Stonelea Farm, where people of all ages come to learn horseback riding in a fun and safe environment on our gentle and patient horses and ponies.
Operating as usual
Sharon’s 4* ride with Claus 63. Listen to the comments. She is developing him for the 5* and it’s important to him him come away from this run with confidence, which he does, even with some jumping faults.
Rachael leaves Florida with Kalle and Holden. They were down there for the winter; and Kalle is still a ham for treats apparently 😂
Following the devastating invasion by Russia last week, the EEF has been in regular contact with the Ukrainian Equestrian Federation and the FEI to offer assistance and support. The Ukrainian Equestrian Federation has now created a foundation in order to manage offers of accommodation and accept ...
So now it is Monday morning and here is Velvet all nice and cozy. Now begins the four+ hours of barn work. Feeding 20 horses, dumping all their water in a non-walking area because it will turn to ice, putting out all the hay without getting hurt myself means doing it while they are eating, then cleaning all the stalls but only filling the wheelbarrows halfway because I have to push them through the snow. I typically wait until eight or nine because then it’s less icy and I have a better chance of fighting the elements. If I don’t answer your texts concerning how the horses are doing or asking if there are lessons today (yes we are on) etc. it’s because I will do that once I get inside. Stopping to deal with my phone, taking off my gloves etc. just makes it longer and makes me colder lol!
Facebook won’t let me load more than one video again. Here is Velvet after removing her blanket. Even though she was dry underneath she was shivering like crazy. Not every horse can go without a blanket! I replaced the one she had on with a nice dry one both inside and out.
9/16/22 Snow started late today and then turned to freezing rain. At 9 pm I went out into the pasture to check the horses to see if they were sharing the sheds, and they weren’t. I brought them in so they can each relax in their own space. Velvet was shivering under her heavy Rambo! I’m so glad I checked them! She was dry under the blanket but I removed it and replaced it with another heavy blanket that was completely dry on the outside as well and she finally stopped shivering. Interestingly this just proves the point that not all horses can be left to fend for themselves in nature. Some will require blankets while others will not.
1/5/22 Sunny, at 30! He really looks good, and still very lively!
This is why I struggle selling any of my horses and try to place them instead. And also why I retire my school horses to fields where they continue to be taken care of until they pass on. The second picture is the first owner getting the poor horse back but unable to save her. I can’t wrap my brain around how anyone with a conscience can let this happen to their animal. What suffering she went through . . .
She was 7 years old and had gone to the APHA World Show and had great bloodlines.
12/1/21 At a little over three weeks being treated for Lymes, Jewel is
much better!
11/21/21 I’m excited to show you Jewel’s progress after two weeks of treatment for Lymes. She’s been on doxycycline twice a day and colostrum for the first seven days. In the beginning it was as if her skin was on fire. She was biting the air, pinned her ears flat, and was clearly uncomfortable during grooming. Look at her now!
Sharing to spread what I learned. Jewel had started being cranky when I was grooming her and I just thought maybe she was in season but it persisted when she should have gone out. Almost daily the crankiness was increasing to the point where I thought she might actually connect and bite me.
I had blood work done and she has Lymes. I had no idea it could look like this. Apparently her skin is so sensitive from this disease that she can’t stand being brushed right now. Lesson learned and she’s begun treatment.
Skeeter’s passing leaves a huge hole in our horse community. He was a self-taught, extremely knowledgeable horse person. I first met him when he had his shop in the Dart Chantilly mall on 50, next to my Dad’s Real estate office. They used to “shoot the bull” when things were quiet in their respective businesses. Who knew that years later I’d be into horses and doing business with him! He always turned things around fast and had nothing but kind words to say. He built his business, bought his farm, built his house and stable, everything, never afraid of hard work, loved his horses and his customers, and had a lot to show for it. You’ll be missed Skeeter ❤️
Rest In Peace Skeeter. You will be dearly missed by our entire horse community.
