Sun Ridge Sport Horses

12/19/2025

Join us over your winter break!
DM, call or Text to reserve your spot for this fun and educational 3 day session.

11/03/2025

These days, everybody seems to have grooms, but “R” judge and trainer Geoff Case thinks many riders are missing the quiet time spent simply doing for their horses. “Horsemanship doesn’t just happen in the saddle,” he said. “It’s everything you do around the horse that teaches you who they are.”

Case believes that the best riders, the ones who seem effortlessly in sync with their mounts, aren’t just great athletes. They’re great caretakers.

Case came up in a generation where riders did everything—groomed, bathed, wrapped, and tacked up their own horses. He still believes those habits are the foundation of success. “When you groom your horse, you start noticing things,” he said. “You feel the muscle tone. You feel if something’s tight. You learn their reactions.”

That kind of attention builds awareness and empathy, two things that can’t be taught in a lesson. “If you only ever show up to get on, you’re missing half the education,” he said. “It’s in the details. How they stand, how they breathe, how they look at you when you walk up with the halter.”

He encourages his students to spend as much time on the ground as they do in the saddle. “The more you do yourself, the more connected you are,” he said. “You start riding differently because you understand who’s under you.”

Case recalled working with Peter Wylde, who won the World Championship and an Olympic gold medal, but still did all his own care. “Peter was the perfect example,” Case said. “He could have had ten grooms if he wanted, but he still groomed, tacked, cooled out—everything. He knew every bump on those horses.”

That level of attention was about pride and partnership. “Peter didn’t separate the care from the riding,” Case said. “He knew they were part of the same thing.”

For Case, that mindset is what defines real horsemanship. “When you spend time doing the basics yourself, you stop thinking of the horse as a piece of equipment,” he said. “You start thinking of them as your teammate.”

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/11/03/why-doing-the-basics-yourself-builds-better-riders/
📸 © The Plaid Horse

07/12/2025

Luther!

04/17/2025

Last ride of the night!

04/16/2025

Check out these gorgeous hanging baskets! Picked up at Mushroom Dave’s in Pacific, MO

03/29/2025

On your way to your riding lesson today, stop in our local coffee shop in Pacific Little Ireland Coffee and support colon cancer awareness!

🚨☕️ Coffee for a Cause! ☕️🚨

Join us on Saturday, March 29th for a Dine to Donate event benefiting Colon Cancer Awareness Month! 💙

Come sip, snack, and support the fight against colon cancer—because good coffee should be the only thing keeping you up at night! 😆☕️

A portion of the day's sales will go toward benefiting baskets for those going through treatment at St Luke's Cancer Infusion Center with the help of our friend Sarah Bodi. So bring your friends, grab a latte, and let's kick colon cancer in the butt! 🍑💙