Cornerstone Farm South

Did you attend the USEF Listening session?

Thank you USEF for a great listening session online tonight …we discussed credentialing of coaches (YES), USEF Lite Horse Shows (still learning about this) and a follow up from USHJA Annual mtg on the use of horses (per classes per comp/year etc)

I appreciate the homework that was done by the association and the feedback from Cricket Stone, Kathy Hobstetter, Bonnie Navin and more …

IF you missed it - email [email protected] to listen in on the discussion - next one is in Aug - mark your calendars and take the time to be involved!

Thank you USEF for a great listening session online tonight …we discussed credentialing of coaches (YES), USEF Lite Horse Shows (still learning about this) and a follow up from USHJA Annual mtg on the use of horses (per classes per comp/year etc)

I appreciate the homework that was done by the association and the feedback from Cricket Stone, Kathy Hobstetter, Bonnie Navin and more …

IF you missed it - email [email protected] to listen in on the discussion - next one is in Aug - mark your calendars and take the time to be involved!

Opportunity
To in house LEASE
A seasoned Jumper
Serious Inquiries Only

Summer is going by so fast! Our summer riding sessions have had some great kiddos …our volunteers and team members have done a great job instilling the love ❤️ of horses and horsemanship

Happy Summer!

Bob has changed the lives of many horses and riders ….this is a very good read on why so many horses struggle today …we need to lead and they need to follow 🦄

Today many people of all ages who are fearful when riding. They stay in the arena and other ways to feel safer on a horse. They are not having fun.

I believe the source of all this fear comes from the wider cultural shift of seeing horses more as personal animals or pets than livestock, which is legally what horses are. Still, today's horse world, much of which is detached from rural life, continues to treat horses like cats or dogs that are predatory carnivores like us.

Horses are prey, grazing, herd animals and not at all like us, yet people today insist on anthropomorphizing horses into affectionate attention giving creatures, which can be a stress for many horses.

Herd animals have a hierarchy with a leader, and too many riders refuse to lead. They want to pay attention to their horses and nurture them instead of having the horse pay attention to them.

The end result is a "herd" of a rider and a horse with no leader. This is the source of fear, a ship without a rudder. Riders who understand leadership with horses feel more confident, and so do their horses. The nurturing impulse to work around scary moments instead of leading and working through those moments only makes it worse.

My perspective or approach to riding without fear has resulted in people criticizing me as mean, uncaring and worse regarding horses. This, when I am actually giving horses what they need.

When I work a horse through a challenge that scares them, and after they realize that they can do more than they thought, they gain new confidence. Working around issues only makes them less confident with a rider.

Undermining a horse's confidence is scary to me, therefore I do understand today's riders' fear of riding. Leadership is the most effective way out of fear when riding. Be a leader and have more fun with horses without fear.

Great Podcast - cricket is one of the finest stewards I know …listen and learn about what stewards should be doing at our horse shows and how their role is so important

The role of a steward has changed dramatically over the years, and few people have witnessed that evolution more closely than Cricket Stone.

In this episode of The Plaidcast, Piper Klemm sits down with the lifelong educator, trainer, and USEF "R" C1 steward to discuss a career dedicated to horses and service. Cricket reflects on four decades in the industry, the importance of stewardship, and why protecting horse welfare is one of the most meaningful responsibilities on today's show grounds.

🎧 Listen now at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cricket-stone-rc1-steward-by-taylor-harris-insurance/id1192996514?i=1000742769198 orwherever you get your podcasts.
📸 Cricket Stone winning the USHJA President’s Distinguished Service Award

Happy 250th USA…our horses are very thankful for their herbals tonight!

Just a reminder ….tonight …Collier might have lifted the ban on fireworks (I knew they would cave in) …. But even with the rain we are still dry with tinder …this fire 🔥 on Oil Well just started 15 minutes ago …

Let’s leave the pyrotechnics 🧨 to the pros so our first responders can enjoy this holiday today too;)

Our Horsemanship Challenge classes are exactly THIS…learning about horses and their care is just (if not MORE) as important as learning to ride them….the barn that does not offer horsemanship prefers to keep you ignorant

When it comes to riding lessons, I understand that riding is the overwhelming desire, as well as the underlying principle, guiding most participants, Daphne Thornton writes. However, sometimes riding is not possible, or even advisable. On those days, I am a fan of unmounted lessons.

If you hang out on the horsey Internet at all, you will soon find that lots of folks think that horsemanship is a dying art. Articles and posts abound decrying the lack of “barn rats,” the rise of the “princess programs” at horse shows, and the loss of the true “horsemen” who could do ALL the things. And all that is probably mostly true.

But as instructors, we have a bit of an obligation to try and create at least partial “horsemen” from the moldable clay that is our riding students. Unmounted lessons are a part of that creation process.

If you think you can learn all there is to know about horses and riding while sitting on the back of a horse you are…wrong. If you think your lesson dollars are only well-spent if you are sitting on the back of a horse you are…equally wrong. Riding lessons are many things. Sometimes, a riding lesson is standing on the ground and talking about stuff.

We have a list of unmounted lesson topics that we email out at the beginning of each year. That way, students have some say in what topics they can work on in an unmounted lesson unless we put a larger group together. In that case, we select the topic. Knowing how much everyone wants to ride, we usually limit our unmounted sessions to days when it is too hot or too cold for riding, although not always. We have a handout (and if you know me at all, of course you know I have a handout) that goes out in our yearly packet to our students and that covers the situations, and topics, for unmounted lessons.

Every instructor will have topics that are near and dear to their heart. I’m a fan of proper longeing, judging a video-taped trip (nothing makes them feel empathy for judges like having to sit in their seat for a hot minute), and learning to wrap and bandage. Our beginner instructors and horsemanship instructor like to go over-grooming, and the parts of the bridle and saddle, and help kids learn to saddle and bridle correctly, as well as clean and care for their (mostly our) equipment.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2022/11/16/in-defense-of-unmounted-lessons/
📸 © ES Equine Photography

Thank you to our fire fighters
They are so awesome