Lessons and Open House

With the preparations for our lessons at the Pembroke Campus coming along nicely, it is time for an update. We will be starting part time lessons in Pembroke on September 15, 2010. Our lesson schedule will continue to run in Killaloe for Monday and Tuesday and possibly Saturdays, through the fall but, Wednesday-Saturday lessons will be held in Pembroke. We are willing to take people of all ages and skill levels as Natural Horsemanship is about communication more than years of experience.

Introductory Special!! Bring a friend (sibling or parent too!) and get 1/2 off the first 4 weeks of lessons for both of you! The first block of eight lessons will be from Sept. 15- Nov. 10/2010

We are also looking to start a "Ladies Night" which will be held on Friday evenings 8pm-10pm. This session will be a less formal, relaxed gathering of like minded women who are willing to support each other in our horsemanship journeys. The sessions will be of a slower pace so that each participant can place their relationship with the horse first. The cost for this two hour session is the same as a 1 hour lesson!

Lesson Fees will be as follows:

Group: $35

Private: $45

Outdoor Board (with Shelters!) will be $295

If you would like more information on lessons or board please feel free to email vanderbrookfarm@gmail.com or call 613-638-2005.

In other news we are holding an OPEN HOUSE!!! Saturday Sept. 11, 2010 from 10-4 come on out and meet the staff and horses, see demonstrations by some of our students and instructors. We are looking forward to meeting many new people and having a blast.

Hope to see you there,

Normally Natural,

Marie :)

Excellent News!!!!

We here at Vanderbrook Farm and Natural Horsemanship Center have had a fairly exciting summer thus far. Between shuffling horses around, lessons, play days, etc. it has been a busy and exciting time to watch the business grow and change. All that being said, nothing tops our latest development, we have secured a facility for this winter!
The "Pembroke Campus" as we have deemed it, is being run out of Greenwood Stables, an excellent facility just 5 minutes outside of Pembroke. We will be taking advantage of the 68x 120 indoor arena, a smaller arena, the 80 foot round corral, local trails as well as the boarding facilities that Greenwood offers.
The Pembroke Campus will allow us to continue our Natural Horsemanship lessons all year round, and also begin our Equine Assisted Learning programs focused on leadership, communication and confidence building. While the goal is to maintain our Killaloe location, we will begin programs at the Pembroke Campus within the first weeks of September. This means we will be dividing our time between the two locations.(until the weather changes and we move indoors!!)

This move has been exactly what we were looking for and we are absolutely thrilled with the facility! Our hats must also go off to the owner Louise who has been gracious enough to offer us the facility and lend her experience and time as we get this venture off the ground. We are very much looking forward to the coming months working with her on this and the doors this move opens for the business. As we advance our services and programs we will update here but as of right now we are taking on new students and boarders at the Pembroke Campus.

Aside from this the past few weeks have seen several changes in the herd itself. First, we sent Sweetie home mid-August. Once again thanks to Alissa for leasing this great mare to us, she is missed and we sincerely wish you the best with her.

Secondly, John came to collect Fancy (mentioned in the last post) a lovely little Standardbred mare who was in for training. Fancy was an excellent project and an awesome horse to handle. We are looking forward to continuing working with John, his family and the horse(s) that are in their lives.


Thirdly, we took Scoota home to her owner Raquel after boarding her here for the past few years. It is nice to see both owner and horse happy at home and thanks to Raquel for holding on to our little Brigadier for the time being. (Brig is on loan as a companion to Scoota.)

The rest of the changes have been incoming, as we took on two fantastic geldings, Chance and Trenton. These draft cross boys came to us together from around Trenton, ON. They were both previously rescued by the SAD Rescue organization as youngsters and have spent the last few years growing and maturing with a family as pasture pets. Chance is green broke but a very solidly minded horse we have yet to find something that phases this guy. Kate has spent some time getting him understanding steering and going when asked, and he will be very soon initiated into our lesson program.

Trenton on the other hand is a slightly more difficult horse, he also received training prior to his arrival here. Unfortunately he did not advance as quickly due to his right brain tendencies. It is suspected that he was mistreated as a youngster due to the scars on his head, jaw and flanks. We are hoping that with his sweet personality and his natural curiosity we will be able to help him get over his fears and advance his training to the point of being a solid riding horse as well.

