Whistling Ridge Equestrian

05/30/2026

Cameron is the type of owner every horse dreams of being lucky enough to have. Bentley has had his share of battles to overcome, and Cameron has hung in there for the long haul to do what she feels is right for her horse. We’ve battle chronic asthma in addition to, volatile behavioral issues and even had to remove an eye. It has been nearly a three year process thus far, but she has been able to take Bentley from an untrustworthy partner even in a confined space (how many times did we get reared, spun, bolted or bucked off with in the arena??), to a soft, happy, and willing partner in many different types of settings. It is a process to rebuild trust in our horses and we are eternally grateful to this pair for believing in our program. We have paired a committed owner with good foundational training, exceptional farrier and veterinary care, routine bodywork and a fitness program to rebuild this horse’s whole life. This pair is a true testimate to what that commitment looks like. It has been an honor to share my life with theirs and it brings me great joy to watch these two confidently ride outside, jumping jumps and bravely traveling terrain.

04/17/2026

Feeling really thankful to be blessed with some nice warmblood three year olds this season!

04/10/2026

Feeling thankful for the springtime and all of the horses we are lucky to work with.

Coming three year old, Lil, having a great time on our weekly outing to lessons.

04/02/2026

March was a busy month for us! We took four horses to the VHC schooling horse trials (Glendale's Brooklyn pictured), five to jumper rounds at Gabby Dickerson Eventing, four to CDCTA’s Fix a test, and rounded out the month with two at Bull Run’s hunter pace. A huge thank you to our clients for all of the fun adventures, the horses for teaching us and making these outings so enjoyable, and to our staff for keeping the wheels turning smoothly! Everyone is feeling really grown up after a full month and we are looking forward to the spring.

📸 Swita Photography

04/01/2026

Spring is in the air and the season of opportunity is here.

Here is your friendly reminder to get out and enjoy your horse!

📸 Celestial Photography

03/31/2026

The only downfall that we have found to owning a Connemara is that they are easy, easy keepers!

We are extremely fortunate to have 16 different turnout options to meet the needs of every individual horse. We have 9 dry lots to help us manage our easy keepers, because in Virginia - particularly in the spring season - insulin resistance is a tremendous worry!

Glendale's Brooklyn sporting her spring season dry lot life... outfitted in her Rambo Protector Fly Sheet, Cashel Fly Mask, her Grand Prix Italian Bell Boots, and snacking with her favorite GG Equine HayPlay Hay Bag.

Only the best for the best!

Being a busy program with a great variety of horses, we put products to the test day in and day out. Interested in our favorite things that withstand the trials and tribulations? Visit our site here:

https://www.whistlingridgeequestrian.com/briesfavoritethings

03/30/2026

Brooklyn and Snail managed to come in 4th at their hunter pace over the weekend with Bull Run! It was such a fun pace and super exposure for the horses, we really enjoyed the terrain!

Hunter Pace Results UPDATED!!
Thank you to everyone who came out to our Spring Hunter Pace today and congratulations to our winners!

Hunter division:
1st Wannabe Pole Dancers, Jeff Beshear and Tiffany Seal
2nd The Highlanders, Mark and Vicky Mitchell
3rd Amy and Andy, Amy Grieves and Andrew Stahling
4th March Hill Mustangs, Abigail Walker, Lindsay Colvin, Fiona Tustin
5th The Walnuts, Deborah Wray, Robin Ellis, Joy Compton, IV Hendrix

Junior division:
1st Ware Fox Fabulous, Izzy Van Hoven and Delaney Garner
2nd The Birdie Bunch, Jessica White and Kate Van Valzah
3rd Ava, Sophie Laporte and Ava Seale
4th Signature Farms Juniors, Sophie Radford, Peyton Redford, Ella Radford, and Ellie Luck

Pleasure division (UPDATED):
1st (TIE) Amissville Duo, Sheri Ruane and Cathy Apicella
Sunday Peeps, Dawn Lee, Maggie Hendricks, and Sunny Smith-Carroll
3rd Tally Ho’s, Lindsey Reininger, Brooke Carr, Carole Boniface, and Dianne Pavlansky
4th Whistling Ridge, Brianna Richards and Jessica Lee
5th (TIE) Two Girls, All Good, Linda Newland and Teresa Stanley
Signature Farm Oldies, Erica Hundley, Chad Hundley, and Sarah Luck
6th Windswept Acres, Kelly Noga and Jordan Bradley
(There was a discrepancy in the Pleasure Division results initially. We apologize!)

Full results with times are posted on the website and ribbons will be mailed out this week. https://bullrunhuntclub.com/hunter-pace

Look for photos from Celestial Photography coming soon!

03/10/2026

Interested in what halters and lead ropes we use? Follow the link below to learn more about our long standing partnership with Bitterroot Saddle Co.

For day to day use we prefer 12 foot leads, but for working through cross country on the line we use 14 foot. Reach out to Julie to get yours today!

https://whistlingridgeequestrian.com/partners

03/09/2026

We took Bentley, Snail, Lucky, Binn and Brooklyn out for some cross country schooling on the line over the weekend at GDE. It’s such a fun way to get the horses confident and curious, especially for a first outing of the year! If you want to see the full training videos for each horse, hop on over to our YouTube channel.

** as a training note, we do not recommend using a full lunge line when doing cross country from the ground. The main reason being, if the horse happens to get loose there is a ton of rope that could get caught around an object or heaven forbid, another passing horse. A prerequisite to line work out on the cross country is making sure your horse can work on the rope in the arena, is confident and quiet lunging in both directions at the walk, trot, and canter. They can get really excited and proud of themselves out on cross country (and we don't want to discourage their spirit), so you want to be sure you have a foundation of understanding beforehand so that everyone can be safe. If you are not feeling confident, come on by for a ground work lesson to prepare in a safe and positive environment!

03/08/2026

A group of very different types..

Bentley, Brooklyn, Lucky and Binn through this weeks little jumping exercise. 🏋️‍♂️

An Appendix, Connemara x, APHA, and a Thoroughbred