Crooked Ridge Farm

01/16/2026

World's best co-pilot! Do you have a dog that you travel with? Farm dog? Drop a picture of your pup below!

01/15/2026

Little peak at some trail rides that happen with your horse while they are in training here at Crooked Ridge.

We love to mix a little fun and work together! Trimming trails helps teach meaningful patience while out and about, and keeps things looking nice too! Adding in some different obstacles builds confidence in using their body correctly!

Every horse is a little different and sometimes I need to change things up a little to better help them! The horse is our greatest teacher after all!

01/14/2026

Trying to get cute pictures of Dani, and she was being ridiculous (still adorable though!). Trying to show off our new headstall from Anna Porter at Equine Closet! She did eventually stop enjoying her bit so much and stood for a picture ♥️

01/13/2026

If you want your horse to come back from trail riding training all business, I am probably not the trainer for you 🤣🤣. Phineas has enough personality for a horse twice his size, and rather than get in an argument about his silliness, we use that energy for good! Climbing rocks and eating up trail miles. He does everything with his own flair 🤣

01/11/2026

This!!

Keep your young horse out of trouble, but don't control the normal happenings of life and the barn around you.

One of the quickest ways you can create an insecure horse is tiptoeing around them and losing focus on what you're doing when a "thing," happens.

Now, I don't believe in the saying "loud people make quiet horses." Because what I often see with that is heavy desensitizing, flooding, and being plain rude to horses. The result is usually a really dull, freezey, and bracey horse.

I think we should still expose them to as much as we can but how that is executed is different across the board. Also, how much a horse can handle in a session/a day is different between each horse.

What I am describing is being the rider that looks out for your horse and supports them through life. Get ahead of them and set them up for success. If you think kids running around the barn and being noisy might cause your horse to go over the edge while at the walk, maybe consider stopping or going for a trot. Whatever yields a horse that is more connected to you vs. worried about the things around you.

I don't mind giving my horse a chance to look around. However, the longer I am not there offering another idea that could lead to relaxation as they puff up then I am not supporting my horse.

As time goes on, all of the things aren't even things anymore. They still need to happen around the horse and the horse needs to see the other side. They need to know they are ok through your support.

Tonight on ride 10 we experienced pigeons flying right over head (and he is tall so it really was right over head lol), kids running and popping in the doorways, the banging of feeding, feeding time itself, and wheel barrows coming in and out of the arena. Which he had already shown his confidence on the ground with these things. ✅️✅️✅️✅️✅️✅️✅️✅️✅️✅️

P.S. not every horse is truly safe with some of the things above. You should still be considerate of those around you by asking or notifying others that you may be coming through the door and more. Understand the rules of each barn.

01/10/2026

01/02/2026

01/01/2026

Throwback to me playing around with Jasper and his side up cue.

12/29/2025

Right? 🤣🤣