With the business advancing and the herd developing into an awesome group of sound horses we have been pretty tied up. We did however have the help of an extra set of hands, our working student Bridget. After spending ten days in lessons while she was here on vacation last year Bridget decided to spend a month here helping us out in exchange for her time in lessons. To put it mildly we had a blast and managed to get some stuff done as well. ;) Bridget was once again an excellent student and a joy to teach. We look forward to future visits and miss her while she is away. I have included a photo of Bridget riding Misty one of our advanced horses, who seemed to just click with her.
We are all looking forward to the new prospects of the next couple of months. Should be some fun times!! I personally really look forward to riding in a nice dry building while it is cold and miserable outside!! It'll be even better if we can ride with some awesome horse people at the same time!!

Normally Natural,
Marie ;)

Recap on May

Wow where does the time go? I believe May just blew by with barely a whisper that it was even passing through. This has been an incredibly busy month for us here at the farm. Here's hoping we can get most of the important news in this post to help get everybody up on the goings on around here.




Our lesson program has begun with an awesome group of students learning and advancing their skills a little more every time we see them. Kate is offering lessons both on and off premise, and we have found that all the students have been eager to learn all they can.



While our lessons for the first couple of weeks revolve largely around ground skills, we have been working hard to come up with ways to maintain confidence in both our riders and our students once they progress to the saddle. This has resulted in taking some 'normal' techniques and using them with a natural twist. For example, the lead line lesson, we have taken this old traditional trick to improve the seat on students and used it to help one student learn to trot comfortably on a more forward horse then she had previously ridden. Using the Circling Game Kate was able to help both the student and the horse learn to trot together online. This maintained both horse and rider's confidence, and gave the student an idea of what the trot should feel like when she gets it right.

We are looking forward to watching upcoming lessons and the progress that is being made with all of these individuals. Keep up the great effort everyone!




Aside from the lesson program we have had lots going on here at the farm. Around the beginning of May we had the arrival of a beautiful little mare who is in for help with some spooking issues. 'Fancy' is a 4yr old Standardbred mare, who has some amazing potential and we are hoping a few months here will help her mentally and emotionally as well as ongoing trims to assist her being more physically fit. She is an awesome little horse and we are loving having her here! We can totally understand why her family has chosen to seek help rather then send her on, and we are very glad to have such fantastic students.




On May 15th we held Kate's first clinic in Renfrew, ON. The day consisted of three sessions of students advancing their knowledge and improving their communication with their horses. Each session was informative and and personalized with Kate really taking each student's needs into account. We even got an extra session of Kate demonstrating some liberty work with her horse Phoenix.

The clinic was a success and we are looking forward to future events. Thanks again to everyone who came out and supported us that day, participants, auditors, especially Darlene at Stone Hill Stables for hosting and our photographers Keri and Rose for your continued hard work.



Somewhere between lessons, clinic and everything else Kate even managed to ride out for a couple of treks up the roads around us. I even found some photo evidence!! On this particular day Shadow was having some problems excepting the saddle. So Kate took the time to sort out the issue and was able to take Shadow off on their first off premise ride since she has been here.


Shadow did very well and we are looking forward to placing her in the lesson program so our students can start enjoying her willing attitude and gem of a personality.

Our crazy busy month ended up with us heading to the Lindsay area for the FEI International ParaDressage Competition. The Competition was held a completely wheelchair accessible facility, which was incredible. Wind Reach Farm really was impressive. They have thought of everything, from tactile learning stations in all the barns and gardens, to paved paths, to a wheel chair friendly playground. We were blown away by the friendliness of the staff and the positive atmosphere that Wind Reach has.

Part of our purpose for attending the competition was to meet Lauren Barwick, Paralympic Silver and Gold medalist in Beijing 2008 for Canada. Lauren has been a long time hero for us all as she has overcome hardship after hardship, to get to her status as excellent horsewoman and Paralympic athlete. As well Kate wanted to go to visit with Shannon, Lauren's assistant. Kate met Shannon during Kate's time at Larry Stewart's, (Larry happens to be Shannon's step-father)

Well long story shorter, we got our visit with Shannon, and met Lauren and her entourage. This lady is amazing!!! Having now seen her ride in person it is totally understandable that she has been so successful in her time in the competition circuit. She took home gold and bronze both days while we were there, as well as team gold overall. It was a very successful weekend for the entire Canadian paralympic team.

We even got in a couple of photos! Above: Lauren and Maille during their techinical test.

