Port Royal Equine Center

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Adams, TN
Port Royal Equine Center

We are a locally owned and operated equine boarding, rehab, and spa facility nestled on 82 acres in the beautiful countryside just outside of Clarksville, TN.

05/18/2026

Kaley chose to spend her birthday with Desi and I can’t think of anything sweeter! 🩷🩵
Peep her new accessories 🥳

05/16/2026

Feels like summer🤍

05/11/2026

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?

05/01/2026

It’s Derby Day Eve!🌹🐎
Did you know position 17 is still waiting for its first winner? 🤯 Maybe Six Speed will be the game-changer!
Who's your top pick for tomorrow?

04/17/2026

Feels like show season 🤩🐴

04/11/2026

The life of a show pony 🤍🐴
Handy had the best day showing! Resting up to do it all again tomorrow!

03/28/2026

Francesca Mulligan from Stoney Fields shares how she fosters empathetic, hard-working riders.

How do you teach kids to handle disappointment or mistakes?

We normalize them. It’s important to stress to young riders the value and probability of mistakes. It is far more likely that their performance in the ring will include a mistake than be flawless. There is an opportunity in those mistakes to learn, try harder, build character and conquer! We always say to our riders “Your choices in the ring don’t need to be perfect, but they need to exist.” Promote effort and confidence over perfection. Encourage them (barn mates, students, peers) to talk to each other about it. It’s harder to feel embarrassed or disappointed if they know they aren’t alone in the process.

How do you encourage riders to take responsibility and have empathy instead of blaming the animal?

All of my students know that I have a strict “no pony blaming” policy. We work really hard to choose appropriate mounts for our riders based on their goals and experience. For the most part, a pony or horse is only as good as the instructions they get from their “pilot.” I remind our students that their pony partners did not come from a toy store. Like us, they have good days and bad days. Establishing a partnership between pony/horse and rider can really promote empathy and understanding when things don’t go as a rider plans. Empathetic riding is in the vein of smart riding and we remind our team of that every day.

What can riders of all ages take away from these methods?

In a world of entitlement and perfection-seeking, the idea of embracing flaws and accepting responsibility is a difficult sell. If this mentality is constant, yet encouraging and productive… there are gains that measure far beyond the saddle. There is no age limit on that.

How do you think this might vary from other styles you see at shows or have kids come to your barn with?

We pride ourselves on a curriculum that is teachable to all ages. We choose not to limit information or goal-setting based on age. Fun is important, but remember what they say about fundamentals. We also are big believers in group learning. Within our own stable this promotes a team mentality and sense of comradery that is blind to age, skill level, status, or anything else that may separate barn peers or competitors.

How do these lessons translate to bigger life lessons for kids?

Empathy and emotional intelligence are becoming more recognizable traits and skills today than they were in years past. Teaching young people to identify (in sport or performance) their strengths, weaknesses, insecurities, etc… gives them a strong sense of self-awareness. Ultimately that awareness will navigate through every part of their life. It is overwhelmingly special to be a small part of that. Our girls amaze me every day and I can’t wait to see the incredible competitors and people they become.

📎 Save & share this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2022/07/11/teaching-young-riders-empathy-and-responsibility/
📸 © Andree-Anne Brunet Photography

03/19/2026

Our version of mother-daughter time 🤍🩷💛🐴

01/14/2026

Little recap from Saturday because these girls are always worth celebrating! has been a fun addition to our lessons and allowed each rider to set goals and work through the hurdles to achieve them. We’re looking forward to another year of success, lessons learned and lots of progress!

01/08/2026

Can’t think of anything better than your Christmas present showing up in a stall instead of under the tree 🎄
Congratulations Layla and Scarlett! 🎀🐴🩷

Address

3420 Highway 76
Adams, TN
37010

Telephone

+19312224122

Website

http://www.portroyalequine.com/

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