Stonehouse Equestrian, LLC - Horseback Riding Lessons in Hartwood, VA

01/12/2026

The Horse World lost an icon today.
Georgina "Gegi" Winslett is now galloping across new fields after teaching and training thousands of equestrians. For years we enjoyed participating in her TWA Horse Show Series.

Heels down and Kick on, Gegi!

09/20/2025

DO HORSES GRIEVE WHEN THEY LOSE A COMPANION?

Many horse people sense it. Now, recent research provides more evidence that yes — when a companion horse dies, many horses exhibit grief-like responses that can last for months.

This study examined behavioural changes in horses following the death of a companion. Of 325 owners who responded to the study survey, many reported noticeable changes in their surviving horse’s behaviour after the loss.

What the study found:

• Within the first 24 hours after the death of a companion, most horses showed changes in behaviour: heightened arousal (≈ 89 %), altered interaction with other horses (~78 %), changed behaviour toward humans (~78 %), increased alertness to environmental stimuli (~73 %), and more vocalisation (~69 %).

• Many horses continued to show shifts in behaviour, mood, or social engagement up to six months after the loss.

• The strength of the bond matters: horses in close “affectionate” relationships showed more pronounced changes — especially around feeding, interacting, or being around others.

• Whether a horse could stay near the body of the deceased companion also influenced how certain behaviours (like vocalisation, excitement about feeding, or interaction) evolved over time. Those unable to access or witness what happened showed more persistent distress, especially heightened vigilance and arousal over time.

Grieving the loss of a companion has real welfare implications. Grief isn’t just a nice sentiment or a human emotion we project onto horses — for survivor horses, loss can cause real, lasting effects that have long-term impact. Mood, appetite, energy, social behaviour, and interest in human interactions can all be disrupted.

The way death is handled on a yard makes a difference. Allowing time and presence with the deceased, recognising behaviour changes early, and offering extra care can help reduce the impact:

• Watch for changes in the first 24 hours and beyond: look for changes in feeding, sleeping, social behaviour, mood, vigilance and interaction with people.

• Be aware that healing takes time: six months or more is not uncommon.

• If possible, allow surviving horses to be near the body or to witness (if safe and feasible). This seems to reduce some prolonged stress.

• Give the surviving horses an opportunity to acknowledge the loss: presence near the body, opportunity to witness or experience what happened (safely and appropriately) seems to help.

• Provide extra care, enrichment, predictable routine, and gentle handling — especially for horses with strong bonds.

Remember that grief is individual. Some horses bounce back quickly, others need more time. Both deserve care and compassion.

Study: Ricci-Bonot et al (2025). Grief-like distress responses in horses after the death of a conspecific. Applied Animal Behaviour Science.

12/25/2024

Tack Room Clean Up! Bits for sale!

All are in Excellent to Like New condition.
Click on individual pictures for details and prices.

Please email stonehouse.equestrian (at) yahoo (dot) com if you're interested. Prices do not include shipping.
Local pick up in Hartwood, VA.

https://stonehouseequestrian.wixsite.com/welcome/tack-sales

12/23/2024

Looking for that last minute Holiday Gift? Give the gift of riding!

Lessons available for ages 4 and up.

We have e-Gift Certificates available! Print them out for the perfect stocking stuffer!

email us at stonehouse (dot) equestrian (at) yahoo (dot) com

Happy Holidays!

05/08/2024

My favorite exercise for teaching students to look ahead and use their outside rein to turn.

02/17/2024

This is the best and kindest thing you can do for your equine friend if you can no longer care for them yourself.

There is NO excuse for dumping your old or non-ridable horse at auction, or giving it away because you don't want to make that hard decision. Both of those are acts of a coward.

If you say you're getting rid of your horse because you want a horse you can ride and your current horse is no longer ridable, you don't deserve ANY horse and you just suck.

Once the horse leaves your care, there are no guarantees it will receive proper care. Odds are really good it will wind up on a cattle truck to Mexico. If it survives that miserable ride, it will soon meet an unpleasant death.

There are fates worse than death. Put your horse down with kindness and spare them one of those fates.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but if you need permission, you have mine.
Put them down.

That old horse that can’t always get up on their own, or keep weight on despite your best effort, you may put them down.

The horse that was diagnosed with all the aweful acronyms, and will never be comfortable- it’s okay to put them down.

You’ve spent thousands of dollars trying to get that horse sound. It’s young, “well bred”, and you thought you would be working on straightness in the flying changes by now, not yet more imaging. You can’t afford another horse, and you can’t sell a lame one. You can maybe sorta keep them pasture sound and comfortable with $300 shoes and another $300/month in supplements and add complimentary therapies on top…. It’s financially destroying you. Just stop.

If anyone disagrees with me, or you can put a post on their own darn page, and stay out of my comment section, but I do not believe it is some moral obligation to absolutely destroy yourself, financially and emotionally, too keep a broken horse alive and comfortable.

Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of aging horses on my farm and they are all healthy and happy and my plans are for them to be here until the end. But horses don’t just die peacefully in their sleep one night. Not usually. All too often their deaths are traumatic and awful.  Sure I would love if my old heart horse out there beat the odds and is one of the few horses to just lay down and peacefully cross over, but I am absolutely not counting on that… so he has  it to count on me to not wait too long.
For those of you who can’t bring yourself to make that decision without some kind of permission, I grant you mine. If you love that horse, but think it might be the end, I trust that you did not come to that decision lightly. If in your heart, you know, it’s time, please let them go.

10/10/2023

Updating our web address:

As of August 2023, we have a limited number of openings for lessons during the week. We do not have any weekend openings.  

06/26/2023

I am offering a Pony Meet & Greet for kids ages 4-8

Your child will get to meet Theodore, the most Adorable pony ever!
They will receive a mini riding lesson then go on a short trail ride.
This will be followed up by a mini photo shoot and they will receive a souvenir horse shoe.

This is a great way to expose your children to horses and is far more interesting than walking in a circle at the fair.

If you have more than one child, I do offer multi-kid discounts!
Teddy does have a 75 lb weight limit so no older children please.

Shoot me an email at stonehouse.equestrian (at) yahoo (dot) com to schedule your session.

❌Do not message me on FB; I won't get the notification.

Theodore would love to meet you!

12/07/2022

I'm so glad things have moved beyond the old "pass/fail" system and they actually rate how well the helmets do their job. It's also nice to see that price does not necessarily correlate to protection.

And for the record, I've never been a fan of Troxel helmets.

The Virgina Tech Helmet Lab has released its much-anticipated equestrian helmet ratings. Taking the top spot in the rankings is the $460 Champion Revolve X-Air MIPS helmet, but in good news for riders who are both frugal and safety conscious, the re...

12/07/2022

The loss of a great horsewoman.
RIP Judy Richter.

Hunter jumper trainer, instructor, and USEF Pegasus Medal of Honor recipient Judith H. Richter (Judy) died peacefully in Greenwich Hospital at the age of 83 on November 30, 2022.

05/04/2022