Horseback Riding Lessons, Spring/Summer/Winter Camps, Horse Boarding & Showing
Misty Brae Farm, LLC and Pony Club Riding Center is a Summer Camp service in Aldie, VA, offering Horseback Riding, summer activities, and Pony Club services since 1991.
Operating as usual
06/25/2023
Should Protective Vests Be Required In Show Jumping? - Heels Down Mag Protective riding vests are a rarity among grand prix show jumping riders, but they've started popping up more at national shows.
06/22/2023
USHJA Announces $825K Campaign To Test Safety Vests - The Chronicle of the Horse Once virtually unseen at hunter/jumper shows, safety vests are now part of standard show ring attire for many riders, from juniors and amateurs to hunter professionals and international show jumpers. Instead of the full ASTM-certified body protectors required in eventing, air vests tend to be the eq...
05/30/2023
Recent studies conducted by the Institute of Heart-Math provide a clue to explain the two-way ′′healing′′ that occurs when we're close to horses.
According to researchers, the heart has an electromagnetic field larger than the brain: a magnetometer can measure the energy field of the heart that radiates from 2.4 meters to 3 meters around the human body.
While this is certainly significant, perhaps more impressive than the electromagnetic field projected by the heart of a horse is five times larger than that of a human being (imagine an electromagnetic sphere around the horse) and it can influence straight into our own heart rate.
Horses are also likely to have what science has identified as a "coherent′′ heart rate (heart rate pattern) that explains why we can feel better when we're close to them. Studies have found a coherent heart pattern or HRV to be a solid measure of well-being and consistent with emotional states of calm and joy-that is, we exhibit such patterns when we feel positive emotions.
A coherent heart pattern is indicative of a system that can recover and adapt to stressful situations very efficiently. Many times, we just need to be in the presence of horses to feel a sense of well-being and peace.
In fact, research shows that people experience many physiological benefits by interacting with horses, including lower blood pressure and heart rate, higher beta-endorphins (neurotransmitters acting as pain suppressors), decreased stress levels, decreased feelings of anger, hostility, tension and anxiety, better social working; and greater feelings of empowerment, confidence, patience and self-efficacy.
By: Alejandro Pascual Puig
CEO en E&C CONSULTING CEO en E&C CONSULTING
The artist is Valerie Eric. The copyright holder is Sarah Barnes, HeartMath certified practitioner. The image was inspired following a riding lesson on heart connection.
05/21/2023
Share the trails! Hikers and bikers....did you know horses have the right of way? Since horses' movements are sometimes unpredictable, it's best to stop and let the horses know you are there. It only takes a minute to let equestrians go by and it's safer for all!
05/17/2023
The Importance of Incorporating Horsemanship Lessons in Your Training… The Importance of Incorporating Horsemanship Lessons in Your Training Curriculum
05/11/2023
05/05/2023
It's so important that your equitation feels natural - there are important reasons for everything that compromises a good position. When you understand the function, the form gets easier. This is a well-said, simple explanation of why you want to keep your elbows in - essentially, it makes your arms an extension of your seat.
05/01/2023
Everyone needs to pay attention to this. Two local riders have been seriously hurt this week after falls from their horses. Under no circumstance should you ever sit in a saddle without a helmet on. If you ride English, wear a helmet. If you ride Western, WEAR A HELMET. If you're jumping, you should be wearing a helmet. If you run barrels, you should absolutely be wearing a helmet! If you're out on the trails with your friend, both of you should be wearing a helmet! Check your ego and your coolness factor at the door. A cracked helmet could have been your skull. Not everyone comes away from a fall okay. Some people are left paralyzed and worse yet, some people die. Don't take your life for granted by not wearing a helmet.
05/01/2023
Do this one simple thing to help prevent your student from getting hung up on the peacock stirrup and hanging off the side of the horse!
👉Move the stirrup leather so that it is in front of the knee roll.
Why? Clothing, belts, and body parts (yes....body parts!!! 😳) can get hung up on the hook or nob of the peacock stirrup.
Having the stirrup in this location during the dismount will help prevent the student from getting caught on the stirrup and possibly hanging off the side of the saddle!
Bonus: If suitable to your student, teach them how and why to do this so they can become more independent! Break it down into the three easy steps below.
