Willow & Withers Stables

09/11/2026

Coming to the Valley this fall? 🍎🍂🐴

Apple picking. Corn mazes. Pumpkin People. Farm stands. Wineries, cideries and breweries.

There are so many reasons to spend a fall day in the Annapolis Valley — and we'd like to add one more.

Come for a ride with Will-oh!

If you're a rider visiting the Valley, make Will-oh! part of your day. Your session gives you a chance to see and feel things about your riding that can be difficult to identify on your own horse — from balance and symmetry to rein contact, position and aids.

Then take what you've learned home to your own horse.

Pick some apples. Get lost in a corn maze. Meet the Pumpkin People. Come for a ride. Stop at a farm stand. Finish at your favourite winery or cidery.

Sounds like a pretty good fall day to us. 🍂
📍 Willow & Withers Stables | Sheffield Mills, Nova Scotia
Explore our training options and book your Will-oh! session:
https://hubs.ly/Q04xcpzM0

09/10/2026

Got tack taking up more space than your horse does?

Seller registration is officially OPEN for our Fall Tack Sale at Willow & Withers!
🗓 Saturday, October 17

🛍 Tack Sale: 10:30 AM–2:30 PM
📍 Willow & Withers Stables, Sheffield Mills
📦 Seller setup begins at 9:00 AM

Seller spaces:
$15 — table provided
$10 — bring your own table

We’ve already had a great response from people wanting to sell, so if you’ve been meaning to clean out the tack room, now’s your chance!
Reserve your seller space here: (https://hubs.ly/Q04x9r0L0)

Saddles, bridles, blankets, riding apparel, barn gear and all those perfectly good horse things you swore you were going to use again someday are welcome. 😉

Tag your barn friends who need to do a tack-room purge!

09/10/2026

What if some of the work that makes you a better rider happens out of the saddle? 🐴

We’re teaming up with our friends at Remedia Health for a 90-minute Pilates session designed specifically with equestrians in mind.

Led by physiotherapist Jessica Bergevin, the session will focus on the strength, stability, mobility and body awareness that can help us find a more balanced and effective position in the saddle.

Whether you ride several times a week or are simply looking for another way to support your riding, this is a chance to spend a little time working on the rider half of the partnership.

🗓 September 18
🕧 12:30–2:00 pm
📍 Remedia Health, Canning
💲 $35
Spaces are limited. Book here https://hubs.ly/Q04x7KKB0 or
Reach out directly to Remedia Health to reserve your spot.

We’d love to see some familiar equestrian faces there! ❤️

09/06/2026

Fancy a canter on the beach? 🐴🌊

No trailer required. 😆

We talk a lot about what Will-oh! can measure — your balance, rein contact, leg position and aids.

But sometimes you don’t need to take a test.

Sometimes you can just… go for a ride.

Will-oh!’s software gives riders more than 4,000 virtual acres to explore. You can ride along beaches, through forests, around lakes and farms, past castles and villages — you can even take a trip to the zoo.

Feeling a little more serious? You can head into a 20 × 40 m or 20 × 60 m dressage arena and work on your accuracy, transitions and arena skills.

But here’s the thing:

You’re still riding.

You still have to steer. You still have to use your aids. You still have to stay balanced and communicate with Will-oh! — you’re just practising those skills while exploring somewhere a little more interesting than the arena.

Because rider development doesn’t always have to feel like work.

Sometimes learning can look a lot like playing. ❤️🐴

So, where would you take Will-oh! first — beach, forest, castle or zoo?

📍 Will-oh! at Willow & Withers Stables
Sheffield Mills, Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

09/04/2026

Got tack taking up more room than your horse does? 😆

Saddles that don't fit. Blankets your horse has outgrown. Bridles, bits, boots, breeches and all those “I'm definitely going to use that someday” purchases...
It might be time for a tack-room clean-out. 😉

We're opening up the indoor arena at Willow & Withers Stables for a Fall Tack Sale on Saturday, October 17 from 10:30 am–2:30 pm — and our first step is filling the arena with sellers!

🐴 Book a seller spot:
$10 — bring your own table
$15 — we'll provide a table

Bring your new and used tack, riding apparel, blankets, barn gear and other equestrian treasures and turn that tack-room clutter into cash.

Want a spot? Send us a message to reserve your table.
Once we've got our sellers lined up, we'll start spreading the word to buyers across the Valley and beyond.

