http://www.finerpointsfarm.com/

Finer Points Farm, 28930 Ridge Road, Mount Airy, MD (2026)

05/02/2026

FPF had a fun and successful first outing of the year at Swan Lake Horse Shows today! It was also a day of firsts. Thanks to Delaney, Wonder Woman had a very successful first show and even secured nice prizes. Cathy Chester McErlean debuted her new horse Pickpocket and walked away with nice ribbons. Ellie and I'm Getting Around ended the day with a reserve champion and lots of good ribbons and experience. And Showing Promise and Marina Miragliotta ended our day with a blue ribbon. Huge thanks to Maya Priyanka and Theresa for all there help today and to Avery and Amanda for the support.

04/26/2026

What do you do when your planned horse show is canceled.........you create your own show/clinic/chaos! Grateful to be surrounded by these dedicated riders, young and young at heart.

04/05/2026

When your truck doesn't want to go to a horse show.......you still can enjoy the beautiful day.

02/27/2026

Starting our comeback.....got almost the whole barn ridden and there was sunshine!

02/03/2026

A huge shout out to the village of people(those pictured and those who aren't)who have helped me get thru this terrible cold snap and snow storm. It truly takes a village to keep this place going and I appreciate each and every one of you. MVP to Laura for staying with me(and the 4 dogs)for 4 days during the storm and to Loren for showing up to plow mid-storm.

01/17/2026

It was a big day of training here at FPF and it begins Amanda Yates journey towards Adult Ammy glory in the future. Thanks joey and Marina. Cheers to January.

12/19/2025

As Margie Goldstein-Engle looks across today’s show rings, she sees a sport that has changed dramatically since she first started riding. Horses are bred with more blood and sensitivity, courses have become more technical, and young riders are climbing the ranks faster than ever. But there’s one thing missing that worries her—the pipeline of riders willing to bring along young horses.

“It seems like there are very few that really deal with young horses much anymore, especially in our country,” Margie said. “It’s getting harder and harder to find people who want to do that.”

When Margie turned professional, she built her career from the ground up. “When I was twelve, I started breaking ponies and horses because of my size,” she said. “People would send ponies and horses to the farm for me to break.” That early experience gave her an understanding of horse development that still guides her today.

Now, she worries that new generations of professionals aren’t getting the same education. “Financially, it’s getting more and more difficult to carry horses and pay the showing expenses, shipping, and care,” she said. “Before, there were lots of riders who wanted to bring young horses along. It’s harder to find that now.”

The economic realities of modern horse sport have reshaped how riders build their careers. For many, focusing on made horses in upper divisions is the only sustainable path. Margie understands the pressure but still believes something is lost when riders skip the process of developing a horse from its first jump.

“The sport’s grown so much,” she said. “There are so many more people looking for horses all over the world, and fewer breeders and owners who can afford to keep young horses long enough to develop them. It’s getting more and more difficult.”

That shift, she explained, creates a talent gap. Not just in horses, but in riders. Without time on green or unpredictable mounts, riders lose valuable experience. “The more time you can spend with different horses and horses of all ages, the more knowledge you gain,” she said. “It gives you a lot more tools in your toolbox.”

Riding young horses, Margie explained, teaches lessons that can’t be learned in the show ring alone. “You learn their personalities, their likes and dislikes,” she said. “It helps you develop horse sense.”

That understanding builds the kind of adaptability that’s kept Margie competitive through decades of evolving trends. “The sport is ever evolving,” she said. “You have to try and keep knowledgeable and keep evolving with it. Every new horse teaches me something.”

Margie has seen the shift firsthand. “There are fewer and fewer people who want to help bring the young horses along,” she said. “Everyone wants to go straight into the bigger divisions.”

In earlier generations, working with young horses was part of a natural progression. Riders learned patience, timing, and feel from colts and green mounts before they ever jumped a 1.30m track. Those lessons don’t come easily, or quickly, but Margie believes they create stronger, more intuitive horsemen.

“You develop a broader background when you ride different types of horses,” she said. “The difficult ones make you appreciate the really nice ones that much more.”

