Always August Farm

31/10/2024

Motivated with lots of options for transportation!

26/10/2024

This was a post from a year ago---Still relevant---

What are the reasons for being afraid to ride a specific horse?
Having the right horse to ride makes going to the barn the best part of the day, while knowing that you will be white knuckled with nervous anxiety makes it a misery, yet many people live with some degree of fear every time they get on.

So what makes one horse “right” and another one “wrong?”

It seems to me that there are three main direct causes, and a fourth indirect cause created by one or more of the original three.

One---If a horse is high energy and exuberant, it is likely to bounce and bound around, more inclined to spook and play, and all that can create rider tension.

Two---If a horse is nervous and anxious, it is likely to exhibit similar behavior as the high energy horse, but coming from a different place.

Three---If the horse is green, untrained, or poorly trained it may have a decent temperament, but not know how to respond to signals from the rider.

But whether the horse is high with energy, nervous with tension, or simply green and untrained, all three of these will set up a chain reaction. As the horse acts in ways that scare the rider, the rider, if already inclined to be nervous, will most likely tense up even more, will get even tighter, maybe get rough in an attempt to contain the horse.

The rider tension will trigger horse tension, and things go from bad to worse in that chain reaction, also often called a snowball effect.
Some riders will choose to stop riding altogether. Some will choose a different and more suitable horse. Some will go along month after month, year after year, riding in fear.

Some will send the horse to a trainer to “fix,” and this may or may not work, because the horse may go well for the softer more confident rider, but revert right back when the tighter, tenser rider resumes riding.

This whole right-wrong horse situation is one of the most common yet most intractable pieces of the human-horse relationship. No adult can decide much of this for another adult, but adults can and should decide for kids by making wise horse choices for them.

21/10/2024

Rica took home 🥈2nd place at her very first horse trials, Windermere Run at Longview Horse Park, just adding 1.2 time to her dressage score! 🌟She got better and better all weekend, handling the new environment like a complete professional. This girl will make such a fantastic horse for her next person!

18/10/2024

Scenes from Heritage Park HT with some of the best bay OTTBs, Stryker & Flight School!

Pics by JJ sillman.

13/10/2024

Julie is a hero!

Julie Wolfert may have won her first 4*-L at Morven Park this weekend with Team Pivot’s SSH Pl***oy (Cit Cat – Stomeyford Black Pearl), but the pathway she’s taken to this point in her career

06/10/2024

⭐️Motivated!⭐️ We have routes going to Dallas -> Ocala this weekend!

2019 Friesian Sport Horse mare (registered Friesian Heritage Horse) by Hertog Jan v.d. Paddensteeg

This girl is the right combination of forward and responsive while still being safe and not at all hot or strong. She is solid training level dressage, and should continue up the levels easily. She is super brave, doesn’t want to touch a rail, but also doesn’t jump her rider out of the tack. She’s schooled all my BN XC with ease, including water, ditches, drop/up bank, and combinations.

She hacks out and has a great work ethic/ is very focused and not spooky - I trail rode her all over the first day she was here with no issues! She would also gladly foxhunt and has comfortable gaits that are easy to sit!

She is sensible and confident with good ground manners. Rica is an easy keeper, barefoot, sound, and healthy. Recent 2nd place finish in USEA HT.

02/10/2024

All I Want To Do Is Jump

I ran a fairly large lesson program for almost 20 years. This is a statement I have heard over and over, both in my lesson barn days and from colleagues today.

All I want to do is jump.

There are a few problems with this. Let's start with the horse. I love the old horseman's saying " horses only have so many jumps in them ". Is that 100, 1000 before it becomes lame.... No one knows....but horses certainly weigh a lot and the concussion landing on those small little legs is significant. Horses also get bored, burned out....and let's face it...sour.
Respect for the horse . The riders job is to do the best thing for the horse. Most horses only need jumped a few days a week. That means if a lesson horse works 5 days a week, only 2 of those are jumping days. 3 of those are purely flatwork or hacking.

Riders : most of jumping well has NOTHING to do with jumping. Riders need to work on pace, transitions, straightness, their position, effectiveness of aids, balance, ability to change positions smoothly ( from 2 point to sitting etc ) and so much more.

