Wild Wine Farm

02/03/2026

01/27/2026

🐎✨ T.I.P. is going BIG in 2026! ✨🐎
The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program has approved 8,000+ awards and classes at 1,600+ shows across 42 states and five Canadian provinces for 2026! From eventing and dressage and hunter/jumper to ranch horse, barrel racing, polo, polocrosse, extreme cowboy and more—Thoroughbreds are proving their versatility in every ring.

📅 Check out the growing calendar of approved shows (updates are still being posted):
👉 tjctip.com/CalendarOfEvents

Celebrate 15 years of T.I.P. awards and join us in showcasing what Thoroughbreds can do💚🤍 💙 Let us know if your show series is on the map in the comments!

Read more: http://bit.ly/466Aa5f

01/17/2026

Let’s get ready to Rodeo!!
2 Day Ranch Rodeo with 3 newly added events!!

Bring a friend and come join us for great fun to support our communities and surrounding communities Veterans and First Responders.
Everyone is welcome.

01/06/2026

HAPPY NEW YEAR at Wild Wine Farm! The 2026 January-March Lesson availability schedule is attached. Check the dates and call or text for your time slot.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fewtmh8kdr7g5zb73e9te/2026-WWF-Lessons-Schedule-January-March.pdf?rlkey=lachtyjpnhkmgi40l1kbq4im7&dl=0

12/22/2025

Trot: The Workhorse of All Gaits

The trot is the most frequently used gait in schooling. It offers the greatest variety of exercises, and its clear, even two-beat rhythm makes it easy to change direction and organize the horse. The trot conditions the body more than the walk, yet it is not as physically demanding as the canter, allowing it to be worked for longer periods of time.

Through correct development of the trot, the horse learns throughness—finding a soft, steady contact while the topline becomes supple. This allows the neck to hang freely and undulate naturally. With the added thrust produced in the trot, we begin to lighten the forehand and encourage better balance.

The trot is the ideal gait for developing symmetry in the horse’s body. All lateral movements can be performed in the trot in both directions without changing the pattern of footfalls, as is required in the canter. Because of this, it is an invaluable tool for straightness and gymnastic development.

A correct trot has an elastic flow, with a swinging back that offers a supple, inviting place for a rider with an elegant, balanced seat to sit. There are as many possibilities for adjusting the horse’s frame and balance as there are movements within the trot.

For this reason, the trot is also the best gait for developing a rider’s seat.

12/13/2025

Wet Mouth 🐴

When a horse is ridden, the state of its mouth tells us a great deal about comfort, contact, and the correctness of the training. Generally, you will see one of three types of mouths:

1. The Wet Mouth — The Ideal

A wet mouth is what we want to see.
This happens when the bit makes a comfortable, acceptable contact with the horse’s tongue. Much like placing a small pebble in your own mouth would stimulate saliva, the presence of the bit on the tongue encourages natural salivation.

The horse will make a subtle chewing motion, softly mobilizing the jaw and tongue.
This movement mixes saliva into a light foam, which is a sign of relaxation, acceptance, and correct connection.

A wet, softly foamy mouth is one of the most reliable indicators of:

🔹 Comfort

🔹 Acceptance of the bit

🔹 Elasticity through the jaw

🔹 A correct, non-restrictive contact

2. The Dry Mouth — Bit Discomfort

A dry mouth often appears when the horse is uncomfortable with the bit or the way the contact is being applied.

Many horses react to discomfort by pulling the tongue back, trying to avoid pressure on it. When the bit is no longer resting on the tongue, salivation decreases dramatically. Without moisture, the lips can chafe, and the corners of the mouth may become irritated or even sore.

A dry mouth may indicate:

🔹 Tongue avoidance

🔹 Bit pressure that is too strong, unstable, or harsh

🔹 A poorly fitted bit

🔹 Mental tension or bracing

A horse that is not comfortable with the bit will not salivate—and a dry, often slightly open mouth is an early warning sign of discomfort and tension.

3. The Drooling Mouth — Excessive Tongue Pressure

A drooling mouth appears when the tongue is under heavy, continuous pressure from the bit. In this situation, the tongue still produces saliva (because of the connection to the bit), but the horse cannot comfortably swallow it. The only option is for the saliva to spill out of the mouth as drool.

You will often see this accompanied by:

🔹 A tight or restrictive noseband

🔹 A horse unable to mobilize the jaw

🔹 A fixed or clamped mouth

🔹 Breathing restrictions in more extreme cases

This is not a sign of relaxation—it is a sign of compression, immobilization, and inability to swallow.

In Summary

Wet mouth → acceptance, comfort, soft jaw, healthy contact 💖

Dry mouth → avoidance, discomfort, tension, lack of salivation ⚠

Drooling mouth → excessive pressure, inability to swallow, restricted jaw, excessive pressure ⚠

Understanding what the mouth tells you is one of the simplest—and most honest—ways to evaluate the quality of contact and the horse’s emotional state.

12/02/2025

Don't Pull

One of the hardest things for any rider to do is not pull.
It sounds simple, but it takes incredible discipline, patience, and self-awareness.

What has helped me most is letting go of the pressure to make things look a certain way in the moment. I’m playing the long game with every horse I ride. I’m not trying to impress anyone right now. I know that if I prioritize correctness, softness, and confidence today, people will be far more impressed later—when that same horse goes around supple, happy, safe, and performing with ease.

The truth is, many of the problems we find ourselves fixing in our horses are problems we accidentally created. Most often, it happens when we try to achieve something faster than the horse is ready to give. When we rush, we use more force than needed, and that force creates stiffness. Once stiffness starts, it becomes like a big dark snowball rolling downhill—it grows, it speeds up, and it becomes harder and harder to stop.

The simplest way to avoid that snowball is this:
If you never pull, you will never lose your horse’s trust, and you will never create stiffness.

Easier said than done, right?

It is unbelievably hard.
But it’s worth it.

All you can do is your best.
Catch yourself the moment you start to pull, soften immediately, and come back to patience.
Over time, your horse will learn to trust your hands completely—and that trust is what creates the harmony every rider dreams of.

12/01/2025

09/29/2025

The final lesson schedule of 2025 is now available. Follow this link below to the dropbox file. Let's finish up the year with a big win at the Thoroughbred Makeover in Kentucky and some great riding lessons.
Barn Clean Up and Pizza Party Saturday, December 6
Cookies & Caroling Party Saturday, December 20

Shared with Dropbox

08/15/2025

Countdown to the September McLoughlin Clinic! Registrations Due September 12, 2025.
Google Registration form attached. Hope to see you and your horse for this action packed clinic. Auditors welcome. Bring your lawn chair and spend sometime with us.
https://forms.gle/xQT4ETHYDMe7H7zG8

08/15/2025

Toes in!!!!