KevyGo Riding

04/16/2025

We are home and recovered from a FANTASTIC weekend at Equine Affaire! We had 5 horses and 7 riders going in 16 different clinics, plus two riders in the first ever Ohio Breed Bonanza.

We all learned so much, solidified things we already knew, grew our confidence, and found inspiration for the upcoming riding season!

Molly and I got to learn how to work cattle, a lifelong dream of mine, which was so much fun I am now going to have to find somewhere to continue that journey closer to home. I also got to ground drive a team of Percherons!

Sherman (on his anniversary of being adopted at Equine Affaire 3 years ago!) carried two riders through Breed Bonanza, which is an equitation style flat class where any breed and discipline can enter and be judged against their own breed standards. Competitors were scored by 3 judges in 3 categories, and points were tallied at the end to determine winners. There was a wide variety of horses, including Quarter Horses, Gaited Breeds, Friesans, Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds, Morgans, and other Saddlebreds. Sherman came home with a top 3 finish in the youth class with Paige aboard, and a 6th place in the adult division with Melissa G catch riding him after her lovely mare Coco said I’m too tired to go again today, mom. This was such a cool event to watch, I can’t wait to try it again with more horses and riders next year!

02/23/2025

This pretty girl is ready to start looking for her forever home. Her buddy Bubbles found hers, now it’s Cheyenne’s turn!

01/03/2025

12/18/2024

We were feeling festive last night!

10/07/2024

We finally made it to our first Happily Ever After show of the season this past weekend, and we were so glad to be back! The 4 horses in our group this time were all thoroughbreds, who each dutifully carried riders of a different age and level. What testament to the versatility of the breed!

Congratulations to Melissa G and her lovely mare Coco, whom she adopted at Equine Affaire just 6 months ago, on their division champion win in the 2’ hunters!

Another big congratulations to Maeve and Zoey on winning reserve champs of the 2’ jumpers in Zoey’s return to the show ring after over a year! Maeve has worked Zoey back into competitive form so diligently and thoughtfully all summer, I couldn’t be more proud of the pair and their resilience and the beautiful bond they have developed.

Maeve and Melissa were on fire all weekend; Saturday evening they showed as a team in the pairs jumping class, bringing home a 3rd in a large and very competitive field!

Little Ruby and Jay made such a stylish debut at the most formal show they’ve done together so far, putting on the best possible performances as a new pair that we could have ever asked for. They really are two peas in a pod and we are all so excited to watch them continue to learn and grow together! One of the most impressive things was the positive, relaxed attitude they both maintained all weekend. Ruby said that one of her favorite parts of the whole show was getting to take care of her own horse and hang out with him all day!

It was a joy to watch my good friend and colleague Kaylie Eaves and her horse Mahina put their bond to the test as well this weekend, braving a lot of firsts for both of them. They accomplished everything they set out to do, learned a lot, and are eager to try again in the future!

So much else has happened in the past month I haven’t had the chance yet to post about, but now that I’m further on the mend from my hand injury and things are starting to wind down for the event season I hope to get back to regular programming soon!

09/15/2024

The pace results were posted late last night and these two placed 6th out of 11 teams! The course was 4.42 miles long, ideal time for the slow division was 1:06:17 and Melissa & Sally did it in 1:00:07. Not too bad for a first timer and a second timer!

09/14/2024

Even though I’m a little sad I can’t ride this Rocky Fork Headley Hunt hunter pace myself while I’m broken, I’m thrilled things worked out for two of my students to still have the opportunity to go have fun!

09/08/2024

Proud is an understatement…I’m broken and pretty much useless but my crew pulled it together and are on the parade route looking amazing! Can’t wait for them to get back and tell me how it all went!

09/07/2024

Second to last SAGA show of the season today! All three of these ladies had a great time and put in some lovely rides!

08/24/2024

Ouida, Molly, Piper and I went on a search and rescue mission with a few other members of the local horse community, trying to find and catch a mustang who escaped from his adoptive home just 2 months after being caught from the wild. This poor horse was so freaked out, we ALMOST got him but then he evaded us once more. We decided to head back and regroup and will go back out later once he’s had some time to calm down. I’m so grateful to my wonderful, trusty mares who are always up for any and every task I ask of them!

If not for this adventure, we were going to go down to watch Kaylie Eaves and Senora in the Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue, INC ATFO! Their showcase is starting in about an hour so make sure you tune in to the live feed to watch them show off their stuff!

