Whistling Ridge Equestrian

10/02/2025

We also brought a couple of the three year olds with us to Gabby Dickerson Eventing’s schooling jumper day.

It’s hugely beneficial for the young horses to get introduced to the cross country course from the ground where they can utilize the groundwork skills they already have and enjoy a stress free approach to exploring their bodies. The goal is to simply get them curious and exploring. Both of the Glendale’s babies loved the water complex!

We’re thankful to have access to such a spectacular facility so close to home!

09/21/2025

✨Yesterday was a big milestone as we took four young horses to their very first show, and every one of them rose to the occasion:

🌟Glendale’s Easter Bonnet “Bonnie” – a 3-year-old Connemara mare, recently started under saddle and owned by Deb Norman. This was her first time ever leaving the farm, and she bravely showed in the tadpole poles like a seasoned pro!

🌟Glendale’s Brooklyn “Brooklyn” – a 5-year-old Connemara mare (and half-sibling to Bonnie!), owned by Brieanna Richards. She not only tackled the tadpole class with enthusiasm, but also stepped up to her very first cross rails with confidence.

🌟All In Good Time “Flynn” – a 6-year-old Westfalen gelding, owned by Becky Meyer. He showed in the tadpoles and impressed us with his steady brain, confidence and willing attitude!

🌟Lucky – a 7-year-old homebred Paint gelding, owned by Melody Parsons. He came along for the experience and quietly took in the busy show atmosphere, a tremendous step for his development.

None of these horses had ever been to a show before, but they all traveled, stood at the trailer, and handled the atmosphere like grown-ups. ✨ We are beyond proud of their progress and grateful to their wonderful owners for trusting us with these special horses. 💕

A big thank you to Eventing In Virginia for hosting such a well-run and inviting schooling show and to Capps Ridge Photography for capturing the memories! 📸

09/18/2025

Three year old connemara cross, Glendale’s Easter Bonnet, having a little practice at forward and direction.

She’s a clever gal and has a lot of try. She spends most of her time hacking and trail riding, but about once a week we like to play in the sandbox.

Owned, bred and raised by Deb Norman of Glendale Farm in Berryville, Va.

She’s been a pleasure to start 💫

09/07/2025

These 3 geldings in the c**t program had a fantastic weekend of back to back days traveling off the farm to ride with Randy Brown. It’s so important that these guys learn to travel and get comfortable working in new environments. We love our visits with Randy and all of the great knowledge that we soak up 🤩💫

✨Calloway (Cal), three year old 16.1 hand Hanoverian gelding
✨Aberdeen (Andy), six year old 16.2 hand Westphalian gelding
✨Glendale’s Augustine (Gus), three year old 14.3 hand Connemara x Thoroughbred gelding

All three of these nice boys came to us to get started under saddle and we could not be more pleased with their rides this weekend and with how well they traveled.

08/28/2025

Just two of the really nice 3 year olds that we have had in the barn this summer to start under saddle!

Two gorgeous Glendale Connemara babies.

😍😍

Owned and bred by Deb Norman and Glendale Farm

07/11/2025

Roping feet.

One of the most useful skills to get really good at. There’s a lot of nuance to it and I have found it challenging to get better and better at it. Less is more. There is so much that a horse has to do to get itself prepared to pick up a foot. We take it all for granted, we’ve learned to believe that it is easy because we spend so much time around horses who have filled it in for us. To ask a horse to sacrifice a foot, is to ask them to turn over their right to freedom of movement, and therefore, to sacrifice their safety.

It’s a big ask.

You can teach a horse to start to prepare by releasing a signal as they start to prepare to move the other three feet and get square. In order for a horse to pick up the right hind, they need to balance their load on the three remaining feet. Therefore, reward them for preparing to shift balance and take the load. It’s not really about the foot you want to pick up Teaching a horse to get prepared by getting square is useful for everything you’ll ever do with them, so you can start that right here.

That’s probably the most important step. Getting one to start thinking about preparing. You could spend all your time doing that and still be gaining ground. Just show them a little at a time and before you know it, they start looking like society horses.

You don’t have to work at it with a lariat. You can do it with just a cotton rope looped around a leg.. that’s how I like to start it, and then on the real worried types, I like to spend time getting them gentle with a rope.

It’s worth working on and it’s interesting to see what changes in the horse along the way.

06/21/2025

One thing I’m really big on is ground work and preparation. We have a lot of c**ts in the stables right now so I am hoping to take the opportunity to do a little voiceover video series showing you guys a little bit of what we like to work on with the horses. Preparation is everything and there’s a lot of small details that go into building a horse up and everyone does their thing a little different. I’m hoping to give you guys a little insight on some ideas that suit us that you may be able to take home and try on your own horses.

First up is a short clip working with 6 year old Rio who came in pretty much feral and was formally a rodeo bronc horse. Our first huge goal was to get her to where I could catch her, next up was furthering her halter breaking, which you can see the beginnings of in this video.

If there’s something you’re super curious about, something you want to see more of, or any questions you have, feel free to drop them below!

05/24/2025

A huge thank you to Big Horse Express Inc for getting our precious cargo delivered safely from Arizona to Virginia. If you need dependable, professional, safe nationwide shipping for your horses, we highly recommend these guys!

Three of Schrock’s Performance Horses that sold on HorseBid.com headed to the east coast. Thank you Leroy!

05/19/2025

We’re fortunate to have some nice hacking for the horses here at home!