Ask Cari

These snow storms are allowing me more time to create fun videos, here is a teaser to the new book, WHOA MEANS WHOA! which will be available April 1.  Let me know what you think!

Tony is coming to Windrock Farm in April.  He is a 10 year old talented pony with a great personality and temperament.  He is very smart and is very comfortable to ride.

This is a lovely horse for someone looking to move up to Prelim or who wants a solid training level horse.  Chloe is Dutch Warmblood, 15.2 hands, perfect for a young rider or adult wanting to be competitive.  Chloe scores in the leaderboard in dressage and is an honest bold jumper.

Does your horse stand quietly in the cross ties, does he wait patiently at the mounting block, does he step off only when you ask him, is he on your aids when you ask him to go, whoa, move laterally?  If not, come to a clinic this Spring and learn how to teach your horse to be so obedient, even a monkey  could ride him.  Check the web site for dates and availability.

Goldie is a favorite for the kids to ride, here she is learning to work off the whips in the round pen.  This talented filly by RJ has her Daddy’s talent for tricks and learning anything new.

In spite of the cold winter snow day, fans of Hidalgo and Secretariat came out to watch Rex work his two famous equine actors. To find out when you can meet Rex and his horses, check the Clinic Schedule

Diego has no fear of horses because he is growing up around them and loves to sit on the biggest horses in the barn.  Fiona is riding Peadar who is a kind gentle horse and Simon is on Shadow, with Lauren giving him some pointers.

Fox Hunting in Virginia is one of the most fun equestrian sports.  I have been out on hunts with my brother Jim and sister Elise galloping through the Virginia country in the fall.  Our grandparents were avid fox hunters in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and were such horse lovers that oats were tossed on them instead of rice at their wedding.  There are more images from the photo archives. We all grew up in a family of equestrians, born in the saddle.

Fella was an appendix Quarter Horse, amazing horse who gave me the confidence to jump any obstacle anywhere.  He was an uber athlete who sailed over any jump effortlessly, we had a long partnership competing in the Junior Jumpers and Pony Club eventing through Prelim over 3 decades.  Visit here for more images from the photo archives.

Lisa Houlgrave shooting on location at Windrock Farm with McCoy in the fields of soybeans.  Lisa specializes in portraits, weddings and fashion.

As a result of working in film for nearly 4 decades, Rex Peterson has designed several products to make horse training more efficient and safe. The Neck Rope designed and made by Rex Peterson can be used for many purposes, including ponying kids on their first few trail rides across country. It is important to get out of the arena as soon as possible for the rider as well as the horse. You can see in this video how easy it is to control the pony when he speeds up or wants to turn the wrong direction. This method allows the kid to feel the independence of riding while having a safety line for any errors.

Does your horse have perfect ground manners?  Does he listen to you and respond IMMEDIATELY to your request?  Is your horse happy in his work?  Do you cross train him to build up multiple muscle groups?  Does your horse stop on command in any situation?  If not, check out  solutions to common horse training solutions.

Brownie with Joa warming up for dressage.

Nate with Lauren warming up for dressage.

Bella proves she is a winner, she was second in the 3 year old Materiale class at the Devon Dressage Show with a score of 71.5%, losing by only one tenth a percentage point. The judge Anne Gribbons commented that she showed an outstanding temperament and excellent obedience. I was very pleased with how she handled the atmosphere with the composure of a seasoned veteran.

Bella also took a fifth place, the highest placed filly in the 3 year old suitability class and was beaten by four outstanding stallions. She drew a large crowd in the warm up arena and received many compliments from the competition.