Left to right me, Paul (Lauren's boyfriend), Alison, Kate (on one knee), Andrea, Maille (mmm flowers!!), Lauren, Fawn Anderson 3* Parelli Instructor, and Shannon.






Lauren's horse Maille, (pictured below) is pretty cool, as well as gorgeous.














Watching Lauren and the rest of the competitors is truly inspirational. These people have some very serious handicaps but they persevere and literally ride right through them.

This particular competitor blew our socks off and blew the competition away!! She can barely lift her head but you put her up on that horse and she just lights up. They make an amazing team, that horse will do anything for her. It was awesome to see her smiles as she came out of the ring after an excellent ride and then took home gold in her class.

So thus ends my recap on the month, I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Hopefully we will not be so negligent this next month.

From all of us up here at the farm take care, until next time!!

Normally Natural,

Marie :)

Come and See Day for our 2010 Lesson Program!!!

This Saturday May 1st, at 11 am we are hosting an information session for our 2010 Lesson program. Come out and meet our instructor Kate Vandergragt and the horses that help make this program so interesting. If you are thinking about enrolling in our program, you are encouraged to bring you questions to this fun-filled day. Come out and see our students playing, riding and just hanging out with horses.

Fore more information feel free to contact us at vanderbrookfarm@gmail.com or by phone 613-757-1078 We hope to see you there!

Book Now for Clean Up Your Games Clinic!!!

The next "Clean Up Your Games" clinic with Kate Vandergragt, will be held May 15th 2010.This clinic is being hosted by Stonehill Stables, 228 Cobus Road, Renfrew, ON.

For more information see the previous blog post on this clinic, or contact us by phone 613-757-1078.

Lesson Program Begins May 3rd, 2010

We are once again coming upon the beginning of the riding season, and the start of our
Natural Horsemanship lessons. This year we are offering lessons to adults and children in either an individual format or the group option (2 to 5 students). Due to the nature of our program we can take riders of all levels and skill sets. Come learn with us and take not only your riding to new heights but your horse savvy as well!

What is Natural Horsemanship?
Natural Horsemanship is the study of horses and our interactions with them using the natural communication that horses use with each other. In our program we teach the students to use communication, understanding and psychology as opposed to the traditional tactics of force, fear and intimidation.

What will my child learn during the program?
The focus of our lesson program is to teach people to be safe while they have fun with horses. Students will learn to be perceptive to the horse's body language; riding, equipment care, handling and grooming as well.

How long are the lessons?
Our lessons are at least an hour long and occasionally run a bit longer. Students are encouraged to spend some time grooming and “hanging out” with their horse to develop their relationship and promote good horse stewardship.

How many students are in a class?
Group lessons will have 2 to 5 students at most, as we prefer to keep class sizes small for a more personal approach. Private lessons are also available.

Does my child require special equipment?
All students (18 and under) are required to wear approved head protection. We recommend that students purchase their own, but we will have helmets available for a minimal one-time rental fee. Foot wear with a heel are a must too, rubber boots will be fine.

Rates:
Private Lesson: $40/per lesson
Group Lesson: $30/per lesson
Family Rate: more than 1 child $25/lesson

Clean Up Your Games Clinic with Kate Vandergragt!!

Greenwood Stables in Pembroke, ON is hosting a "Clean Up Your Games" clinic with Kate Vandergragt, April 10th 2010.

Kate was a working student at Former Parelli 4 Star instructor Larry Stewart's ranch for well over 2 years fulfilling the need to learn the skills required to teach others about her passion- horses, naturally. Returning from Larry's with some incredible skills, she took over the Introduction to Natural Horsemanship Program at Vanderbrook Farm and Natural Horsemanship Center, Killaloe, ON. The program was established to meet the demands of some local adults and kids who wanted to learn about natural horsemanship. Currently, she is working with her own horses and client's horses at the center. Kate was also successful in uniting some "natural" horses with some "natural" students after their participation in the program.

In this clinic, you will clean up your games by learning how to effectively communicate with your horse through the proper use of zones and phases. This is an excellent opportunity for problem solving allowing you to become a better leader for your horse. Watch the swishing tails and pinned ears disappear!

2 hour session (3 persons) $50.00 each

Auditors $15.00 for the day. Students 16 and under are free.

Saturday is limited to 9 horses, so please book as soon as possible. We will book for Sunday if there is enough interest.

613-757-1078