Scamper, ever vigilant, while Béla has her opinion about things!
Photos from Sharon White's post
10/14/21 Hi everyone, I’m currently in Portugal doing a riding tour. To see what it’s like, please go to my personal FB page as I’m recording it all there with what little time I have left at the end of each day!
Lucia Di Benedetto.
9/25/21 Santana did his very first trail ride, out in open fields and with cattle. Cassidy said he was a champ! He actually liked leading almost the whole way!
9/24/21 wow, now Cassidy has Santana jumping at the canter! Once things made sense to him he just keeps moving forward in his learning!
Look at this, about Santana’s breeder! Incredible, I feel honored to have a Sutton Ranch quarter horse!
https://www.aqha.com/-/50-year-breeders-an-aqha-legacy-1?redirect=%2F&fbclid=IwAR0tGwtJzti2vkeg1tWRGSNjAoK5rE3FovMd0vZ_B-KUhzHlseYqT58lgRo
View the American Quarter Horse breeders who most recently hit their 50th cumulative or consecutive year of breeding the world’s most versatile horse.
9/20/21 Santana gets his first set of four shoes and he was super!
Cassidy Cain has done a beautiful job with Santana’s training these last 30 days! You saw the video of the first canter she did with him under saddle when he was so unbalanced at the beginning of the month and now look at him, impressive! He is confident, balanced, and most of all, happy! He really trusts her and it makes my heart happy! He is definitely a people horse. He has bonded with her but he also clearly remembered me when I showed up! If you know anyone who needs to have a horse trained, I highly recommend her! She’s working under Olin Armstrong in Verona, VA, and beginning to take outside horses herself. She has such a wonderful foundation for doing this because of the years she has spent working under this iconic horseman!
Since I was still on the waiting list for Petey Wright to get Santana back in there, and he and Brooke knew how badly I wanted him back in training, Brooke recommended fellow trainer Cassidy Cain, who works with Olin Armstrong in Staunton, VA. Santana is relaxed and happy and only thinks about doing his job. These photos are of him going around the outside track of their convoluted training ring. They have a lot of stuff in the middle of it and it serves to desensitize the horses. Then they have the horses go around the outside edge. He did that for a couple of weeks and then today she added the barrels for him to figure out how to place his weight for jumping without the weight of her being on him. Look at those knees!
Previously, she used this to help him learn how to balance in a much smaller area while cantering. Then she cantered him in the outside ring for the first time. It is very large and he was good, carrying her weight, but he doesn’t turn very well! Anybody who rides here and has seen the younger horses go, and hear me tell them that if they want to turn at the bottom or top of the ring they need to start their aids at B or E, know what I’m talking about!
Photos from MissDi Kreations's post
Here it is again, in a nutshell, with great commentary.
Ok, let’s talk about this whole modern pentathlon thing shall we? This Olympics was not my first introduction to it. I remember watching parts of it during the London coverage and cringing th…
I am sad to announce the recent loss of our cherished Adara (aka, Doodle). She came from my friend Tonya Withers, who entrusted her care to me 6 years ago. Over all those years Adara taught many riders with her perfectly cadenced canter, and careful precision in jumping grids, combinations or single fences, always going over, even if the rider was struggling for balance or timing. In the language of a school program, she was a “saint”. Thankfully, all my students who had the opportunity to ride her truly valued her and spoiled her with treats, hugs, love, and extra grooming, especially after a good roll. Sometimes she’d come in looking like she knew she was supposed to be gray, so did some special, extra rolling just to get that extra grooming time!
It was obvious that she died peacefully, just laying in the field. A student saw her alive, and 15 minutes later she didn’t come in with the rest of the group for feeding and that’s when we found her, just asleep on the ground.
All of us at Stonelea Farm miss her terribly. She was a very special mare!
Hey Everyone, after the debacle of the Pentathlon at the Olympic games, Please read this completely accurate portrayal of the horses used in the final phase. Any seasoned or knowledgeablehorse person would agree.