I do recommend trying to move away from using peacock stirrups if possible and using a different type of safety stirrup (like an S stirrup). I do admit I still have one pair of small peacock stirrups in use since I've not been able to find an S set that small and the students that need it don't do well in cage or Devonshires.
👉CHALLENGE for YOU: try to move the stirrup leather of peacock stirrups forward during every dismount this next week!
🐎🐎🐎
For more free instructor education and resources visit HoofFallsandFootfalls.com or find me on YouTube
Get immediate access to over 160 educational videos made specifically for adaptive/therapeutic riding instructors check out IntuitiveInstructorClub.com
New content released every month by certified professionals with over 100 years combined experience in the Equine Assisted Services Industry (yes....we feel old)
04/29/2023
Things your riding instructor wants you to know:
1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.
2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…
3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..
4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.
5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...
6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.
7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.
8. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.
9. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.
Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.
*thank you to whoever wrote this! Not my words, but certainly a shared sentiment!
04/09/2023
03/30/2023
Schooling Shows Are Growing, And The A-Circuit Should Be Worried - Heels Down Mag With my budget staying ever stagnant, I looked around for another option and noticed something inspiring. It’s the rise of the schooling show, people!
03/24/2023
Find out more about the German Training Scale, with Christoph Hess:
“'Losgelassenheit' means suppleness combined with looseness and the complete absence of any tension. It is the prerequisite for any advancement in training. Together with regularity, it is the primary goal of the initial, familiarising, phase.” Dorothee Schneider illustrates.
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2018/02/understanding-the-german-training-system-with-christoph-hess/
03/04/2023
The Dressage Foundation is proud to offer the Trip Harting Fund for Graduate or Current Pony Club Members grant.
The Trip Harting Fund will provide an annual $1,000 grant to a current or graduate rider with a Pony Club Rating of A, B, or C rating to attend an educational event of his/her choice. The online application and required documents must be received by TDF on or before March 25th. The recipient will have up to one year to use the grant.
Complete information and online application are here: bit.ly/3bwCGpu
03/02/2023
Groundbreaking concussion and return to riding guidelines released The first unified concussion guidelines designed specifically for riders across all equestrian disciplines are unveiled by British Equestrian
02/09/2023
So true!
01/02/2023
11/29/2022
Blanketing 101 Watch top eventing groom Emma Ford explain everything equestrians need to know about blanketing their horses. This video is brought to you by Horseware Ireland.
11/24/2022
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1549798972158618&id=142221562916373&mibextid=qC1gEa
11/06/2022
Dancing in the Rain aka Poncho clear show jumping!
09/23/2022
Equine Kissing Spines Gene Found – The Horse Researchers discovered a connection between Chromosome 25 and the presence of kissing spines in horses.
09/21/2022
Protecting Your Horse From Poisonous Fall Leaves – The Horse Is it okay for my horse to eat leaves that have fallen from trees in his pasture?
09/19/2022
🤠🐴
09/19/2022
Horse therapy ❤️
09/19/2022
How to Successfully Ride "Inside Leg to Outside Rein" Fran Kehr answers this reader question, explaining this combination of aids and what it achieves when performed correctly.
08/23/2022
MBFPCRC D2 member Abby D. riding Agripin Rudy representing the Virginia Region Jr. Modified team at USPC Championships East.
MBFPCRC C1 member, Megan D. riding Captivate on the Virginia Region Senior Team at USPC Championships East at Tryon International Equestrian Center.
08/04/2022
Congratulations to our members that competed in the USPC Championships East!
07/14/2022
‘Bloody hell!’ Horse and rider clear huge oxer as it blows down — with a Pimm’s gazebo flying overhead - Horse & Hound A Pimm’s gazebo in full flight overhead and jumps blowing down as you’re clearing them — it was just another day in the office for national champions Adrian Speight and Millfield Baloney. “We had a bit of excitement, didn’t we!” Adrian told H&H. “Bloody hell!” The combination were la...
| Monday | 7am - 9pm |
| Tuesday | 7am - 9pm |
| Wednesday | 7am - 9pm |
| Thursday | 7am - 9pm |
| Friday | 7am - 9pm |
| Saturday | 8am - 2pm |
| Sunday | 8am - 4pm |
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