EquiTravels

03/22/2024

Of all of the skills that students regularly want to learn, the one that nobody ever mentions is “Mounted Trail Clearing.”

And quite frankly it’s also the skill set I find that, in a pinch, most people are incredibly lacking.

It’s more skill than you’d think. Clearing trail is the ultimate amalgamation of all other skills you have learned in riding and trail riding. It brings together elements of horsemanship, riding, logic, and citizenship.

There has yet to be an EquiTravel trip where we haven’t ended up on a trail that had a fallen tree or some kind of blockage that required clearing. And all too often, I’m the one who has to deal with it solo because even the skilled riders on many of these trips don’t have the skill sets to manage their horse while also clearing trail.

Being able to have a horse in one hand and a saw in the other is a huge part of trail riding, as is knowing how to tie a horse safely while you’re about to make some loud noises.

But it’s not just understanding how to manage the horses, but also knowing what qualifies as a safe and passable trail or an acceptable reroute.

Too often I’ve seen people try to get their horses to clear a log they simply can’t step over, or duck a branch or tree they can’t actually get under —- and it’s ended in some tears and even injuries and concussions.

Of all of the skills that students regularly want to learn, the one that nobody ever mentions is “Mounted Trail Clearing.” And quite frankly it’s also the skill set I find that, in a pinch, most pe…

03/14/2024

ISO: Stable Hand for Full-Time Employment at Painted Bar Stables

Painted Bar Stables is a large and busy recreational horse farm in Burdett, NY. The stables is located just off of the Seneca Lake Wine Trail in the Finger Lakes Wine Country.

We are looking for a motivated individual to join the team to help care for our 40+ horses as we play host to over 3,000 riders and students a year.

Our farm hosts public trail riding, adult and youth lesson, boarding, distance/endurance riding and breeding programs. The facilities consist of a well groomed trail system, outdoor arena, small indoor arena, round pen, 35 box stalls, 10 tie stalls, 4 run-ins.

Our farm is home to a variety of horses of different ages, temperaments and training stages. Most of the horses on site are owned by the farm, but we also have a handful of boarded horses owned by others.

The ideal individual would have prior horse experience and be comfortable handling all types of horses, be self directed, and be willing to work in all weather conditions.

Job duties will include turn in/turn out, feeding hay and grain, managing hay and water trough levels in fields, monitoring horse’s health, basic veterinary first aid and basic barn and fence repair.

Additional income opportunities for stall cleaning shifts. There is potential for additional training, trail guiding and other opportunities for the right person.

Full Time Position
- $15/hour + shared tips
- Unlimited riding access and free riding lessons.
- Additional income opportunities available.
- PTO/Sick Time

Two options for chore shifts, must work weekends:
- 7 days a week 7:30-1:30 (42 hours)
- 5 days a week 7:30-11:30, 2:00-6:00 (40 hours)

Requirements:
- Must be 18+
- Able to lift and carry 60 lbs.
- Must have previous experience (formal or informal) working in a horse barn
- Must have reliable transportation -- no on site housing available at this time.
- Must be US Citizen or able to work legally in USA, no visa sponsorship

Application Process:
- Please submit cover letter and resume to [email protected]
- Zoom interview
- In person interview and chore shift shadow

01/03/2023

I recently had someone ask me a lot of very good questions about the horse shopping process.

In my usual over-explaining way went about trying to outline all of the things that cross my mind in regards to horse shopping, horse buying and the beginning of horse ownership.

This blog post goes into quite a bit:
- The Challenge of Buying a Horse
- Traits of Horses to Look at when Shopping
- The Challenge of Buying a BEGINNERS Horse
- Should you Buy a Horse?
- When You Should But A Horse
- Alternatives to Ownership

https://equitravels.com/buying-a-horse

So you are thinking about buying a horse? Here is my unbridled advice for the novice horse shopper. THE CHALLENGE OF BUYING A HORSE Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt and Benjamin “Benji&…

01/03/2023

An oldie but a goodie!

Just did a little update to this blog post on Winter Riding with reasons why I think riding in the winter is Superb and tips on how to stay warm when riding in the cold.

https://equitravels.com/winter-riding-horses-are-for-always/?mc_cid=5e01f7137d&mc_eid=UNIQID

While many people pack up their horses and riding ambitions for the winter, we actually kick it up a notch!

10/13/2021

How to sum up the theory of horsemanship:

1) Snacks. Snacks for humans. Snacks for horses.

2) Remembering foundational “how to feed horses” the hard way (hard way is off camera!)

3) Constant worry about his horse’s caloric intake. Constant. Worry.

Yes, Winter is the perfect horse. Yes, she’s even more perfect at being Dan’s horse.

10/13/2021

Yesterday we did a brief evening ride covering Beach Mill Road, Cleveland Lake Road, and Frost Pocket Trail (my favorite!).