Let’s get to 2300 signatures by the end of today - can you add yours?
Oh the sport we love! These ladies work hard all week, juggling jobs, kids, and general family life and come here for that special time and connection to their favorite horse. They groom them, stroke them, talk to them, spoil them with treats and make these lucky horses feel loved ❤️. Stonelea school horses have a very nice life!
Beating the summer heat. They are walking out after a 7:30 AM lesson
😜
Working Students do it all! They are 11-15 years old. Farm life, farm responsibilities! Good job Lucca!
Look at the tiny (42”) pony leading the big guys! 😂
6/26 & 27, 2021. Hey, look at these talented riders! Kat/Kyrie, Lucca/Worthy, Carolyn/Roman participated in the team challenge in Dressage in Culpepper this past weekend. They came home with ribbons in their classes both days and finished as champions in the team challenge. On top of that, Kyrie was the highest scoring Thoroughbred both days! You can see in the second picture how surprised Kat was, LOL!
(this is pretty exciting to see how well-rounded thoroughbreds can be. So far Kat has done the following activities or competitions and placed well with Kyrie: Dressage, Hunters, Show Jumpers, riding bridleless, and trails. She competed in Florida with her for a month (thanks to Michelle Mahoney and Dorna Taintor) and she placed with her at Upperville. I’m so excited for Kat since this was on her bucket list and she’s doing it all this year before she moves to Kentucky in October!)
Way to go everyone! Great job!
Some jumping fun with Lucca on Worthy and Kat on Gracie!
Jewel and I finally did an official 25 mile race at the Old Dominion, and my training with her paid off. It was a fun, yet challenging experience and it wouldn’t have gone nearly as smoothly if I hadn’t had my last minute “pit crew“ of Cat and Lucca Reese, who were quick to learn what the job required but also were so efficient with helping in the care of Jewel and the general runnings of the day while at the trailer. We came in tied for third and I still had energy left over. We also won our weight division.  This little paint/quarter horse kept up with the two Arabs on the way out to the vet check and led them most of the way back to base camp. I figured that since she has her breed going against her in the sport, the best thing I could do for her was to get her as fit as possible. She’s got a big heart and a lot of try! Thank you to Jeannie Waldron, Jessica Pully, Sarah Fletcher, and Trisha Juerling for all the coaching and encouragement, and for embracing me and my pit crew as we enter the sport. You all make it so fun!
Congratulations to Kat Donnelly on her fifth place at the prestigious Upperville Horse show on her favorite mare, Kyrie! The two have formed such a bond, and it’s only because Kyrie trusts Kat so much that she keeps her head together when there’s so much going on around her. Like so many horse and rider teams, there’s a lot of work, worry, aggravation, disappointment, then highs when Kyrie puts all the many lesson pieces together and gives an outstanding ride! I’m so happy to not only be able to see all the steady and hard work behind the scenes, but to witness the accomplishments this pair has achieved! Congratulations Kat!
5/12/21 A good foundation is just that. Once you have it, even if you take a break from riding, you will always have it! That’s what I strive to teach here and it’s been proven again and again. This is John, on Darby ba****ck, after about a year not riding. 😜
Heaven on Earth 🤩
Serravalle Designer Outlet, Italy
In late March I was able to place Cricket at my college friend’s farm in Strasburg, Virginia. Cricket had been having trouble breathing and had developed heaves. It was stressing her heart as well as her lungs and this just wasn’t a good situation for her because she was reacting to any of the hay she was fed, either square bales or round. By being at Suzanne’s with just one other horse and access to 10 of the 40 acres of pasture, this was the perfect answer. She will rarely need hay. Already she has stopped having the breathing issues! And she sure is spoiled!
