Fairwind Stables - Amanda Miller, Xenia, OH Videos

After a lot of work, Claire and Ian have finished all of the boot stuffers. If you've already claimed a pair, I'll contact you next week about delivery. If you still want a pair, get in touch with me or come find the kids at the tack sale at the Greene County Fairgrounds on March 17th.

Gus, Bowie, and I get to see all the animals on our hacks. Not pictured are the alligators, tortoises, and armadillos.

Bowie has been an absolute pleasure to work with every day. Right now, our focus is on building confidence in our relationship. Every day, we venture into some new exercise on the ground and today was playing with the tarp. By the end of our session, he allowed me to drag it behind and flap it around. Rides have been pretty simple. Mostly standing quietly at the mounting block, yielding to one rein, and finding a consistent rhythm at walk and trot. He hasn't put a foot wrong and improves daily. Yesterday, Tik Maynard introduced some liberty work to him in the round pen. It was fascinating to watch the wheels turn. Overall, I think he's very eager for human connection but still a bit guarded. He has a wonderful temperament and is quite a good athlete so taking the time in the beginning to build this relationship is going to take him far.

Road tripping with Celeste

Ian demonstrating some of the gymnastics that we've set up for tomorrow. I'm hoping the horses will take it a little slower! If anyone is planning on coming from SR35 to Trebein Rd, there's a sign that says that Trebein will be closed until noon tomorrow. Contact me if you need an alternative route.

For a brief second, Gus wasn't sure he wanted to step into the puddle. He got over that pretty quickly. 😆☔️

Thank you Amy Miller (and Chamberlain, of course) for teaching me to ride like a lady this morning. You made it look easier than it is!

Papi navigating the random poles in today's session of in-hand work. Those that came to the last Grid Day got to play with this set-up and it's always fascinating to watch the horses learn to use their bodies whether it's under saddle or on the lunge.

Setting up the new exercise for this weekend's Grid Clinic in record time. A few spots still available!

One of my students asked me this week if it was really supposed to be "this easy" (referring to riding her horse who has been here in training). I couldn't have gotten a better compliment. My goal when giving a lesson or training someone's horse is to make it doable for them. Not me or another pro but something they can take home and work on when riding without someone guiding them every single step. I want to teach their horses to be happy and confident in their work. I want my riders to be confident in their position and give them tools to keep improving. Video below is 3yo Akira and her owner, Julie Jones, trotting under saddle together for the first time last week. Hopefully she felt the same way!😊

Once a week, all the horses in my program do work on the little hill by my arena. It's mostly at the walk either in-hand or on the lunge in the Spanish cavesson. We move around to different spots - some steeper, some more gradual of a slope - but all of it is a great low-impact way to focus on their balance, muscle, and focus. This is Captain, a 4yo TB owned by Becca Veneman, who has been here about 3 weeks. Today was the first time we switched from in-hand work to lunging. He fell in a bit coming through the turn downhill (perhaps knew my attention was a bit more on taking a video than him!) but continued to improve as he went.

Not a horse video but who doesn't adore a puppy that can entertain themselves?🤣 #stopthesufferingohio #farmdog

Part of Ocean's lesson with Diana Rich. She has come a long way as far as relaxation and some of the jumps got up to prelim height. Mostly, we're working on teaching her to jump from a deeper spot and use her body better. She is such a pleasure to ride these days.