08/09/2024

This guy never ceases to impress me! Sherman is a beloved part of my lesson string, and he’s coming back into work after nearly 4 months stall rest. I rode him once last week and he was fatigued after just a few minutes of walk work, which is very understandable but if you know him you know how much he loves to go go go. I decided to see how he took to ground driving as a way for him to build back muscle without the weight of a rider. Turns out he’s already a pro! First time in the lines with me and we were able to trot serpentines and figure 8s, go around the rail with me behind him and circle me standing still both directions. I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy has actually pulled a cart in a past life. We both had so much fun, and he was such a good sport about it his leaser/bestie Melissa even gave it a go for her first time ground driving in her lesson this week! I can’t wait for him to be back in full work, and for Cheyenne to get this good! Wouldn’t they make just the cutest pair of Saddlebred driving horses?!

08/05/2024

I had a few friends over yesterday evening for a ride night/cookout, and it was a perfect opportunity for Cheyenne to try some new things! She handled them all like a champ;

*being groomed, including all 4 feet picked, by a “stranger” (who is a very experienced horse person)

*walking down the aisle as it was being swept (this was the scariest thing of the evening 😂)

*navigating a crowded ring without breaking her focus on me or what I was asking her to do

*walking and trotting over ground poles

*trotting in the driving lines

*wearing a resistance band around her hindquarters

*being ground driven/worked in general by a “stranger”

Our little lady is growing up! You go Shy Girl!

07/20/2024

Cheyenne has made an AMAZING amount of progress in just two sessions of introducing ground driving! I wish FB would let me post more than one video at a time so you could see the lead up to this!

07/17/2024

Vote for Cheyenne’s half sister Senora & my friend Kaylie!

Don't forget to vote me for your fan favorite!⬇️

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07/16/2024

Cheyenne and I had our first ride today!! I’d be lying if I said it went as well as I had hoped. Prepare for a longer post as I process my thoughts on the training session.

Things started out just as calm and cool as usual. We stood calmly tied for grooming, picking feet, fly spraying, saddling (including the girth!) and as usual went into a stall to get the bridle on, which becomes less and less of an ordeal each time.

Ground work warm up time was also business as usual, even with some excitement, big noises and tense activity going on in the paddock next to the arena. She handled the stirrups banging on her side as she walked and trotted around both directions without giving them much thought. She did better than ever with the steering from the bit. She stood stock still at the mounting block, just as we’d practiced, as I got on and off several times.

Once it came time to move off, though, she went into a mode of confusion and tension I haven’t felt out of her since very early in our journey together. At no point did I feel like she was going to completely blow up and try to buck me off, but she was not finding comfort in me as she usually does so she she felt a strong need for look for it elsewhere and we lost all semblance of steering and response to voice commands. I sat as still as I could so as not to knock her off balance even more than my presence on her back already was, and realized we need to get a bit more solid in a few things on the ground so that balancing the weight of a rider is the ONLY “new” thing for her to contend with.

Am I disappointed in her? Absolutely NOT! She is allowed to tell me when she doesn’t feel ready for a task. She is allowed to express her opinions. I am thankful she chooses to express her stress in low key ways. She absolutely could have said no much louder, but she’s too polite for that. I have a solid plan in mind for our next few sessions, and will make sure I have a friend around to help from the ground the next time I climb aboard.

After I dismounted we went back to ground work for a bit so as to end on a confident note, and she survived a hose down! I’ve also finally found some treats she enjoys eating from her feeder, so she got lots of treats before she was put back in with her friends 🙂

Onwards and upwards from here!

07/15/2024

Cheyenne’s half sister Senora is so much like her in both looks and personality! Senora has been in training with my friend Kaylie Eaves since late April, they are competing in the ATFO annual trainer competition put on by Heart of Phoenix rescue. I’m still hoping and striving to get the sisters out on a trail ride together before Senora leaves for the competition next month!

07/14/2024

Cheyenne had a light week due to my having a day camp on top of regular lessons and chores, but picked back up right where we left off. She stood tied for grooming, including picking all 4 feet and brushing her mane and tail, fly spray, tried on a few saddles, accepted the bridle with very little resistance, steered from the bit, stood stock still at the mounting block while I did all sorts of silly things including leaning on her back, and then stood ground tied while I walked all around her from various distances! She is just the sweetest, smartest, bravest and prettiest shy girl!

07/04/2024

A little bit of life, lately. Happy Independence Day!