![]() To find out more about the Fairfield Saddle Club or to sign up for regular newsletters, visit Facebook. ![]() It’s a safe way for kids to get out of the house, have fun, learn about horses, and connect with nature. ![]() Riding can be an expensive sport, so donations from riders have allowed more families to take advantage of the club. In addition, many retired horse people have donated equipment and loaned horses to the program. Nicole and Zoe are grateful to Conley Wright and Jim Masterson for supporting the Fairfield Saddle Club’s vision, and to Sara and Nicole Robb for generously lending their horses, equipment, and time. The Saddle Club has received enormous help and encouragement from the local riding community. Coming up is a winter sleigh ride for the new year. In October, during the Halloween Spooktacular, the kids rode through a decorated arena and trick-or-treated. Nicole and Zoe try to plan monthly events as well. Mask wearing is encouraged and lessons are now predominantly one-on-one, with a small, socially distanced, weekly after-school group and special biweekly “on the ground” sessions in horsemanship that they call Saddle Club Saturday. “Luckily, because we have so much outdoor room, and we also have an indoor arena, we can space ourselves out,” Nicole explains. While things have slowed down a little because of the pandemic, the Saddle Club continues to be popular. “They learn to recognize the intelligence that horses have.” Students learn to connect with the horses. “It’s our way to step in and start a new generation of kids that are seeing horses as sentient beings,” Nicole explains. That connection becomes a partnership with the horse. Instead of focusing on getting the horse to comply by force, riders learn to connect on a more subtle level. One of the Saddle Club’s basic principles is teaching horse psychology. Horses have the ability to speak to us if we’re able to understand what they’re telling us by their body language and their herd interaction.” “We want the kids to learn how to communicate with the horse. As she gained more experience and connected with different training styles online, Nicole started coming up with a new philosophy that respects equine intelligence. “I learned to ride the old-school way, making sure that the horse ‘respects you’ and dominating them,” Nicole explains. Nicole and Zoe are excited to teach kids to interact with horses in a different way. And we’ve really enjoyed it.” Nicole leads a young student around the barn. It’s been really nice to see how many people are wanting to get involved and be with the horses outside. The Saddle Club was so popular, they developed regular year-round activities. “I really enjoy teaching and being out with the horses,” Zoe says. Zoe missed teaching, so they started a summer camp program last year. in Equine Nutrition from Iowa State University.īoth women are experienced riding teachers. Zoe has been riding since childhood, and currently trains in cross-country eventing. Nicole, who has been around horses since she was a teen, is an experienced horse trainer who has worked with Tennessee Walking Horses and Paso Fino breeds. With Prematerra’s woodland trails and pastures, outdoor grass arena, and lighted indoor arena, riders have options to enjoy riding all year round. Nicole is very grateful to Whitney Jaeger, the owner of Prematerra, for allowing them to use the farm as their base. Lessons are offered at Prematerra Farm, a 145-acre equestrian facility located southeast of Fairfield. That makes it really great for us.” Students in the barn at Prematerra Farm ![]() “The neat thing,” Nicole says, “is that all the kids that we have are horse kids. Riders of any experience level are welcome. The Farfield Saddle Club offers riding lessons and after-school activities for kids five and up, with lessons for adults as well. So last summer, they put their passion for all things equine into the Fairfield Saddle Club, whose mission is to teach a conscious connection between horse and rider. When they moved to Fairfield from Washington state a year ago, they noticed a lack of horseback riding programs for children. Zoe Trinca and her mom, Nicole MacPherson, both grew up with horses. The Fairfield Saddle Club rides in the snow.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |