Rhythm Hollow Stables

05/28/2025

Did someone say camp is coming?!
Sign up today! Spaces are limited!

02/06/2025

The Summer camp preregistration sale is on now!!! Sign up and pay your fee and save $50 per week.
We also have February (17-21) and April (21-25) break camps available if we get enough interest.
Message me if you are interested. Ages 7-18. Monday-Fri 9-3.

01/15/2025

Things your riding instructor wants you to know:
1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.

2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…

3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..

4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.

5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...

6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.

7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.

8. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.

9. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.

*thank you to whoever wrote this! Not my words, but certainly a shared sentiment!

12/23/2024

Thanks to the many donations of our farm family we helped rescue Cooper in June’s name. Now another needs help too. Give if you can and know that your contributions took Cooper out of abandonment.

🎄Give Two Ponies a Second Chance this Christmas!🎄These two ponies have found themselves in desperate need of care. By giving them a safe, loving home, full bellies, and the veterinary care they deserve, together we can make their Christmas wishes come true and give them the fresh start they so desperately need.

The pony on the left has been given the name “Cooper” in memory of a nine year old girl who was lost in a tragic accident in the summer of 2024. June Cooper was an avid fan of all animals, especially horses. She rode weekly at Rhythm Hollow Stables in North Bennington, VT on her three favorite horses: Fritz, Says Who and Duke. Our friends at Rhythm Hollow Stables made a recent donation on Giving Tuesday and requested that the next homeless and nameless pony we rescued be given the name Cooper, in her honor. The farm and family hope that he will be filled with the spirit, hope and optimism that June embodied every day of her life. We are excited to be welcoming Cooper to The Dorset Equine Rescue later this week.

The generous donation from Rhythm Hollow Stables has covered Cooper's bail; however, there is another pony that we would also like to help. She is a homeless senior mare and looks to be in rough shape. Please help us raise the remaining funds for their transportation, the mare's bail and their start up care (hay, feed, farrier, dental, vaccines, and veterinary care). Our total goal is $3,200 for both ponies. Together, we can make their Christmas wish come true!

Donations can be made by clicking on this link:

https://dorsetequinerescue.networkforgood.com/projects/243526-a-christmas-miracle-for-2-ponies

Or a check can be mailed to:
The Dorset Equine Rescue
P.O. Box 92
East Dorset, VT 05253

Thank you!🎄

12/06/2024

Members of the barn looking for a horse to lease without the onus to buy. These horses are excellent, affordable to lease, and I will soon have one open spot in the barn for a new boarder.

12/02/2024

Watching how someone saddles a horse can be a mirror for other parts of their training methods.

Most quiet trainers will first, obviously, make sure that the horse’s back is clean. Then they will put down any under pads, then gently place the saddle, NEVER slamming it down, probably a bit forward, and slide it back to the correct place,

When they tighten the girth, they tend to do it in stages, not by wrenching it, NEVER by kneeing the horse in the belly.

Once again, the process is non adversarial when done right, forceful when done wrong, and this reflects a general attitude that spills over into other aspects of the schooling and training.

Watch to learn---

11/21/2024

“As the horse coordinates his limbs to abduct and straddle the pole, he releases tension from his bottom muscle chain. He also activates the deep hip stabilizing muscles, which play a cybernetic role communicating to the brain about a limb’s position and tonicity.

1. Place a single pole on flat ground. Ideally, the pole should be 10 to 12 feet in length.
2. Lead your horse to approach the pole straight from one end.
3. Pause briefly for a second or two to ensure your horse is listening well and not rushing.
4. Now very gently, one tiny step at a time, lead him forward with the pole under his midline.
5. Stop when he is fully straddling the pole and give him a pause to settle in that position.
6. Now ask him to take one step backwards, continuing to straddle the pole. Then bring him one step forward again.
7. Continue this motion of stepping him backwards and forwards while straddling the pole.”

By Jec Aristotle Ballou from her article “Building Stronger Horses: Stability Before Strength” www.horsejournals.com/riding-training/english/dressage/building-stronger-horses

This exercise is much more challenging than it looks and sounds, so I will often just start with the front legs only and have the horse stand relaxed with no back and forward walking when introducing this exercise for the first few times.

JAG Khasanova “Khody” practicing the straddle the pole exercise. 💪 Photo by Jessica Ann Designs

08/24/2024

Wulfe says, there’s even more raffle stuff at the show?!
Yes! We have a sheepskin from Studio Hill, a saddle fitting by Kitt Hazelton of Panther Run, a lesson by me and one by Blythe, and so many more things! 50/50 tickets are $10 to buy-in but you get cash back at the end if you win!

Show starts at 9:00, raffles will be drawn end of day, but you don’t have to be here to win.

There is RHS merch to buy; totes, cinch sacks, stadium blankets and water bottles.

We are still collecting donations for Dorset Equine Rescue and selling stickers for Kanthaka of North Bennington (our equine assisted mental health program). It’s shaping up to be an outstanding day! Bring your friends to cheer on the riders and bid on the stuff!

08/22/2024

Here is the teaser for what our custom ribbons look like!!!! So pretty, so demure.

08/21/2024

Wowowowow!!!!
Raffle baskets for the horse show are amazing and plentiful!!!!
Tickets will be $5/5tix and $10/15tix

If you can’t be there and want to put in tickets message me to buy some and remote bid!

Offering include but aren’t limited to:
Apple Picking for 4 in Taraden orchard
Northshire Bookstore Gift card
Powers Market gift card
Prospect/Pangaea gift card
Clearbrook Farm gift card
Half gallon local maple syrup
Custom illustration by Michelle McKay of Dancey Pants Disco

Basket of produce
Breyer stablemates
Metal horse head hooks
Knit hat by Hilary Peck
Honey by Hilary Peck’s bees
Permaculture Book by Little White Creek Press
Coloring and self care basket by the Bennington College Equestrian team

Stone cutting board
3 book baskets!
Chocolate Barn Ice Cream donated by Greer Kobik

Drinking chocolate from The Village Chocolate Shoppe

08/17/2024

Remember Socrates?? Foster fail from the Dorset Equine Rescue? Rhythm Hollow Stables is collecting donations in the name of June Cooper, our own rider who passed away this summer in a lake accident. She was 9yo and had a passion for animals, including our RHS horses. We want to make a donation to the DER horses in her name. Please consider contributing what you can.

All contributions will be tallied after the horse show and sent to DER in June’s honor. Please label all checks and Venmo as “DER for June”. As well as any cash in a labeled envelope.

She is deeply missed and I know saving one or more horses would be an excellent way to honor her memory.

We recognize that finances are hard for many in this day and time. Please don’t put undue stress on yourselves in an effort to support.