Paddock Farm is forty acres on Hollow Ridge: twenty-two stalls, an indoor arena with real footing, two outdoor rings, and a lesson program that starts at six years old and has no upper limit. Most of our riders came for one lesson and stayed a decade.
The east field, first turnout, late September.
Every lesson starts on the ground with a brush in your hand and ends with the horse put away properly. Riding is the middle part. Plan on being here fifteen minutes before and after your slot.
Grooming, tacking up, and leading come first, then walk and trot on the lead line until the balance is there. Kids move off the line when they are ready, not when the calendar says so. Biscuit and Marigold do most of this teaching.
For riders cantering confidently on their own. Flatwork with a purpose, then gymnastics, cross-rails, and full courses to 2 feet 6. Groups are capped at four so nobody sits on the rail for long.
You are not too old. Our oldest first-timer this year was sixty-one. Private lessons on Otto, who has seventeen hands of patience and a walk like a sofa, with as much or as little jumping as you want.
Buy eight lessons and the ninth is on us. Lessons cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice are charged, except for weather, which is on us too.
Forty-five minutes on a Saturday morning: a barn tour, a helmet fitting from our loaner shelf, grooming, and a walk on Biscuit or Otto. Wear long pants and any shoe with a small heel. If you want to come back, the second lesson is the real thing.
Book a first lessonWe keep eleven school horses. These four do most of the teaching, and every one of them was chosen for temperament before anything else.
TemperamentUnflappable
Has taught more six-year-olds to post than anyone on the farm, and holds firm views on carrots.
TemperamentForward and honest
Small, quick, and nobody's fool. Our jumping pony for the kids who are ready, and only for them.
TemperamentSteady
The adult-beginner horse. Has never spooked at anything anyone can remember, including the tractor.
TemperamentQuiet, a little lazy
Needs a bit of leg, which is exactly the point. Teaches riders to ask properly and then to say thank you.
School horses are matched to riders by the instructor, not by request. You will ride the horse who will teach you the most that week.
Boarders get the same turnout, the same hay, and the same eyes on their horse as the school string. Full board is a 12 by 12 matted stall in the main barn; field board is the west field with a run-in; training board adds Rosalind four days a week.
Availability updated September 1| Board | What is included | Monthly | Open now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full board | Matted 12 by 12 stall, daily turnout, hay three times a day, grain twice, stall cleaned every morning, blanketing, and holding for the farrier and vet. | $825per month | 3stalls |
| Field board | Group turnout on the west field with a run-in shed, round-bale hay, grain once a day, and a hands-on check from the barn manager every week. | $450per month | 2spots |
| Training board | Everything in full board, plus four training rides a week with Rosalind, one lesson, and coaching at the schooling series. | $1,350per month | 1stall |
Monday to Friday, ages six to fourteen, capped at twelve riders a week with three instructors. Bring a lunch and a water bottle; we have the horses, the helmets, and the shade. A $50 deposit holds a spot, and registration opens February 1.
Grooming, leading, walk and trot on the lead, a barn scavenger hunt, and a Friday show for parents.
Two rides a day, a trail ride on Friday, and an afternoon on how to wrap a leg properly.
The same week as June, for the July crowd. Returning campers get a different pony.
Gymnastics on Monday, cross-rails by Wednesday, a course on Friday. Riders must be cantering. The mini-show has ribbons.
Bareback, groundwork, a vet visit, a farrier demo, and a Thursday night ride with a campfire after.
Weeks two and four filled by the first week of March last year. Siblings take $25 off the second registration.
A low-key series for our students and the barns down the road. One ring, a visiting judge, a food truck at lunch, and a series champion in every division pinned at the finale. A clean polo and a well-brushed horse is the dress code.
Fall opener. Entries close September 27. First class in the ring at 8:30.
The harvest show. A costume class at lunch, open to leadline and walk-trot, judged by whoever laughs first.
Series finale. Champions and reserves pinned in the ring at the end of the day, with the good ribbons.
$25 a class, $15 office fee, paid at the show. Ribbons to sixth in every class, series points to fourth.
Students may show a lesson horse for $40 a day, arranged with their instructor at least two weeks out. Outside horses need a current negative Coggins at the gate.
Entries by email to shows@paddock.example with rider, horse, and divisions.
Enter a show
The indoor is 80 by 200 with sand and fiber footing, watered every morning and dragged twice a day in lesson season. There is a heated viewing room with a coffee pot and a window the length of the long side, which is where most parents end up. Outside, the big ring is 100 by 250 with a full course of jumps, and the small ring by the barn is where beginners start, close enough to the aisle that nobody feels far from home.
Nine paddocks and two big fields. Every horse goes out every day the ground allows, in groups of two or three we match by temperament rather than convenience. Boarders get the same turnout as the school horses, which is to say, a lot of it. In August the east field is shaded by three in the afternoon, and the horses know it.
Heated, swept nightly, and organized to the point of comment. Each boarder gets a locker and two saddle racks. Lesson tack is labeled by horse, so a first-timer can find Biscuit's bridle without asking twice. Saddle pads are washed on Sundays, and the boots by the door are for borrowing.
Required on every ride, for every rider, certified to the current standard. We keep a loaner shelf in sizes from child small to adult large. Once you know you are staying, buy your own; we will fit it.
Any closed shoe with a small heel works for a first lesson. No sneakers, no sandals, no exceptions. Paddock boots start around $40 at the tack shop in town, and we will tell you which pair.
Signed once a year, on paper, at the barn. Riders under eighteen need a parent's signature. It is a page long and nobody has ever needed a lawyer to read it, but bring it before you get on, not after.
Rain moves us indoors and lessons run as scheduled. Lightning within ten miles or a morning below 15 degrees cancels, and you will have a text by 7 a.m. Cancelled lessons are rescheduled, never charged.
Owner and head trainer
Certified instructor and trainer, twenty-two years of teaching, competed through 1.20m in the jumpers and still shows a client's horse now and then. Runs training board, the jumping program, and the schooling series. Will fix your position before she compliments it.
Beginner program and camp director
Level 4 certified instructor and a pony-club coach for a decade before he came to Paddock in 2019. Runs the beginner program, adult beginners, and every week of camp. Has never been heard raising his voice in the small ring, and the small ring has tried.
"Nobody is a natural. Some people just got a good horse early."Rosalind Hale
Paddock Farm
1180 Hollow Ridge Road
Oak Hollow
Open in Maps
Gravel drive past the white fence. Park by the indoor, not the barn, and walk slowly past the paddocks.
Boarders have barn access from 6 am to 9 pm, every day of the year.
Call or text (555) 555-0147
or write to hello@paddock.example
First lessons are scheduled within the week, usually on a Saturday morning while the fog is still on the field.