To rebuild that foundation, Margie believes the industry needs more opportunities and incentives for riders to work with young horses. Programs that reward patient development, she says, could help restore balance to a system increasingly driven by quick results. To secure the future of show jumping, riders must embrace the slow work again. “Every horse is different,” she said. “They all have different personalities. The more you ride, the more you learn.”

Margie’s own longevity in the sport is proof of the value of that approach. Her ability to adapt, stay current, and produce results stems from decades spent listening to horses, not just riding them. “You can learn even by watching,” she said. “The horses are the best teachers that we have.”

For Margie, the next generation’s success depends on rediscovering that kind of horsemanship. “The more you can ride different horses, the better it is for your knowledge,” she said. “It’ll help you immensely when you go to do the sport, even at the higher level."

📎 Save & share this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/12/15/where-have-the-riders-willing-to-develop-young-horses-gone/
📸 © Andrew Ryback Photography

12/13/2025

"The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. So I give you some of my favorite pearls of wisdom, in no particular order. Some of these are from trainers of mine, both past and present, some are widely recognized from BNT, some have nothing to do with horses by origin but still apply, and some are from my own head.

- If a horse says no, you either asked the wrong question or asked the question wrong.

-An average hunter course has 100 strides. Only 8 of them are jumps. Don’t sacrifice the 92 for the 8.

- On approaching a fence: good riders wait until it’s time to go. Great riders go until it’s time to wait.

- Don’t squat with your spurs on.

- It is NEVER the horse’s fault. Yes, sometimes a horse may take advantage of a situation, but there is ALWAYS something the rider could do differently to change the situation.

- Pass left hand to left hand.

- You can only lie to your horse so many times before they call your bluff.

- Horses do not know what they are worth. They do not know, or care, what they are capable of. They only care about the way you treat them.

- Injuries and colic happen almost exclusively at 10:00 pm on a Saturday.

- Shoes get lost almost exclusively when preparing to leave for a show.

- If you work hard, try your best, and never give up, your efforts will not go unnoticed.

- And you will be rewarded with opportunities when you least expect it.

- If you work hard, try your best, and never give up, you will still fail sometimes.

- Video doesn’t lie – after being told repeatedly that I was lifting my right hand before every fence, and swearing up and down that I was certainly NOT lifting my right hand before every fence… I was—in fact—lifting my right hand before every fence. Sometimes your brain lies to you. Video does not.

- On being nervous going into the show ring: you’re just not that big of a deal. No one at the show is watching you close enough to know every mistake you might make, except for the judge and your trainer, and you are paying them to watch.

- Be patient – there are no shortcuts. Any shortcut you may try, will actually be the long way.

- Check your personal issues and emotions at the door. Your horse will know. It usually does not go well.

- If your horse is in front of your leg, you have options.

- We never lose. We either win or we learn.

- Ride like a winner. You cannot act like flip flops and expect to be treated like Louboutins.

- If you have to pick only two things to think about during a course, pace and track are the two you should choose. The rest cannot happen without pace and track.

- Give yourself and your horse brain breaks. Go have fun, go hack out in the woods, go swimming ba****ck, read a book in the paddock, whatever. Just allow yourself time to have fun.

- At home there’s no reason to jump as big as you show every time. The basics are the basics regardless of the jump height. Save your horses legs.

- The horse world is very small. Remember this and don’t burn your bridges and be mindful of your words.

- Clean your tack. Groom your horse. Properly. Every day. If you can control nothing else, you can control your turn out. There is no excuse to not do the minimum effort.

- No matter what the problem is, the solution is almost always add more leg.

- Ride the horse you have today. Not the one you had yesterday. Not the one you want to have. The horse under you at this moment is the only one that matters.

- You go where you look. The human head weighs 10 pounds. Unless you would like to end up on the ground, do not look down.

- Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

📎 Save & share this article by PonyMomAmmy at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2020/09/15/equestrian-advice-to-ride-and-live-by/

11/22/2025

Showing Promise was a very good baby horse today.....minus the smoke and grill at the breakfast bar🤣. Proud of Marina for riding thru it. # 5yr old baby moments

11/13/2025

"I’ve always said that riding is like tennis (or, these days, pickleball). It’s a lifetime sport. You can enjoy riding at almost any age, and there are many levels of participation. Things don’t get tricky until you want to compete. And then they get really tricky when you want to compete—and succeed—at a high level. Here are some thoughts on success in horse sports.

