Kaity Etches Horseback Riding Services

It comes with absolute heartbreak to share the news of CeCes passing 😞

My darling big baby unfortunately had to cross the rainbow bridge after a traumatic injury of a bad impaction and re**al tear with a very poor prognosis.

I am absolutely devastated to have lost my best friend of 14 years and my very first horse. 💔

Cece passed on my lap surrounded by her daddy and big sister.

She left this earth how she lived everyday with me: peeing on the geldings and a mouth full of grass and flowers. She was a silly girl like that 🥹

Until further notice, lessons will not be returning. I'm sorry everyone.

She taught lots of adults and children and made alot of people happy. She will always be my heart horse ❤️

The ponies and I want to wish all friends, family, students, visitors, and supporters of the horses a very Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone got what they wanted and got to spend lots of time with those who make you happiest! 😊🎅

Today was the 5km Santa Run for Make a Wish!

With the help of mostly students, parents of students and supporters of the lesson program we raised over the $100 goal and raised $109 for my individual goal!

Thanks to everyone who donated and all those who ran in the 5k, I hope we were able to make alot of kids wishes come true with the money raised! ❤️😊

As promised, pictures of the Santa suit, beard an all!

Now to see if we can't take some cute Christmas photos with the ponies with our newly acquired Santa suits 😜

Oh my goodness I can't believe it's been since July that I've posted, even though we've be running and operating everyday since then!

As alot of you may know, I'm in school to become a Paramedic and so having time to post pictures from riding lessons between studying and my other job , can sometimes hit the backburner 😅

But! I'm making today's post as I will be running in the HoHoHoliday 5km Santa run to help raise money for Make a Wish and hoping we can spread word about the event/ potentially raise some money so we can make these special children's Christmas wishes come true!

As someone who currently works with, and has always worked with children, including those who have been incredibly sick, it is close to my heart this charity and I want to do my best by participating to help raise money for such a good cause!

If you've stuck with me so far on this long post, I appreciate it and if we can raise some money for this run that'd be amazing!☺️

Plus I'll post pictures of me running with the full Santa suit and beard if that persuades any one to share or donate 😜🧑‍🎄

**And please know, as times are tough and money can be tight, even just a share can help raise awareness to this event and spread the word to help raise money!**

Help Kaity raise money for participating in HoHoHoliday 5K 2023 - Virtual Edition on December 24, 2023 I work with a lot of kids as a coach and would like to help to make children's wishes come true.

For once Kaity got some pictures?!

Yes, yes I did. And by Kaity I mean one of my favourite volunteers❤️

Today was a beautiful day for lessons, so we had to capture a moment from each of them!

Hopefully we can bring ya some more photos, more consistently!

Look at all my little stars! All progressing so well!

Hello everyone!

One of our rider's parent has dropped off some riding gear and equipment for any of our riders that require them to have, and ride in and use! 😮😀

This is the first time we've recieved a donation so big for our riders!❤️

An absolute huge thank you to Billy Reed! Riding can be very expensive, and while we try to keep our costs low and affordable, acquiring equipment can become costly to riders. Giving riders an opportunity to cut costs anywhere in this sport is huge and your generosity will not go unnoticed or uncelebrated!

If any of our riders require boots, half chaps, brushes or a saddle pad please let me know and we can see if any of the 3 pairs of boots/half chaps fit! The saddle pad and brushes will be on a first come first serve as well.

Riders and parents please feel free to reach out if in need of anything listed! I can set up time during the week or weekend to try on boots/half chaps or see the brush kit and saddle pad.

😁

I wanted to take a moment to spotlight one of my volunteers!

He has been working so hard learning the skills to halter, lead, brush, tack up, clean stalls, feed and water the horses and lunge the horses. Today was his first day riding with us.

I am so so proud of how hard he has been working, his bravery to try new things and ability to learn quickly!

The big smiles he had riding were well worth it! I think he and Cece will make a great riding team with our future lessons! 😊

Apparently I don't know how to edit posts without deleting them, so lets try again lol

We had some easter bunnies early this morning! 🐰🐇

Hope everybody got spoiled and has an extra hop in their step today like the girls do!

Happy Easter from Cierra, Nevy and I! 😁

It's always okay to get off and try for another day.

You're not failing or letting your horse down, you're just allowing both of you to step away and come back with a fresh start and mind when you're ready to.

Sometimes the bravest thing you can do as a rider is get off and try again another day.

You don’t need to put yourself in danger and ride it out if both you and your horse aren’t up for it.

Sometimes, courage is knowing when to not continue pushing and choosing safety over grittiness.

There is absolutely no shame in not wanting to endanger yourself on a horse who is reacting in a way you’re not equipped to deal with, scared to deal with or simply don’t want to deal with.

Groundwork DOES work and is a perfectly acceptable answer to a situation that is getting dangerous under saddle, as is taking a deep breath, putting the horse away and starting fresh another day.

Bravery is advocating for yourself despite others mocking you for it. Bravery is valuing your horse’s emotional state even when you’re encouraged to just push them through it.

There are many forms of bravery that don’t involve riding through all sorts of dangerous antics and I think those acts of courage deserve recognition.

Valuing your safety and reacting in a way that preserves your longterm health and soundness is sometimes the bravest thing you can do.

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Bridle & baselayer from our shop: http://shopmilestoneeq.com

Today was a great day for lessons! Each and every student worked hard today! 😊😊

Everyone achieved a level of progress today. Some learned a new ground work skill, some worked on confidence building and pushing past fears, and some worked on schooling unfamiliar horses.

No matter how they progressed, or what they individually achieved today, I am very proud of everyone.

Sometimes we forget as humans that progress isn't always linear. Some days are great, and some days are more of a struggle.

Just because we struggle once, twice or ten times, does not mean our progress can't move forward in large or small steps.

As long as we are always learning, trying our best and doing good by our horse partners, that's all we can ask as a coach!

Again very proud of everyone today! 😁