Flying Change Farms, LLC

05/29/2026

Spot on and pretty dang funny!

I have been immersed in the horse world for over a decade now with the enthusiasm of a reluctant participant dosed with an innate, heavy level of natural skepticism, horse show dad Gordon Ballantyne writes. My wife is a hunter and equitation rider, which only heightens my confusion due to the subjectivity of the events. I enjoy seeing my family doing something they love and are extremely passionate about; there is nothing they would rather be doing than riding and competing on the back of a horse.

But, I have some questions.

Why does it cost so much?
A local two-day schooling show costs less than $1,000, whereas a four day rated “A” circuit show costs around $5,000. It can be the same horse stall, trainer, preparation and judging process. It follows the exact same format (although neither venue has a toilet that flushes). Are the blue ribbons at rated shows gold plated?

Does anybody own a watch?
How can something scheduled at 10:00AM consistently happen after noon? I could see it happening if there was an injury or an unforeseen happenstance but it is every…single…time. Can they not just put a buffer in the schedule because “stuff” seems to happen every…single…time?

Why is the judging so subjective?
Sitting ringside, I have zero inkling whether a given round was good or bad… and I’ve been watching for over a decade. I know what a “chip” is, what a missed lead change looks like and can count strides. But I also know that the price of little blue ribbons has gone up significantly based on the price of horses in the hunter ring. I can compete as an amateur in almost any sport because in things like golf, bowling or shooting, you have a handicap. You compete against your average. But in the hunters, it seems like little blue ribbons are for sale.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2021/05/05/questions-and-conundrums-from-a-horse-show-dad/

05/25/2026

Just a Sunday morning dressage lesson with Terri and Catherine! Did you guys plan this?! So matchy matchy! You definitely get the FCF spirit award for the day! 🙌🏻 🩵🩵🩵

05/24/2026

It’s time we put some more emphasis on the grit, determination, and solid riding skills that keep your butt in the saddle over the perfect pretty picture…

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1310213434642291&id=100069609398685

Let’s Talk About…

Have Expectations in the Horse World Become Unrealistic?

Everyone wants the perfect horse. Safe, forgiving, uncomplicated, brave. Doesn’t spook, doesn’t buck, doesn’t react, doesn’t look at anything! I could go on and on.

But at what point did we stop expecting horses to behave like animals and start expecting them to behave like robots?

Somewhere along the way, the standard for what people consider “safe” has become almost impossible. A horse flicks an ear at something, he’s labeled as distracted. Has one playful buck, he’s dangerous. Spooks at a flower box? Well that’s unacceptable!

The reality is, horses are prey animals. They are living, breathing creatures with feelings. They have insecurities and they get nervous just like we do. Some days they are fresh and others lazy. Yet more and more, it feels like people expect horses to absorb every ounce of nerves, inconsistency, poor timing, lack of confidence and lack of bravery without ever putting a foot wrong themselves. And if the horse does react? Suddenly the horse is the problem.

The truth is, truly “safe” horses are incredibly rare. The horses that quietly tolerate mistakes and pack people around courses whilst forgiving bad distances and still show up every day trying their hearts out are worth their weight in gold. But even those horses are still horses. Horses are not machines. We shouldn’t be expecting them to be emotionless schoolmasters programmed to never look at anything or have an opinion.

And maybe the bigger conversation is this: Have riders lost some of their own responsibility to become braver, better, more understanding horsemen? Because to me, good riding has never been about finding a horse that never reacts. It’s about learning how to ride through the moments when they do. Not every horse is suitable for every rider and not every rider is suitable for every horse. And there’s nothing wrong with admitting that.

Because sometimes the best amateur horse isn’t the quietest one in the barn, it’s the one that teaches the rider to improve instead of expecting the horse to be an emotionless robot and do all the work.

05/22/2026

Peter Cottontail came into the barn to keep me company as I was cleaning tack at the end of the day! 🐰

05/21/2026

Spotted this beautiful red tailed hawk on a low branch while out on our trails yesterday!! If you look closely, you can see the big rattlesnake he caught for his supper! You go, Mr. Hawk!! You can hunt all the snakes you want!! 👏🏻😁

05/13/2026

The horse industry in America does not suffer from a lack of participation, talent, or passion, McKrell Baier writes. It is, by nearly every measurable standard, one of the largest and most dynamic equestrian ecosystems in the world. Yet despite its scale and vitality, it remains curiously unable to answer a fundamental question with clarity or consistency: what, exactly, is horse sport for? Within the industry, individuals and institutions may hold strong and varied beliefs about its purpose. Outside of it, however, the answer is far less clear. This lack of clarity has become the defining vulnerability of American equestrianism at a moment when cultural legitimacy can no longer be assumed.

The origins of the American system offer important insight into this condition. The national governing structure that would eventually evolve into today’s federation was founded in 1917 as the Association of American Horse Shows, an organization designed to regulate and standardize competition. This institutional beginning is not a trivial historical detail; it is a structural truth that has shaped the trajectory of the sport for over a century. When a system is built to organize competitions, it becomes highly effective at producing and managing them. What it does not necessarily develop, at least not with equal strength, is a cohesive framework for education, public understanding, or the articulation of horsemanship as a broader social good.