Simple joy! A beautiful, shared moment between Kaelyn and Keswick 😊
What amazing togetherness and balance in this stunning photo of Sharon White and Cooley On Show (Louie)
How are horses real 🤯
No words for this level of epic served up by Sharon White & Cooley On Show today on course at
4/24/21 This crew is working way too hard moving hay 🤣
4/23/21 Rachael will be posting on Practical Horseman’s INSTAGRAM throughout today. Follow along to see Louis’ typical day at a five star!
Let’s all vote for Rachael Livermore and Cooley on Show!
We spend a lot of time talking about fashion choices and trot-up outfits at a five-star, but let’s take some time to celebrate the hardworking grooms of Kentucky! We love seeing horses turned out to
Our cute little Soda Pop is currently at the Equine Medical Center in Leesburg Virginia. They are taking great care of him after he started to colic on Sunday night. One time a day vet visits on Sunday and Monday with a nasogastric tube putting fluids and electrolytes in his stomach did not do the trick of clearing his impaction. On Tuesday morning, on to Morven Park we went. Although he seemed perky at drop off he was not his usual self. After a day and night of fluids and passing four poops last night, he’s a completely different animal, much to their surprise! This just means that you really need to know your animals. To anyone else who didn’t know him he might have seemed OK but he is a spunky little fellow, moves around a lot and calls a lot, which he is now doing over there! I hope to bring him home tomorrow. They are spending today introducing food and making sure that his system is processing it and getting it back out of him! Thank you to the staff at the medical center that kindly took these pictures for me. Alas, due to Covid there are no visitors allowed so the closest I got was to the parking lot where he was unloaded, LOL!
Woods has continued to climb up the levels. It’s been fun watching him just as it was to watch him on Kalle!
4/17/21 Jewel and I did 18 miles at the Old Dominion No-Frills ride in Star Tannery, Virginia today. My friend and I and another rider all came in at the same time and Jewel’s pulse came down within five minutes. This means our preparation for these rides is working! Base camp had beautiful views of the mountains on both sides of us and where we went for the race. After only a mile the trail got extremely rocky and sometimes treacherous so we had to walk. The views were gorgeous once we got to the top. A couple of the pictures below show how rocky it was. The last picture shows a summary of our ride which includes what gaits we were doing, for how long, and what distance. Unfortunately I forgot to start the Equilab app until a couple miles in. It’s still very useful!
I put together this little video to show you about how I place and use the heart rate monitor. Also, I share with you the tack that I’ve learned to use and why. Enjoy!
4/10/21 Here’s a video of one of Lucca‘s rounds on Worthy. Congratulations Lucca!
4/10/21 Kat took Lucca and Worthy to Lucca’s first show ever! Kat’s great coaching helped Lucca get great results! (As well as Lucca’s continued practice and focus with her homework at home on Worthy.)
4/10/21 here’s a video of one of Kat and Gracie‘s rounds from today :-)
4/10/21 Kat took Gracie to a show today, Gracie’s first after many years, and she’d only been to a few in her life. She had a wonderful day!
39953 New Road
Aldie, VA
20105
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Facebook won’t let me load more than one video again. Here is Velvet after removing her blanket. Even though she was dry underneath she was shivering like crazy. Not every horse can go without a blanket! I replaced the one she had on with a nice dry one both inside and out.
9/16/22 Snow started late today and then turned to freezing rain. At 9 pm I went out into the pasture to check the horses to see if they were sharing the sheds, and they weren’t. I brought them in so they can each relax in their own space. Velvet was shivering under her heavy Rambo! I’m so glad I checked them! She was dry under the blanket but I removed it and replaced it with another heavy blanket that was completely dry on the outside as well and she finally stopped shivering. Interestingly this just proves the point that not all horses can be left to fend for themselves in nature. Some will require blankets while others will not.
12/1/21 At a little over three weeks being treated for Lymes, Jewel is much better!
