Ashblue Equestrian

06/30/2026

Join us at Ashblue!

Conveniently located in the Campbellville/Moffat area, just 5 minutes west of Highway 401 & Guelph Line and approximately 25 minutes from the University of Guelph.

We currently have:
• Two 10’ x 16’ stalls available for indoor board
• Two outdoor (gelding) board spaces available

Our facility offers a quiet, relaxed atmosphere with access to an indoor arena, outdoor ring, and hacking opportunities, along with consistent, attentive daily care. We prioritize a forage-first, 24/7/365 nutrition program, supplemented with a high-quality balancer and customized feed to meet individual caloric needs.

Horses enjoy group or individual turnout, with a minimum of 8 hours daily and extended turnout during the summer months.

Hybrid board options may also be available, depending on the individual horse.

Our barn is home to a wonderful group of horses, ranging from pleasure mounts to seniors, as well as a small, successful Silver show team. A licensed EC coach is on site, with a strong emphasis on equitation, balanced riding, and developing quiet, willing horses in a supportive and enjoyable learning environment.

We maintain a low-traffic lesson program, with evening lessons scheduled approximately three nights per week (about two hours per evening), along with occasional daytime private lessons—making it easy to coordinate around.

Owners reside on-site.

Please feel free to reach out for more information!

05/11/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1MeQKx4Z29/?mibextid=wwXIfr

As riding instructors we spend a lot of time managing the gap between what new students expect riding to be and what it actually is. Most of that gap could be narrowed significantly with one honest conversation before the first lesson ever happens. So here is everything I wish every new student and every new riding family walked in already knowing...

1. Riding is harder than it looks
This is the one that surprises people most. Watching a good rider looks effortless but it is not effortless. It is years of muscle memory, feel, balance, and body awareness built through consistent work over a long time. Your first lessons will feel awkward and uncoordinated and that is completely normal. Every rider you have ever admired felt exactly the way you feel right now when they were starting out.

2. The horse is not a bicycle
It is a living animal with its own personality, its own opinions, and its own good days and bad days. It does not always do what you ask the first time and that is not always your fault but it is always your responsibility to figure out the communication. Learning to work with a horse rather than on top of one is one of the most valuable things riding teaches and it starts from the very first lesson.

3. Progress is not linear
Some weeks you will feel like you have jumped forward three levels. Other weeks you will feel like you have forgotten everything you learned last month. Both are completely normal parts of learning to ride. The students who improve consistently are not the ones who never have bad lessons but they are the ones who show up anyway and keep working through the frustrating ones.

4. One lesson a week is a start but not a program
A single lesson per week gives you exposure to riding. Two lessons per week builds skill significantly faster. The riders who progress quickest are the ones who ride consistently and frequently enough that their muscles and nervous system have time to develop real memory around what correct feels like. If budget allows for more than one lesson per week it is worth it.

5. Your position will feel wrong before it feels right
Correct position in the saddle feels deeply unnatural to most people at first. Heels down feels like you are pushing your foot through the floor. Sitting tall feels like you are leaning back. An independent hand feels like you are doing nothing. Trust the process and trust your instructor. The things that feel strange now become automatic eventually but only if you commit to doing them correctly rather than defaulting back to what feels comfortable.

6. The time around the lesson matters as much as the lesson itself
Grooming your horse before you ride. Learning to tack up correctly. Understanding how to read your horse's body language in the cross ties. This is not the boring part before the real lesson begins. This is horsemanship and it makes you a better rider than an hour in the saddle alone ever will.

7. Bad rides happen to every rider at every level
Including the ones you look up to most. A bad lesson does not mean you are not cut out for this, it just means you are learning something hard and doing it on the back of a living animal that is also having a day. Come back next week and it will be different.
Your instructor is on your side.

8. Every correction we give is in service of your progress and your safety
We are not pointing out what is wrong to make you feel bad but we are pointing out what needs to change so you can get where you want to go faster and more safely. The students who improve fastest are the ones who hear a correction as information rather than criticism and apply it without taking it personally.

