and can throw the horses balance out causing them to pick up the wrong lead.

Picture by Sandy Rambinowitz for Dressage Today