BR Sporthorses

06/30/2025

HITS is a wrap and we rocked! Big learning and experiences for all. Vids coming but congrats to Ani, Listo, Chase, Toby, Sam, Jess, Laurie, Rachel and our brilliant teacher Bree!!!!

06/28/2025

More riding vids (check out all those ribbons…) coming soon but cute behind the scenes stuff happening too! Even Rowan got in on the jump action!

06/28/2025

Day One HITS Horse Shows Festival of the Horse!! Bree and Ani took 2nd, Rachel and Sam got 3rd and Laurie and Toby were 1st in their respective dressage classes! Rachel and Sam also jumped around in the freakin Grand Prix stadium!! We even got featured on the HITS gram account chillin outside the dressage square with our friends Helen and Pepper! Tomorrow will be even better ❤️🐎🏆

Laurie Clark Sutka Bree Sprik Powell Helen Egnasher Rachel Owens

06/27/2025

Things I talk about in lessons

The collage of many pictures might be a bit much, but each one makes an important point. I grew up in the frozen northeastern US where people put sandbags or cement blocks in the back of their pickup trucks for better traction in the snow. That same principle applies to horses when they jump. Jumping horses can use all the help they can get when they jump, including having the rider's weight over and close to their center of balance as they take off.

The last thing a horse needs as they prepare to jump is to have their rider leap suddenly up onto their neck, way ahead of their center of balance. It's like throwing those sandbags through the truck's back window onto the front seat just as the truck starts to drive up a slippery frozen hill.

The red dots indicate the centers of balance of a typical horse and human. The skeletal drawing shows how when riding we want to merge our center of balance with the horse's. As we sit deeper our center drops, and as the horse engages, their center rises. This is how we join in establishing unity of shared balance and movement with our horse.

The US Cavalry rider is helping his horse by keeping his center of balance close to his horse's. The rider at middle left with their butt over the pommel is disrupting their horse's balance in the jump.

The evolution of the crest release in Hunter Seat Equitation to the point now that riders are placing their weight so far up on their horse's, with their butts over the pommel, is an example of how humans impose their desire for style on horses while they ignore what horses need. The up-on-the-neck jumping position is also dangerous.

Understanding how the biomechanics of how horses and riders merge their centers of balance in unity, or fail to accomplish this, is necessary to increase a riders skill level. This knowledge allows a rider to see past trendy styles so they can help their horse work more effectively. This understanding also keeps a rider safe.

06/27/2025

All horses settled in and ready for their big weekend.
We’re here to gain life experiences, get a little smarter, and have some fun.

06/24/2025

Lots of showers given today!!

06/16/2025

ISO a working student!

Duties to include:
- Childcare - 2 year old boy likes to play at the farm. Your job will be to make sure he doesn't kill himself or anyone else while he's learning to be a farm kid!
- Light "house work" basically clean up after yourself and the boy as you go for the day. Dishes and that sort of thing.

Days and hours :
1 or 2 days each week depending on your availability. 4-5 hours each day.

Pay:
To include riding lessons and money. Or just riding lessons if you'd like to ride more.

Please inquire with any questions or for more info!

06/16/2025

We are getting psyched for Festival of the Horse at HITS!! Ani, Chase, Listo, Sam, and Toby (maybe more!) are all gonna be there in the small jumpers and dressage rings! Come see us! Jessica Canelli Laurie Clark Sutka Rachel Owens Bree Sprik Powell

HITS Horse Shows

06/13/2025

A Little History: OUR Broad Hollow Farm is not the first of its name, Melinda's Great Grandfather, Thomas Hitchcock Sr had the original Broad Hollow on Long Island. 'Broad Hollow Farm' was the estate of Thomas Hitchcock and later his son Tommy Jr. Thomas Hitchcock Sr. was a 10 goal polo player who helped found the Meadowbrook Polo Club and is also credited with founding steeplechase horse racing in America (he's also in the Racing Hall of Fame for horse training). His son, Tommy Jr., was also a 10 goal polo player and is considered one of the best polo players in the sport's history! F. Scott Fitzgeralds character, Tom Buchanan, from the Great Gatsby is modeled on Thomas Jr. Thomas Hitchcock Sr also founded Hitchcock Woods in Aiken South Carolina. Hitchcock Woods is one of the largest urban forests in the nation. With 2,100 acres of forestland, the Woods are a haven for hikers, equestrians, bird watchers, nature lovers and history buffs. Our farm name and love for horses and the natural world runs deep!

02/23/2025

We have an open field! Horayyyy

02/23/2025

We’re all going a little stir crazy over here!

02/14/2025

Bree schooling Gianni in our beautiful indoor. Gianni is a Lusitano and sails around like this with a bitless bridle...Swoon!