This trajectory stands in contrast to several influential equestrian systems abroad, where sport has often been more explicitly integrated with education, breeding, and cultural identity. While no system is without its limitations, these models tend to offer a more unified account of the relationship between horse and human, one that extends beyond the competitive arena. In the United States, by contrast, equestrianism has evolved within a vast and diverse landscape in which horses serve many different roles. They are athletes, companions, therapeutic partners, and working animals, embedded in regional cultures that vary widely in their values and practices. This diversity is a source of richness, but it also contributes to a fragmentation that makes it difficult to present a coherent narrative about what equestrian sport represents.

We have built an industry that is too large to ignore, yet too undefined to defend.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2026/05/11/horse-sport-in-america-has-an-identity-problem/
📸 © Olivia Danielle Photography

05/10/2026

In riding, there is no perfection, only the opportunity for excellence. If you know me, you will appreciate this comparison of riding to flying a helicopter!!

Each riding student is unique, but there are different types. One is the PERFECTIONIST. While these students are almost always very dedicated students, they have some challenging obstacles to becoming great riders. The main obstacle is that they try too hard to get every detail right but in life perfection is often out of reach.

The rider on the left is experiencing her horse shying at something, maybe at something sudden behind that stone wall. Who knows? But she is fine with it. She has a smile on her face and has rebalanced herself to move in unity with her horse even though she lost a stirrup. It is obvious she does not expect her rides to be perfect. She is going with the flow of the world around her and managing her horse's shy very well in a relaxed way.

I was talking with my horse savant friend the other day about perfectionism. He gave me a great tool to explain the perfectionist challenge to riding students in the way of a story.

My friend's daughter is a bit of a perfectionist, a 4.0 high achiever. When she was learning to fly helicopters, she aced all the study and written requirements and went on to her flight instruction.

Flying is one of those things in life that will never be perfect. If you have ever flown, even as a passenger, you know that there are crosswinds, up drafts, down drafts and turbulence. A pilot might be perfect in all the academic aspects of flying, but earth's atmosphere is unstable and a flight instructor might be having a bad day, and all this can make a flight difficult.

With all the atmospheric and human variables that exist, perfection can go out the window when one is flying a plane or helicopter. When the air currents suddenly become unstable, the 100% written test scores don't matter.

It is the same when riding a horse. You might be able to do a perfect 20 meter circle or a crisp canter halt, but all of a sudden, the announcer's speaker system goes into feedback shrill or a truck backfires and suddenly you find that you are going sideways like a helicopter in a cross wind. Pilots and riders must always remain calmly open to the unexpected. Otherwise, a crash becomes a real possibility.

05/09/2026

I boarded my horses for the majority of my life before opening Flying Change Farms. This rang so true.
Grace

There was a time when I boarded my horse and got heated, Jamie Sindell writes. I’m talking full-blown righteous fury over what I saw as egregious examples of poor care. Mistakes that made me seethe with rage. But now? I own my own farm. I’ve spent almost three years caring for my own horses. And I can say, with absolute certainty, that most of the time when I threw an inner-temper tantrum, I needed to relax.

Caring for horses is hard work. Caring for horses is not a perfect science. If I could go back in time, I’d tell Past Me to chill. Because now I understand things like…

Horses drink water.
I would show up to the barn, see an empty bucket, and my inner alarm bell screamed: NEGLECT. What I know now is it’s not like horses say, “Hey, I’m extra thirsty today, lady. I’m going to drain my bucket the minute you turn your back.” Odds are your horse went on a little water bender, and the staff just hasn’t been back around to top it off. He’s not dying of dehydration. He just drank a lot.

Horses hurt themselves.
I used to find a scratch or bump and immediately stew over it: Why didn’t anyone tell me about this? Maybe it’s because no one saw it? Your horse could’ve done it in the privacy of his own stall, or while playing in turnout, when it didn’t look like much. Just because you see it now doesn’t mean it was obvious earlier. So maybe don’t go full psycho until you get the scoop.

Sometimes it’s best to skip turnout.
Back then, I was always complaining that my horse didn’t get enough turnout. If he was especially spicy, I’d blame it on that. Now? I’ve seen my ponies wipe out on the flattest, driest paddocks because they were acting like drunk frat boys. Add mud, ice, or sketchy weather, and the risk goes way up. Sometimes, a shorter turnout or zero turnout means your horse stays in one piece. So, ask yourself: do you want a fresh horse… or a broken one?

Horses don’t require a hay buffet.
If your horse maintains a healthy weight, most likely he’s getting enough food. I used to sneak my horse extra flakes to ensure he was “living his best life.” In hindsight, that was inconsiderate and unnecessary. Hay is expensive, and horses love to p*e all over the extra. Also, my horse didn’t need to be a porker to be happy–he needed not to founder.

Horses p**p. A lot.
I remember walking into a stall and thinking: Why is this so gross today? But some days, horses p**p more than others. And if they were kept in due to weather, it’s going to look (and smell) nastier. A bad stall day here or there doesn’t automatically equal poor care.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/05/15/confessions-of-a-reformed-boarder-karen/
📸 Photo © Jamie Sindell