Summer Valley Equestrian

05/07/2026

✨ In-Barn Lease Opportunity ✨

Meet Middleton “Pippa” — a beautiful 14-year-old Canadian Warmblood mare standing at 16.1hh. Pippa is looking for her next partner to enjoy the good life!

She is best suited for someone interested primarily in flatwork and trail riding, with the possibility of some low-level jumping for the PERFECT fit. She is ultra comfortable, and has some lower level dressage experience. Pippa would thrive with a relaxed, kind rider looking to spend quality time in the saddle and enjoy a wonderful mare.

Come join us at our beautifully refurbished facility in Coto de Caza! Premium footing, extensive trails, and a great barn family are just a few of the amazing things we have to offer❤️

We are open to starting with a simple expense lease to ensure it’s the right match for everyone involved. Priority is finding the best fit and a great relationship for this special girl 💕

Message for more details!✨

03/31/2026

Not my words, but a Re-post from Hope Glynn. I think very accurate insight into how our show world is evolving……

This needs to be said again and I ask my trainer friends to please repost. After a fantastic winter circuit, there’s something important that needs to be said—even if I don’t have all the answers yet.

Too many trainers today are afraid to tell clients what they need to hear. Whether it’s fear of losing business or simply taking the easy route, “yes” has replaced honest coaching. Clients and trainers both share responsibility for this shift, but ultimately, the ones who suffer most are the horses.

I recently watched both the 1.20 and 1.40 junior/amateur jumpers. The 1.20 was, frankly, alarming. Many riders were just running around—no connection, no plan, and very few actually counting strides. I saw incredible horses repeatedly saving their riders in dangerous situations. That’s not horsemanship—that’s luck.

We can debate equitation all day, but it teaches fundamentals: counting, track, pace, adjustability. Whether or not you come from that background, those skills are essential before stepping into a 1.20 ring. Right now, too many riders are moving up before they’re ready—often because it’s easier to buy a jumper and chase bigger jumps than to put in the time to truly learn to ride.

Trainers: stop moving kids up prematurely. Be advocates for the horses first.

Parents: find a trainer who tells you “no.” Your child doesn’t need to jump bigger at home. Your horse doesn’t need to jump big often. Your child does need to flat, ride without stirrups, spend time hacking, and actually know their horse—inside and out of the stall. The best horsemen at the top levels all do.

Don’t measure progress by height or Instagram posts. If another kid is jumping 4’3” while yours is doing cavaletti work and bending lines, yours is the one building real skills.

Even in the 1.40s—full of exceptional horses—there were still riders who couldn’t answer basic questions about their course or their horse. That’s a problem. Horsemanship is being replaced by checkbooks, and the gap is showing.

This sport is trending toward spending more on horses and less on education, horsemanship, and horse welfare. That needs to change.

Trainers: do better. It’s easy to set jumps—it’s much harder to teach riders how to truly ride.

Parents: ask better questions. Make sure your goals are about developing a rider and a horseman—not just moving up divisions.

Riders: take pride in the fundamentals. Learn your horse. Ask questions. Put in the unglamorous work.

Don’t chase status. Don’t post the big jump if the rest of the round fell apart.

12/05/2025

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝘂𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀?

Because every “neat” moment you see in the ring - the clean flying change, the tidy rollback, the effortless distance - is built on a mountain of basics: rhythm, balance, straightness, clarity, repetition, and trust.

The real magic lives in the base of the pyramid - not the shiny bit at the top.

Advanced work only works when the foundations feel solid, repeatable, and understood by both horse and rider.
And that’s exactly what creates the horses who are genuinely 𝘧𝘶𝘯 to ride… the ones who jump easily, land balanced, turn like a dream, and both accelerate and wait when you ask.

So yes, I love riding the advanced stuff too.
But I love the basics more - 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦.

10/30/2025

Very relatable and frustrating for both trainers and clients alike.

"I have begun to truly wonder if I can continue what I’m doing. Should I get a second job? Should I drop the price of my nice horses and get out now? Are my clients going to be able to go to any shows? If they go, will they be able to compete?

It’s exhausting.

The biggest problem is that, in the end, no one actually cares to listen to the majority of members. The majority of members of USEF, like the majority of people in this country, are not wealthy. They don’t horse show all the time. They can’t compete for points because points actually don’t matter to someone who only goes to four shows a year. They, most likely, don’t get to ride much either because they have regular jobs.

Listen, I’m all for horses’ well-being and safety. I don’t want horses injured because people drug them or work them to exhaustion. I think we can all agree that more clever ways of drugging these horses are happening now. I hate to tell you, but it’s not coming from the majority of members. It’s coming from the trainers with the people who have the most money and are chasing those points. The majority of members recognize that they aren’t competitive compared to those horses and just want to enjoy what they’re doing. Maybe they pick up a ribbon in good company on their best days, and that’s something to be really proud of.