11/21/21 I’m excited to show you Jewel’s progress after two weeks of treatment for Lymes. She’s been on doxycycline twice a day and colostrum for the first seven days. In the beginning it was as if her skin was on fire. She was biting the air, pinned her ears flat, and was clearly uncomfortable during grooming. Look at her now!
Sharing to spread what I learned. Jewel had started being cranky when I was grooming her and I just thought maybe she was in season but it persisted when she should have gone out. Almost daily the crankiness was increasing to the point where I thought she might actually connect and bite me. I had blood work done and she has Lymes. I had no idea it could look like this. Apparently her skin is so sensitive from this disease that she can’t stand being brushed right now. Lesson learned and she’s begun treatment.
9/25/21 Santana did his very first trail ride, out in open fields and with cattle. Cassidy said he was a champ! He actually liked leading almost the whole way!
9/24/21 wow, now Cassidy has Santana jumping at the canter! Once things made sense to him he just keeps moving forward in his learning!
9/20/21 Santana gets his first set of four shoes and he was super!
Cassidy Cain has done a beautiful job with Santana’s training these last 30 days! You saw the video of the first canter she did with him under saddle when he was so unbalanced at the beginning of the month and now look at him, impressive! He is confident, balanced, and most of all, happy! He really trusts her and it makes my heart happy! He is definitely a people horse. He has bonded with her but he also clearly remembered me when I showed up! If you know anyone who needs to have a horse trained, I highly recommend her! She’s working under Olin Armstrong in Verona, VA, and beginning to take outside horses herself. She has such a wonderful foundation for doing this because of the years she has spent working under this iconic horseman!
Working Students do it all! They are 11-15 years old. Farm life, farm responsibilities! Good job Lucca!
Look at the tiny (42”) pony leading the big guys! 😂
Some jumping fun with Lucca on Worthy and Kat on Gracie!
5/12/21 A good foundation is just that. Once you have it, even if you take a break from riding, you will always have it! That’s what I strive to teach here and it’s been proven again and again. This is John, on Darby bareback, after about a year not riding. 😜
4/23/21 Rachael will be posting on Practical Horseman’s INSTAGRAM throughout today. Follow along to see Louis’ typical day at a five star!
I put together this little video to show you about how I place and use the heart rate monitor. Also, I share with you the tack that I’ve learned to use and why. Enjoy!
4/10/21 Here’s a video of one of Lucca‘s rounds on Worthy. Congratulations Lucca!
4/10/21 here’s a video of one of Kat and Gracie‘s rounds from today :-)
Believing you can do it has a lot to do with the outcome! This is some thing that was very scary for this rider and she was fine doing no hands in jump position at the trot so we stepped up to doing that at the canter, and once she realized she could do that I got her to change her arm positions while she was going. It was a super ride and I had a very excited and accomplished rider. Way to go Cathy Koch!
I did an intro endurance ride of 10 miles on 4/3. I took this video the night before and it shows the base camp and how I have Jewel all set for the night. My friend and I took the horses out for a walk at about 9 PM so they could stretch their legs and then we made sure they had salt in some grain to work on overnight which would cause them to drink.
3/20/21 video 1 of 6 of Santana’s session today. He has found his balance at the canter and it just gets better and better every day! This is to the right and the next video is to the left. All explanations are in the following videos. As an aside, I have not had any luck getting the business page to allow me to put multiple videos in one post. If anybody has any clue how to do it please message me or text me, I would appreciate it!