If you’ve been in this sport for any length of time, you already know this. If you’re just starting out… well, welcome aboard the struggle bus.

However, there is a path to success. You may think that path involves talent, and while talent surely doesn’t hurt, it’s not always the main ingredient for success in horse sport. If you’re not the most talented rider out there, there are other things you can do that will help vault you to the top.

At least 50% of the people (okay, 99%) reading this right now are thinking the same thing—money. And they’re not wrong. I’m a realist, and have been playing in this sandbox long enough to understand that money plays a significant role in horse sport. Frankly, access to some fairly deep pockets is essential. A competitive horse is expensive. Top coaching and training are expensive. Upper-level horse shows are expensive.

But there are some things that money can’t buy. And those things can get you closer to the top, regardless of how rich or talented you might be. Here’s my top 3.

Time

Success in this sport requires a great deal of time. This includes time in the tack as well as time at the barn. That sounds easy enough, right? I wish.

I’ve spoken to so many parents over the years who wonder why Suzie isn’t doing better…doing more…winning more. Unfortunately, Suzie takes one or two lessons a week, misses a lot for school activities, social activities, “tired”, or a million other reasons, and cannot find time to come to the barn to ride her horse much outside of her scheduled lesson rides. She is very busy and just doesn’t have the time.

To really succeed in this sport, you have to know your horse. You must know his canter in all its facets. And for that to happen, you need to make a serious time commitment to the barn and to your horse. You need to take lessons at least twice weekly (preferably with one of them a flat lesson), and ride on your own several other times.

If you are not putting the time in with your horse at home, it’s hard to be the winner at shows.

Anyone can enjoy this sport at a lower level without spending a lot of time at it, but to succeed at a higher level, time riding and at the barn is essential.

Effort

Here’s another one that sounds easy. But, like time, effort is sometimes rare.

I’ve known kids who come to the barn a lot. They show up with friends, spend an hour or so chatting and having fun, finally get their horse ready, and ride for 15 or 20 minutes between standing center ring and gabbing. I like fun, I like chatting, and I like gabbing. It’s important, and it definitely belongs in a barn. I’d just like to see that same effort expended on actually riding.

We spend a lot of time on tracking exercises in lessons, and I know other trainers do as well. The foundation for a winning hunter ride is track and pace. And yet many students don’t practice difficult tracks when they hack on their own. It’s all w/t/c on the rail, and an occasional circle. Your horse doesn’t need to work hard every ride, but he does need to concentrate occasionally. It’s a skill that requires effort.

What does effort look like? It looks like practicing difficult tracks, it looks like varying your canter pace, it looks like riding on your own without stirrups, it looks like cantering in a half seat for a hot minute, it looks like varying your posting rhythm, and challenging yourself with some hard ones. It looks like framing, and bending, and flexing, and stretching. And once your ride is over, it looks like taking good care of your horse with a proper cool-down, maybe ice boots or some liniment, maybe a nice bath, maybe a hand-graze. It’s certainly not just throwing him back in his stall after a cursory brushing.

Anyone can enjoy this sport at a lower level without making a huge effort, but to succeed at a higher level, effort is essential.

Commitment

This one is a little more elusive than the first two. Basically, it’s sticking to something when it gets hard. “I asked him to do that, and he didn’t.”

“He won’t listen.”

“I did everything right, and we still didn’t win.”

My answer? Try it again. And possibly again. And possibly 100 times after that, without getting angry or frustrated or taking it out on your horse. Read the first sentence of this article again. Success in this sport is hard. There will be frustrating moments. There will be many fails. You can do everything right and still not win. And yet, do it again. Try harder. Keep your cool. Assess. Evaluate. Tweak. Listen. Change. Learn. Grow.

Anyone can enjoy this sport at a lower level without making an enormous commitment, but to succeed at a higher level, commitment is essential.

If you can put in the time, give the effort, and make the commitment, you might be surprised how far you can get."

📎 Save & share this article by Daphne Thornton at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/11/11/success-in-this-sport-is-hard/
📸 © The Plaid Horse

Finer Points Farm

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