And yes — you'll be selling indoors, so no standing around at a table wondering what the October weather is going to do. 🍂☔️

📍 Willow & Withers Stables
Sheffield Mills, Annapolis Valley
📅 Saturday, October 17
⏰ 10:30 am–2:30 pm

Message us to book your table — spaces are limited.

09/03/2026

One year ago, on September 3rd, I climbed onto a horse that wasn’t a horse — and made a rather big decision.

I had travelled to Racewood Limited in the UK to test ride one of their advanced equestrian simulators.

I walked. I trotted. I cantered. I watched the data appear on the screen.
And I started to see what was possible.

What fascinated me wasn’t really the technology itself.

It was what the technology could let a rider discover about themselves.
What happens when you take the unpredictability of the horse out of the equation for a moment?

What could we learn about our balance, our hands, our legs and our aids when we could actually see what we were doing?

Somewhere during that visit, curiosity turned into a decision:
I was bringing one home to the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia.

At that point, there was no Will-oh! studio.

She didn’t even have a name.

There were no rider assessments, Barn Nights, first canters, physio sessions, or riders coming back to see whether something they’d worked on had actually changed.

Just an idea that I thought could add something genuinely different to the way we learn about our riding.

A year later, that simulator is Will-oh! ❤️

And one of my favourite parts of this whole adventure has been watching riders discover things they couldn’t feel, confirm things they were already doing well, and leave understanding their riding just a little bit better.
It’s rather amazing what can happen in a year.

And funnily enough, next month I’ll be walking through those Racewood doors again.

This time, Will-oh! will be waiting for me back home in Nova Scotia. 🐴❤️

09/02/2026

Well, this is pretty exciting. ❤️🐴

Will-oh! has made her way into the pages of Atlantic Horse & Pony
The September–November Rider Issue includes a wonderful article by Laura Kelland-May, “Invest in yourself to transform your partnership,” all about something I've come to believe even more strongly over the past year:
We spend an enormous amount of time, energy and money trying to help our horses become stronger, more balanced and better at their jobs.

But sometimes the most valuable thing we can do for our horse is work on ourselves.

That's really what Will-oh! is about.

She gives riders a chance to take the horse out of the equation for a little while and become curious about their own riding — their balance, position, aids, habits and feel. Sometimes we find something to work on. Sometimes we discover that something is already working beautifully. And sometimes we finally understand something a coach has been telling us for years.

I especially love that the article shows riders from different disciplines and at different stages, because that's exactly how we use Will-oh! here.

A huge thank you to Laura Kelland-May for telling the story so thoughtfully, and to Atlantic Horse & Pony for giving Will-oh! three whole pages in the Rider Issue.

And, of course, a nod across the pond to Racewood Limited for creating the remarkable technology that made this slightly crazy idea of mine possible. ❤️ Their Dressage Pro is designed to give riders immediate visual feedback on things such as balance, contact and position — exactly the kind of rider-focused learning Laura explores in the article.

Pretty special to see Will-oh! in print. 🥰

09/01/2026

Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs are the ones you can't feel.

When Victoria came for her first session on Will-oh!, she wanted to learn more about her riding biomechanics.

What she discovered surprised her.

She was carrying more weight in one seat bone than the other — something she couldn't feel from the saddle.

But that wasn't the only discovery.

She was also delighted to learn that her rein contact was already beautifully even.

Sometimes it's just as valuable to discover what doesn't need fixing as it is to identify what does.

Victoria left with one clear focus: create a more even seat.

A few weeks later, she came back.

This time the data showed:

✔ Her seat imbalance had been corrected.
✔ Her rein contact was still beautifully even.
✔ And her lower back was feeling better too.

That's what I love about being able to measure.

It's not about chasing perfection. It's about understanding what's actually happening, choosing something meaningful to work on, and then being able to come back and see whether it changed.

Victoria has already booked session number three.

Great riders never stop learning. ❤️

And we have a feeling Amazing Grace appreciates that too.

09/01/2026

We get asked a lot if we offer horse riding lessons beyond lessons on Will-oh! the simulator. We do not, but our almost neighbors do, check out Touchstone Farm just around the corner from us. We are hearing great things and so happy to have them in our community!

We're working on our fall schedule! We've got a few spots open for leadline riders, beginners, and more established riders too. Come join a fun, welcoming and supportive barn family...with some pretty spectacular horses and ponies to share. We've got a horseshow coming in October, fun activity nights and we're building a Show Team program too. Send us a message if you're interested in info!

08/31/2026

August certainly knew how to make an exit.

One last spectacular sunset over Willow & Withers to close out the month.

Goodnight, August. You were a beauty.