So if you are one of those students who Just Wants To Jump , please replace that with "I want to be an effective rider and horseman or woman . I want to do what is best for the horse "

And instructors who cave to this plea from students
Only YOU can set the CULTURE of your barn. Talk frequently about horsemanship and doing right by the animals.

25/09/2024

Karen O'Neal will be here October 5-6. Space still available in this clinic:

Event Timing: October 5-6, 2024 Event Address: Always August Farm, 664 Habberton Rd., Fayetteville, AR Contact us at (479) 445-7564 or [email protected] Join us for a fun and informative clinic with Karen O'Neal. With over 100 first-place victories in national and international competition, Karen....

22/09/2024

Incredibly hot, humid, rainy, sunny, and exciting day at Heritage Park. Super proud of all 10 AAF horses & riders!

New ride, Stryker, is off to a great start at his first horse trials!

17/09/2024

2020 16hh Mare “Twick or Tweat”

Retired sound and been let down & turned out. Recently re-started under saddle, but currently not in work. Excellent mover, well-bred and well put together for future Sporthorse career.

All offers considered - located in Bentonville, AR. Can ship.

01/09/2024

It’s never too late!

At 81, Roisin O’Rahilly has had a lot of life experiences, but there’s two things she’d never done before this weekend: Compete at the USEA American Eventing Championships or at the Kentucky Horse Park. This weekend she accomplished both and won the beginner novice master amateur division on h...

31/08/2024

Congrats to Maren Dollwet Waggoner & sales
Graduate, Never Ceasing, on their finish on dressage score in the Novice Amatuer division at the American Eventing Championships 2024!

26/08/2024

Headed to American Eventing Championships 2024 with four awesome horses from AAF. It’s been one heck of an adventure this year & we can’t wait to bring it Arkansas- style in Kentucky this week!

04/08/2024

You're never too old... Equestrians just get better with age 😉

25/07/2024

A small stab in the heart is what you feel when you put up the day's riding list and you see riders sinking heavily in their shoulders when reading which horse they are assigned for the lesson. A small stab in the heart for that horse that for an hour will carry around a rider who has already decided that he does not like his horse. A small stab in the heart for the horse that did not choose the rider himself but still does his best, lesson after lesson.

Riding is a privilege and something you have chosen to do. If you chose to ride at a riding school, your instructor assumes that you actually want to learn how to ride. The instructor's highest wish is that you get good at it.

Often there is a plan and a thought as to why you are assigned to that exact horse. Before you mount up next time, ask yourself "what can this horse teach me today?" All horses have something to give, a feeling or a new tool in the box.

The art is actually in being able to get a lazy horse to move forward, to get an uncertain horse to gain confidence, a naughty horse to focus or a tense horse to be released. It takes work. If you think a horse is boring, it's more likely that you don't ride the horse as well as you think! It's not easy to be confronted with your own shortcomings, but it is in that very situation that you get the chance to truly grow as a rider.

The excuse that "it's not my kind of horse" is actually a really bad excuse. A good rider can ride any kind of horse. A good rider has trained many hours on different types of horses to become a good rider. A good rider can find and manage the gold nuggets in every horse.

If we absolutely want to ride, it is our duty to strive to do it as best as possible, even if it's only for fun. We owe it to every horse that carries us upon it's back.

Copied and shared with love for all of our horses, ponies and riders 🐎❤🐎

21/07/2024

We’re quite excited to finally unveil a project six years in the making from director Jessie Deeter. Hoof Dreams is a documentary following three women as they chase the Olympic eventing dream. Featuring in the

19/07/2024

New Eventing Rule Changes Going into Effect December 1, 2024

16/07/2024

AEC entries are now OPEN!🎉 Gather your friends and get ready to submit your entries to the 2024 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds which will take place this August 27 through September 1 at the Kentucky Horse Park 🏇

Remember: Both horse and rider must be qualified for the AEC at the level they wish to compete. Interest is expected to be significant for this year's event, so don't wait to secure your spot to this epic championship!⏱️

📸 Erin Gilmore Photography, Official Photographer of the 2024 USEA AEC

06/07/2024

15/06/2024

We’ve bought quite a few awesome horses from Rocky H Farms the past couple months!
🐴Landshark “Bruce” 2016 DraftxAppaloosa
🐎Prowl’s got Secrets “Casper” 2015 AQHA
🏇🏽Stryker Man 2015 OTTB
🏇🏼Ebbi Blu 2018 OTTB