Why is this happening?

It’s almost always the hunters. I think we can all agree on that, but why the hunters? Well, when we’re awarding the most drone-like horse, with no expression, who jumps a ten every time, never breaks rhythm, and doesn’t look at anything. That winning horse jumps eight fences for three different classes in two divisions at the very least, not to mention schooling, warm up, lunging, riding in the morning, and god knows what else. And with that level of work, there are going to be issues. Horses need to be fitter to do this without being injured, and fit means fresher, which means more work to prepare.

What’s the solution?

I would love it if everyone could ride better so we didn’t have to exhaust these horses to make them quiet enough for their owners to show competitively. However, that feels unlikely with the current look of competition. So what do we do?

Maybe we can make it so we don’t award horses that are going with zero expression. Maybe we award horses that have some life to them. Or, maybe we change the format. Maybe we can bring back more unrelated distances. Maybe if we did that, people would have to ride better and horses couldn’t be drones.

Maybe we can bring back courses that feel more like the original, outside hunter courses. Oh, but people would complain that it was unsafe! Yes, maybe they would. Maybe they would argue that their people couldn’t show if that was the format. Well, I hate to tell you, but with the expenses being raised on everything, people are already dropping like flies. Membership is going to go down. It probably already has, which is possibly why they’ve decided to raise prices.

What about the other problems we have to fix? Simply put, the cost of literally everything is an issue.

I don’t know which of you has gone to a rated show and a local show recently, but I have. At a recent out-of-state rated show I attended, I was only able to show in one class, and the show bill was over $600. That was without a nomination fee and without including hay or shavings, which were billed separately. The single class I did cost $60, but the total cost was over $600 for one class at this show. That is insane.

To compare, I went to a local show this past weekend with a client. She competed in one 2’ division with a warmup. So three over fences classes and a hack class. Her bill for that local show was $160.

This sport is becoming completely untenable for 80% of the people who are members. I know we’re all sick of the endless rules, the moving goal post for drugs, and the 1200-page rule book we’re all supposed to keep updated with. But in my opinion, the real issue is that, eventually, no one is going to be able to afford to do this anymore."

📎 Continue reading this article by Ann De Michele at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/10/29/frustrating-doesnt-even-begin-to-cover-it-the-reality-of-showing-today/
📸 © The Plaid Horse / Lauren Mauldin

08/08/2025

"For much of my riding life, fear was my constant companion when jumping. I was afraid of missing a distance, of my horse stopping, of crashing through jumps, especially the big, solid ones with fill. But lately, in an unexpected twist, that fear has lifted. I still get nervous and anxious (an adult amateur signature), but for the first time in a long time, fear isn’t running the show, and I’m riding better because of it. Since fear of jumping is something many of us wrestle with, I’ve spent time reflecting on what shifted for me. If you’re feeling dread as the jumps go up (even if “up” is just a vertical), these questions might help.

Are You Jumping a Fair Height for Your Horse?

As with anything in our sport, your horse’s welfare has to come first. After all, so many of the horses us adult amateurs love beyond reason are such good souls who will do anything we ask of them—sometimes to their detriment. Just because a horse can jump a certain height, doesn’t mean it always should. Jumping a single or a line of gymnastics ending at 3’6″ is not the same as jumping an entire course at 3’6″. Your horse needs the proper step, fitness, and athletic ability to jump the heights you’re asking.

While I’d love to be 100% accurate with my distance to every fence, I know that’s not a reasonable expectation to put on myself. This means that my horse needs to be athletic enough to jump long or deep when I inevitably mess up. Your trainer should be guiding you to a max division height that is fair to your horse. It’s my opinion, especially for us amateurs, that the height we’re shooting for should be easy for our horses. Cantering up to a single oxer is a lot more relaxing when you realize your horse is athletic (and fit!) enough to pop over without a dramatic effort.

Do You Need to Go Back to Basics?

It’s really easy to get caught up in the showing momentum when you have a lot of friends on the circuit or a barn full of riders who always seem to be progressing faster than you. Many years ago, I switched to jumpers for a spell and stepped up in height because it was the lowest jumper division offered at our show circuit. But just because it was the lowest, didn’t mean I was ready.

When we got to the show, the jumps looked far bigger than I expected them to. And sure enough, the mistakes that weren’t a huge deal in the smaller hunters I’d been doing previously became a much bigger problem when the jumps went up and combinations were added. Because I was nervous on top of everything else, I rode horribly, did my horse a disservice, and ended up in the dirt.

