Old Bear Farm

09/01/2026

Hi everyone -

Here's the scoop for September lessons! I'm so excited for this fall - cooler weather and happier ponies await! 🍁🍂🐴🤠

Saturday September 5th - am and pm lessons available

Saturday September 12th - am and pm lessons available

Saturday September 19th - am lessons available, possibly early pm (I work that night)

Thursday September 24th - am and pm lessons available

Saturday September 26th - possibly am and pm lessons available, but MIGHT have to switch them to Sunday the 27th

Wednesday September 30th - am and pm lessons available

That's all for now a reminder (or for anyone new): when asking for lessons, it's best to ask for approximate times (ie "Saturday 9/12, am lesson, anytime before 11") - I take requests as first come first served for times, but will juggle the schedule a little to fit everyone in, and also to schedule breaks for myself and space out horses' workloads if they are doing multiple lessons.

I'll also be posting about a few other things shortly - I'd like to do a day of obstacles and a tack cleaning class, among other ideas - something fun to get everyone together since we're not always all here at the same time! I'm also thinking of applying to ride in equine affaire again, and we've been talking about the possibility of a show for one or two people! More details to follow!

Micki

08/31/2026

So this spring for Justin for his birthday, we got him a coop, as he's been asking for chickens (among other things) for a while...these are the result. We have 4 hens and one rooster (an accident as they were supposed to be all girls, and we sadly lost another early on). I never really wanted chickens but I have to say, they're the funniest damned things and keep us entertained! Captions in individual photos...

Kudos to those who can guess where their names came from...

08/31/2026

I know, I know, I've been remiss about posting, yet again...so here's an August wrap up...

"Happiness is..."

07/31/2026

At the Luke Reinbold clinic i attended in June, he had us do a group unmounted session and takk about some of the things we struggled with, things, we liked about our horses, things we hoped to learn, etc. It was an absolutely great clinic on many levels, which I still need to sit down and write about. But after this first morning session, I had one woman come up to me and tell me that she had seen me and Kid out and about over the past few years, clinics, shows, etc, and never had any idea we struggled as much as we have. Then she called me a badass. You never really know how much you might inspire others! And never ever give up. 😉🤠❤️🐴

07/31/2026

This, 100%! I am so self critical about where kid and I should be sometimes that I am our own worst enemy!

There's a version of you that you thought you'd be by now. More confident. Further along. Competing at a level you haven't touched yet. Riding the way you imagined when you first fell in love with this sport.

And somewhere along the way, without ever really deciding to, you started grieving her.

Nobody talks about this part of riding. We talk about goals, about progress, about "trusting the process" — but we don't talk about the quiet loss that comes with realizing your timeline didn't go the way you thought it would. The horse you thought would take you somewhere didn't. The injury you didn't see coming took a year you'll never get back. Life happened — work, money, moving, becoming a parent — and suddenly you're standing in the arena wondering how you're still here, still working on the same things you thought you'd have mastered years ago.

Here's what I need you to know: that grief is real, and it's allowed. You're not being dramatic. You're not "just being hard on yourself." You lost something — a version of your future you'd already started picturing. That deserves to be acknowledged, not brushed past.

But here's what I also need you to know — grieving her doesn't mean giving up on her. It means letting go of the timeline, not the goal. The rider you thought you'd be by now isn't gone. She's just further down the road than you expected, and she's waiting for you to stop comparing your chapter 3 to someone else's chapter 15.

I think about my own riding journey more than people realize. There were seasons I thought I'd be somewhere else entirely by "now." And every single time, the breakthrough didn't come from forcing the old timeline. It came from making peace with the one I was actually living.

You are not behind. You are not too late. You are exactly where your story needed you to slow down, rebuild, and come back stronger.

So today, I want you to let yourself grieve the rider you thought you'd be — and then get back on for the rider you're still becoming.

Has there been a version of yourself as a rider that you've had to let go of? I'd love to hear your story below. 👇

07/31/2026

I wrote back in June after a little ride on Stella about "giving ourselves grace"...especially for me and Kid. Well, an update...

The midnight shift is officially (as if we didn't know this already 🤣) killing me. Specifically, its killing my ability to ride as consistently or to the level that I know both Kid and I are capable of. I haven't been to a single show yet this year, despite all the big plans I had this spring when the snow first started melting. Do I still want to? Absolutely. Am I going to throw ourselves in the truck and trailer and go to a show, knowing I haven't prepared how I'd like? No. So I'm a little frustrated, but I'm also trying to be ok with it. I got to do a few awesome clinics this spring. I have continued working with kid, and although it's not where I'd like us to be, our relationship has improved vastly and we feel like a team again. So I might not be out and about like I'd like to be. I still have goals, but they're on pause until maybe next spring. But I'm still here, still teaching and riding and thankful for the group of people we have at the farm that ride and/or help take care of our boys and girl. And that's pretty special too.🐴😎🤠❤️

07/19/2026

I've been informed that I've fallen behind on posting yet again - honestly I don't know what happened, I blinked and july is 2/3 gone! Anyhow, we're still here. Lots of riding and teaching and loving every second. Some gorgeous days like today. Some in the 90°s plus - the horses say no thanks, and lots of extra work on our part hosing them off, keeping them cool. Pushed through and got the footing redone in one of the paddocks in time for a new boarder to arrive yesterday. (Huge thanks Justin Rideout and Barbara Simeone!) And we even got off the farm for a little fun outing to see the tall ships. Summer is flying by! 🌞😎🐴❤️

(Captions in photos!)

07/05/2026

Had our first 3 horses ridden by 0840 this morning! Rode kid then we took Stella and Griffy out on the bogs this morning, now on to lessons!

Fyi Stella and I tried out a new fly spray thats supposed to make one "invisible" to bugs. It did not work. At least not for Satan's spawn (deer flies). And now we both stink. 🤦‍♀️

07/04/2026

Day 4 continued...

Each afternoon since Wednesday we've been out hosing horses off during the worst of the heat. Some are grateful...some are less amused, but they all got cooled off anyway!

Everyone has also had a much reduced (or none at all) workload this week, as well as electrolytes in their food every night to support them.

🤷‍♀️🥵🐴🚿

07/04/2026

Happy 4th of July everyone!

It's not a Thursday but this IS a throwback! This was Kid in 2017 - the day he shipped to us from Jeffery Rose - shortly before his 4th birthday (he just turned 13).

🐴🤠🇺🇸🎇🎆