All the trails were accessible by riding right out of our Abbey Lane cabin at the Horse Camps at Otter Creek

10/13/2021

By an incidence of bad planning: Dan and I ended up in Otter Creek for our wedding anniversary.

I rented the cabin a year ago planning to reboot the EquiTravels adventures with a local odyssey in a post-COVID World. Unfortunately that world never happened and I also didn’t have the time to get a big trip for many organized. Not to mention I inadvertently planned the entire thing over our anniversary.

So I found myself the lucky winner of a cabin in the Adirondacks, an amazing group staff back home and a husband who actually REALLY wanted to go riding with me - so I’m up here scouting for the future adventures to take everyone with me!

We are at the Horse Camps at Otter Creek in the lovely Abbey Lane cabin. The layout of the camp is absolutely fabulous with 4 paddocks with their own covered stalls, a little shed barn and an absolutely lovely and immaculate cabin.

02/16/2021

First thing upon arriving at Penmerryl, Xena instantly drank! Then ate!

This has been such a productive trip for her in so many ways.

02/14/2021

Nom, nom, nom.

Very proud of Miss Xena for not only finishing her grain but also munching on the fortified forage.

This is a big deal for this mare.

02/14/2021

While the point of this trip may be to pick up our newest herd member, a side goal for me is to make this a very easy and pleasant long haul for Xena.

Despite all of our endurance adventures together, Xena doesn’t travel well. She’s not a great eater, prone to ulcers, and is a generally anxious horse. She finishes her meals at home 80% of the time, but while traveling just drops down to 20%.

So this trip she is traveling with the voracious vacuum, Winterfell, as a role model and we are setting her up with a 2 night stay at Shoal Creek Farm where she can graze and relax with access to the creek as well as water buckets.

Adding in a little relaxing ride instead of doing an endurance race will be a big change for her.

Hopefully it will be a productive training odyssey!

02/14/2021

It’s been a while since the last post... Why? Well we weren’t traveling. And it felt irresponsible to be promoting traveling in the midst of the pandemic - which we feel should be taken seriously.

As the vaccines role out and society starts to be more responsible it is becoming obvious that the time to start sharing is coming back.

After a year of sequestering and avoiding travel completely, Dan and I find ourselves now en route to pick up the newest member of our endurance racing herd - a necessary purchase for business purposes that forced us out of New York State.

We couldn’t help but stop at a forest along the way and ride.

So rain or shine, we committed to a bit of ride time on a mostly trucking odyssey.

06/01/2020

I don't think that this will never not be true for me....

I may never get my ducks in a row, but I have horses and they are everywhere.

05/31/2020

Reminder of today's Webinar at 5:30pm

On our list is FORTY-SEVEN different disciplines. And there's actually more out there. Did you know you had the choice of that may different equine sports?

Our plan is to do a brief summary of all of them so that you know what's out there!

Webinar: Equine Disciplines
Cost: $20 to support Painted Bar Stables
Date: Sunday May 31
Time: 5:30pm
Registration Link: https://paintedbarstables.pike13.com/group_classes/235783 #/week?dt=2020-05-31<=staff

05/03/2020

Bonita’s Shortie has it right!

04/21/2020

What our socially distant students are saying about the Virtual Riding Association:

“Love the virtual lessons! Super helpful and the exercises are great.”

“I can't recommend this enough - so glad I joined! It's almost information overload - except it's so well presented that I can, in fact assimilate it.”

“Loved the bit webinar. I love it when your explanations go "click" in my head - I can visualize how it feels - and now I can start to understand the why and how! Jen's lesson on rein handling on Thursday did that for me, too.”

Join this wonderful group of people and get in on all of the wealth of knowledge being shared within this amazing virtual community of riders from multiple barns!

More information and registration here: http://paintedbarstables.com/virtualridingassociation.html

Currently our schedule is:
Social Brainstorms: Monday 5:30pm
Riding Lessons: Tuesday & Thursday 5:30pm
Non-Riding Lessons: Wednesday 5:30pm
Fitness10 Riding Exercises: Friday 8:00am
Webinars: Sunday 11:00am

Join the association at ANY time. Whenever you need us. From wherever you are.

Go past just the riding and get more in-depth knowledge on technique, care, and other topics that will make you a better horse person!

04/08/2020

It will start poorly.
Who knows how it will end.

04/05/2020

PIGGY HAT!

I’m making piggy, pony and various fruit hats to sell as a fundraiser for our horses at the while they are unemployed!

Tomato, Eggplant, and Blueberry hats are $20
Grape and Piggy hats are $25
Pineapple and Acorn hats are $30
Pony hats are $35

Most are sized for a child age 3-5 but I can make them in any size.

If you want a custom made hat I can do that for an extra $5

We will have them live on the Painted Bar Stables online store soon but until then Venmo your order to @ Painted Bar Stables

03/13/2020

Horses are a reflection of our boundaries.