Doing things at home like cantering poles (so, so many poles), solidifying your flatwork, working over single jumps, and even practicing no-stirrups isn’t nearly as fun as courses and horse shows. But when you can squash the little errors—jumps or not—your muscle memory will kick in and set you up for success.

Do You Have the Right Horse?

This one is hard because sometimes the horse we have (and love) isn’t always the best one for us. Though the right horse will not totally eliminate a rider’s fear, it will help (alongside a good trainer) lessen those feelings over time. If, as the months move forward, you become more—not less—afraid of your horse/riding, it might be time to evaluate the relationship. I know there are several lovely, talented horses I’ve had in my career that were a horrible match for me. It didn’t mean they were bad horses, but our brains were wired differently and I could not find success with them in the long run. The right horse will inspire you to grow in confidence over time.

And even if your horse is perfect, we’ve all heard the “green and green make black and blue” comment. Sometimes even the most experienced amateurs benefit from handing the reins over to a professional when it comes to moving a young or green horse up the ranks. There’s not a set rule that works for everyone, but if you find the “firsts” keep you up at night with anxiety… it might be a great time to ask for help."

🔗 Read the full article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2021/11/22/questions-to-ask-yourself-if-youre-afraid-of-jumping/
📸 © The Plaid Horse / Lauren Mauldin

06/15/2025

❤️

Author is believed to be a William Steinkraus
Read , let it sink in, then read again :

“No. 1. Get your tack and equipment just right, and then forget about it and concentrate on the horse.

No. 2. The horse is bigger than you are, and it should carry you. The quieter you sit, the easier this will be for the horse.

No. 3. The horse's engine is in the rear. Thus, you must ride your horse from behind, and not focus on the forehand simply because you can see it.

No. 4. It takes two to pull. Don't pull. Push.

No. 5. For your horse to be keen but submissive, it must be calm, straight and forward.

No. 6. When the horse isn`t straight, the hollow side is the difficult side.

No. 7. The inside rein controls the bending, the outside rein controls the speed.

No. 8. Never rest your hands on the horse's mouth. You make a contract with it: "You carry your head and I'll carry my hands."

No. 10. Once you've used an aid, put it back.

No. 11. You can exaggerate every virtue into a defect.

No. 12. Always carry a stick, then you will seldom need it.

No. 13. If you`ve given something a fair trial, and it still doesn't work, try something else—even the opposite.

No. 14. Know when to start and when to stop. Know when to resist and when to reward.

No. 15. If you're going to have a fight, you pick the time and place.

No. 16. What you can't accomplish in an hour should usually be put off until tomorrow.

No. 17. You can think your way out of many problems faster than you can ride your way out of them.

No. 18. When the horse jumps, you go with it, not the other way around.

No. 19. Don`t let over-jumping or dull routine erode the horse's desire to jump cleanly. It's hard to jump clear rounds if the horse isn't trying.

No. 20. Never give up until the rail hits the ground.

No. 21. Young horses are like children—give them a lot of love, but don't let them get away with anything.

No. 22. In practice, do things as perfectly as you can; in competition, do what you have to do.

No. 23. Never fight the oats.

No. 24. The harder you work, the luckier you get."

Credit believed to be William Steinkraus

06/10/2025

So lucky to have clients that already appreciatete all of these things! The best barn family! ❤️❤️❤️

**** Copied and pasted 📝****

Your Trainer Gives You Their All- A Reminder 💗

It’s easy to see what trainers do in the arena, but what you don’t see is the endless work behind the scenes. The early mornings, late nights, tons of skipped meals, and constant problem-solving. We don’t just show up to teach—we manage schedules, care for your horse’s well-being, handle emergencies, and do everything possible to set you up for success. But we’re also human. We have tough rides, we make mistakes, and we’re always learning, just like you. This sport isn’t about perfection or jumping the biggest jumps—it’s about growth, resilience, and the willingness to always improve while helping others do the same.

When it feels like it’s not enough, remember: we are already giving you everything we have. Beyond the physical work, we dedicate hours to research, reading studies, consulting with vets, farriers, and more experienced professionals—all to ensure we’re always improving for you. We never stop learning, because your success and your horse’s well-being depend on it.

This job is a 24/7 commitment. We sacrifice personal time, push through burnout, and drain ourselves financially to keep our services as accessible as possible while maintaining the quality our clients and horses deserve. It’s not about exclusivity—it’s about sustainability. So when the journey gets tough, trust the process. Have faith in the work being done, and remember that your trainer is just as invested in your success as you are. A little appreciation goes a long way in a profession built on passion, sacrifice, and an unwavering commitment to you and your horse.

Remember that we do this for the love of the horse, and everything we ask of from our supporters and clients is to support the love and desire to nurture these creatures that work so hard for us. They give us their all, so we make every effort to return the favor in hopes to give them the quality of life they deserve.”