9. Riding changes you in ways you will not expect
The patience it builds, the confidence that comes from communicating with an animal ten times your size and being understood. The resilience that develops from falling short of a goal and coming back for it anyway. The community you find at the barn. None of that shows up in the first lesson or even the tenth but it will show up at one point. For most riders it becomes one of the most significant things in their life and not just what they do on Tuesday afternoons but part of who they are.

If you are a riding instructor share this with every new family who walks through your gate. If you are a new student or a parent of one - welcome. You picked something genuinely worth doing!

What do you wish someone had told you before your very first riding lesson?

12/25/2025

11/03/2025

Come join us!

Located in Campbellville area, 5 minutes west of 401/Guelph line, 25 minutes from UofG

Stall available for Indoor board or one outdoor(gelding) space available. Quiet atmosphere. Indoor arena, outdoor ring and some hacking available. Forage first 24/7/365 diet with high quality balancer and feed available to substitute caloric needs. Group or individual turn out available, minimum 8 hours with longer hours in the summer.

We have a great group of horses ranging from pleasure horses to seniors, and a small successful silver show team. Licensed EC coach on site with a strong focus on equitation and balanced riding, quiet and willing horses, as well as supportive and fun lessons. Not a busy lesson barn.

Owners live on site.

Message for more info!

11/01/2025

PART BOARD ONLY
Located westside of Milton/Campbellville area at a quiet barn

16 hh compact Swedish wb X gelding. He is a very fun ride. Hack winner! Mostly auto changes with a balanced rider. Great for a rider who wants to get back into riding or work on their eq. Has collections and extensions and has worked on laterals, I would even love to see a flat based/low level dressage rider on him.. Same on and off property, and has shown up to 2’9, he’s very confident at 2’6. Loves to work. Looking for 1-2 rides per week plus 1 lesson with onsite licensed coach. Realistic prices. PM me to set up a trial!

07/27/2025

Our very own Crystal🩵
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EtDEaNWRr/?mibextid=wwXIfr

01/09/2025

Quality always 🩵🩶

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1075585481246664&id=100063856669752&mibextid=cr9u03

How to train with minimal time:

I’m of the mind that quality, consistent work ten minutes here and there is far better than an hour or two on the weekend. Everybody’s schedules are crazy, everybody has stuff going on, and probably everybody feels guilty all the time for what they’re not doing.

I have a busy life too. It can be hard to prioritize my own horses, but I’ve had several teachers essentially grab me by my shirt collar and emphasize with gusto how important my own horses training is- and so I present to you my secret plan for short sessions with quality

1- have a plan going in. I don’t mean decide exactly what you’re gonna do, because life happens and you have to work with the horse you have in front of you. But have a plan to give this session your all- to be 110% present for ten, fifteen minutes. No distractions. And calm. If you shoot for 110%, you might hit 70%, and that would be a great success. Get your head on straight, then go in to the pasture.

2- focus on quality in everything. How much care can you invest in putting the halter on? How did your horse feel? How nicely did they lead? How much attention can you give to brushing in a way your horse likes? How well did they stand at the mounting block, how much attention to detail did you give picking up their feet with softness? These things matter, and add up.

3- focus on being smooth and rhythmic. The more I can get me and my horse moving in a smooth, rhythmic way, the sooner the distractions fall away, the sooner my horse breathes and calms, the sooner every thing gets awesome. So get that rhythm!

4- if things go wrong, as they can do, backtrack to something easy. Spend your time building successes, so find something you can do well and quit on without eating up your whole evening being frustrated.

5- be happy with less. Don’t expect flying changes in ten minutes- be happy with breathing, be happy with standing still, be happy with moving nicely, be happy with moving at all. If you have minimal time, your expectations should fit the bill: small and simple, and learn to get happy with less. Resist the urge to do it one more time, keep that greed monster away and accept what is fair to accept.

If
You’re in the video library community, join us for a haltering with excellence challenge!

Photo by Jasmine Cope

12/26/2024

A day late, but yesterday was for family and horses. Wishing all of our friends, family and horses near and far, a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Cheers to heading into our 15th year with some of the best. 🩵🩶🤍

06/17/2024

🤣