Northwind Farm

08/31/2025

Northwind Farm has stalls opening starting in September!

We are a full care boarding and training barn located in beautiful Kitsap County, with easy walking access to the Banner Forest Heritage Park for trail rides and well maintained indoor and outdoor arenas for schooling and lessons. All horses are provided a full stall with either a connected run off the stall or daily turn out in near by group paddocks.

Our barn community is friendly, supportive, respectful and fun. We offer personalized lesson and training programs for riders and horses at every stage of development. We have an active group of riders who enjoy everything from organized trail rides, fox hunting with the Woodbrook hunt club, recognized events and shows and unrecognized schooling shows and outings. We get up to all kinds of fun!

Most importantly, we provide a safe, respectful and professional place to relax and enjoy your horse.

For inquiries please contact Nelson Mittuch at 253.208.7575 for more information and/or to arrange a visit!

Check our our Farm Web Page at
http://www.northwindeventing.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMfJI5leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFtWVJUbDBodVlocE95R20zAR5X_9dhf3Vigh0Je_68d2smf5YZk0goxd1nAlla-J9GOgygZhwE94IhC6jang_aem_sIFXofImrx0kpqIhGBT-5A

Key Words:  Horse boarding, Horse training, Horse Rehabilitation Services, Riding Lessons, Equine Bodywork, Equine Massage Therapy

08/01/2025

Public Service Announcement!  whether you do it in the gym, or out in nature, get moving!

I have a friend who deals with lots of adult amateur riders, and she has a strong conviction that the ONE CHALLENGE faced by that group as an entirety is lack of physical strength and fitness.

Obviously, she’s painting in too large brush strokes, There are 70 year old adult amateurs who also run marathons, but her point is that the sedentary lifestyle that’s so normal in modern America has allowed lots of adults to lose what they had I high school and college. It’s not that many of them CAN’T get it back, she says. The problem is making that a high priority when so many other obligations clamor for their time and energy. And, of course, illness and injury restrict some.

Strong athletes can do so much more, though, than weak athletes, and that is a simple reality that supports Susan’s theory. But this is actually good news, because it CAN be changed, which is hugely more positive than if all hope was gone.

In this photo, Walt Gervais, who took up riding in his mid 50s is entering the steeplechase starting box for his first preliminary 3-day event, and he was 75. It CAN be done. Hard as hell? Yes. Possible though? Also yes.

07/21/2025

NWF HAS OPENINGS!!

Smack in the middle of summer, with many days of horse fun and companionship ahead before the daylight starts to fade! Northwind Farm has a few stalls opening up and we'd love to welcome some new folks to our barn community.

We support horses and riders of all ages and stages, with special focus on Fox Hunting with the Woodbrook Hunt Club, Cross Country Equestrian sport, show jumping, dressage and trail riding in the beautiful Banner Forest. We offer full care boarding, lessons and and training, and our barn staff are excellent and professional. We have excellent vets and farriers. Our community includes musicians, horse and human health care specialists, retired folks and youngsters and all ages in between. Wether you are a competitive rider seeking improvement for shows or a non-competitive rider who just wants to learn and hang out with your horse, we offer great support and a friendly, cooperative environment.

Contact us to arrange a visit!

05/19/2025

Northwind Farm has a few stalls available for boarding! Our barn family is diverse in their interests, which include dressage, show jumping, cross country and eventing and trail riding in the neighboring Banner Forest Heritage Park. We have a special draw for people interested in Fox Hunting with the Woodbrook Hunt Club, and we are the central organizing hub for the new sport of Cross Country Equestrian CCE in the Pacific Northwest!

Our farm is professionally run and managed, and community is everything to us. If this sounds like a place you'd like to be, reach out and we can arrange a visit! 253.208.7575

03/25/2025

Yup.

02/09/2025

‼️‼️SAVE THE DATE‼️‼️
Our Canadian friend and Equestrian colleague comes back to NWF for an early summer jumping clinic! Flyer has info on reserving your space in this fun and super beneficial riding experience!

11/27/2024

We are lucky to have this expertise in the house at Northwind in the person of Nelson Mittuch. Seriously. I’m always amazed at how he does it, and now I know. He’s spent his 10,000 hours and way past that studying it and living it.

Gymnastic Lines---A discussion

One definition---there are no doubt others---“A gymnastic line is a series of fences set at predetermined distances to attempt to obtain predetermined results.”

For example, you might start with something as basic as trotting poles, roughly 4 ½ feet apart, A trotting bounce will be around 9-10 feet for an average horse. A trotting one stride will be 18-19 feet for an average horse, a two stride might be 29-33 feet.

So you might set a bounce to a one stride to a one stride to a two stride, and the distances might be 9-18-19-31, or something like that. You have to watch what is happening and adjust accordingly.
The biggest problem with using gymnastic lines is that setting them up and adjusting them is a LOT of work, constant measuring, hauling standards and rails, changing, resetting, and so forth.

The way someone gets confident with doing all of this? You have to LIVE in a jumping arena. You must know distances. You must have an accurate stride. You must be watchful. You can totally mess up a horse if you get it wrong---You can even cause a wreck. So if you want to become a good fence setter, you must make a commitment, and if you are not willing to become educated, leave it to those who know more than you.

A slightly shorter interior distance might get a horse to land, rock back, and get his front end up faster, whereas a longer distance doesn’t challenge the use of his his knees as much. You just have to live it to learn it, A few will, but many won’t. that simple.

11/10/2024

Still looking for our next barn family members!! Clinics, lessons, trail rides, community, HEALTHY BARN environment. Gossip and drama free. Professionally run and maintained. Come out of the rain!!! Ride indoors this winter!!