3/20/21 video 2 Of Santana’s session today. Before I mount Lucca on him, I review, each time, walk, trot, and canter on the lunge line. Now that he is so much better with his balance at the canter, his walk and trot are fabulous. I call it “up the ante”. When I find a place in their training that they are getting comfortable, but not quite confirmed in the concept, then I introduce the next concept. As they struggle or try to wrap their head around the new one, then I return to the concept before that and they find it so easy that they just go with it and accept it. I was so happy to see Santana pick up the canter on command and not need any chasing. He picked it up multiple times each direction. Having him canter without a rider at this point just helps to further confirm his ability to himself and lets me know how spunky he might be before I put my rider on 😉
3/20/21 video 3 of Santana’s session today. When Lucca was going to mount him the question was asked about him being ready for reins. Although they are attached to the bit and Lucca will have access to them, she will only hold them loosely so they don’t accidentally get in the way or flip over his head. I have attached the lunge line to his halter, which is under his bridle. All of his communication will be coming from me as I build on his knowledge and skill with lunging, just this time I’m adding a rider. After she gets on I remove her stirrup that she used for mounting. The other one is already off. I learned of an accident many years ago of someone training a young horse and his foot got caught in the stirrup when the horse took off bucking and then he was dragged for a bit. Needless to say he was really hurt and laid up for months. My theory is that if the horse is doing something that requires you to have a stirrup you probably don’t want to be connected anyway. You might as well come off sooner rather than later. Also note that Lucca is wearing a cross-country vest for additional safety.
3/20/21 video 4 of Santana’s session today. Lucca is mounted and without stirrups, which you see explained in video 3. Also, she is wearing a cross country vest. There’s no reason to cut corners, and safety is priority. In this video I am lunging Santana at walk and trot and changing of direction. All of this is very comfortable for him and he went about it beautifully!
3/20/21 Video 5 Of Santana’s session today. Eden is on a buddy horse to help Santana be confident under saddle. It worked only for a few minutes and then he could’ve cared less so I stopped using her as a lead but asked her to stay in the ring. He wasn’t understanding to go forward into the trot so I decided to pretend that I was still lunging him and that got the immediate response that I wanted. You will see him walk and trot on command for me as I “lunge“ him. The Sutton‘s told me that the Rios line is very attached to their people, which means me! I will work within those parameters, always trying to find a positive way for him to do the right thing :-)
3/20/21 video 6 of Santana’s session today. Lucca had just finished trotting him around the ring and had come into the middle. Someone who is watching asked about yielding to the pressure so Lucca shows them how she puts pressure on Santana‘s nose to the right, adds some leg pressure and waits for him to yield his hind quarters. This is one of the things that Petey Wright had been working on with him. All of this adds to suppleness and obedience on Santana‘s part.
Just for comparison, Worthy arrived here, a completely wild mustang in August 2015. Today she lives the life of a well tended, private/school horse. This is part of Lucca‘s ride on her yesterday, before she got on Santana. I have complete faith that Santana will be like her or better. The reason I say “or better” is because Worthy has a tendency to take off if there’s some kind of sound she hears but can’t see the reason for it. She’s great on trails and shows, but in schooling, the work has to be more complicated for her so that she quits being reactive and puts 100% focus on the rider. I don’t think this will be a problem for Santana. He is solid and focused even when he is calling to his friends. We shall see!
3/17/21 here’s a continuation of the video just before this. This just shows Santana going around the ring on his own :-)
Santana update 3/17/21: The last time I posted we were going through a lot of tests and theories as to why Santana might’ve buckled to his knees on his last ride with Petey. Since he apparently wasn’t going to hold up to any further training the decision was to bring him home and try to get him healthy. I moved him home and treated him for ulcers, giving him daily Gastroguard for 30 days. During that time I kept grooming him and doing light ground work, as well as lunging walk/trot. When the med was finished I began asking for the canter on the lunge. This was particularly difficult because he’s only ever galloped in huge pastures with his herd. By the end of the second week he started finding his balance and can now canter both ways on command. He’s still working on balance but it’s getting much better. I started putting Lucca Reese on him while lunging and it’s going really well. Additionally she is doing the same bridle exercises that Petey was doing, to remain consistent. Today he was perfect on the lunge walk/trot and then walked around the ring by himself. I think he’s going in a positive direction now!
3/4/21 having fun with synchronized riding!
2/20/21 just finished Kalle’s groundwork session and grooming and put him back in his stall to relax. He says “hi!”
