Dun-Pikin Farm

09/21/2026

It is the time of year when you start to see Fall decorations going up. Cornstalks, pumpkins, mums, gourds, indian corn. Back when we were growing and selling produce at our roadside stand we found it nothing short of amazing how much money folks would spend on all the fall stuff we had for sale. Heck, my father-in-law even sprayed some clear lacquer on some giant oak leaves he found in the farmyard and we found that folks even bought them to add to the fall festive decorations.

Once we started into the horse business and were no longer growing all those great fall decorative crops we found ourselves ‘shopping’ for them just like everyone else. Since ‘tis the season’ I thought I’d share one of our favorite fall ‘horsey’ decorations. I think Rick made the first one for the Dun-Pikin Farm float in the Pasadena Caring and Sharing parade. Then, of course, we had to outdo ourselves each fall season with a new version of a ‘corny’ horse.

I’ll put a link in the comments with some ideas on how we ‘built’ him. Good fun if you want to give it a try. It has been a few years since we’ve created one of these nifty fall decorations. Can’t promise you will see one this year, but we have some real live horses that look great with a fall season background. Be prepared to take some pics when you Come Ride With Us!

Cindy 🐴

09/20/2026

October lesson schedule is now available. Book online.

Dun-Pikin Farm: Family-owned equine facility in Pasadena, MD. Offering riding lessons, Pony Pals, boarding, summer horse camp. Come Ride With Us!

09/20/2026

For the 'littles.' We still have openings in our September and October Pony Pal sessions.

PONY PALS Learn to Ride Age 4-6
The pony pal program at Dun-Pikin is very unique. Not many farms will teach riders younger than 7 years of age. We have designed a special program to help prepare younger horse lovers to enter our lesson program. Young aspiring riders (generally age 4 to 6) may enjoy our Pony Pal program. Riders learn about riding, grooming and general horse care at a very basic level and enjoy a lead-line walk under saddle during the 1/2-hour session. $60/half-hour session.

To see availability, register and pay visit our scheduling page here: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=15080538&appointmentType=59802252

09/20/2026

A while back I read a book called Heaven Is Real. It was about a boy that had a near death experience. When he talked about his experience one things he remembered was there were horses in heaven. I remember thinking how wonderful that was. I never really doubted it, after all it would not be “heaven” without horses being there. Now I’m a few years older and I’m a lot more tired and achy. I've begun to think, hmmm… maybe heaven could be heaven without horses.

I’ve thought about it a little more and decided I would be really sad if I got there and found there were no horses there. What wears me out and causes me the most aggravation are just some of the things that come with horses and their care. So after thinking about it a bit I decided horses in heaven would be heaven as long as there are no ….

Hoses in heaven would be hell for me. They always seem to crimp, tangle and get caught on anything and everything. I waste a lot of energy fuming over hoses.

Flies for obvious reasons. Surely there will be no flies!

Blankets … OMG talk about stress. Do they need their heavy blanket or maybe their light weight one would be best, or maybe they don’t need one at all. Someone told me they have a phone app for that now. I’m too old to figure that out. Please don’t let there be blankets.

Supplements .. remembering who gets what and when can be a real challenge for me. Our shelf is filled with buckets, packets, canisters and bottles. We have scoops, measuring spoons, and dosing syringes to dole them out. Yikes! Surely the horse in heaven will not need supplements.

Dirty barn aisleways surely don’t exist in heaven. I would hate to get there and realize I did not bring my broom. I know it’s an issue that I personally have but a dirty unswept aisleway drives me crazy.

Eternally clean filled water troughs would be a must. No more scrubbing and rinsing. No more running the water over or the horses drinking them dry.

Strip away the chores, the clutter, and the chaos, and you’re left with the quiet wonder of just sharing space with a horse. If heaven has that, it’s all I’ll ever need.

Lucky for us, we get a little preview of that peace right here on the farm every single day—even if we have to untangle a hose to get to it.

Come Ride With Us!

Cindy 🐴

09/19/2026

Rather than our usual call to Come Ride With Us! Today we share some sad news. I asked Katie to share her memory of Tic Toc this evening.

In Loving Memory…
Rockstarsrunninoutatime (aka “Tic Toc”)
Flea-bitten gray mystery breed horse
Birthday unknown
Died: September 11, 2026

The first memory I have of Tic Toc is not when I met him, but when we went to bring him home. We headed to Gettysburg, PA with our horse trailer in tow enroute to pick him up. It just so happens that our hayman lives in Gettysburg. Months before, my hayman had bought my granddaddy’s old JD rowcrop tractor and he was driving it down the road as we went by. Since there were no other cars on the road we pulled over and talked a bit. With that bit of serendipity I just knew the rest of my trip to get Tic Toc was going to be special.

Tic Toc was one of my favorite kinds of horse, just a mystery breed that’s “quiet, gentle and broke.’ A horse who is gentle natured with a kind eye. I pick my horses basically at first glance; . My gut tells me yes or no (and my vet gives me a thumbs up) and Tic Toc was a definite, YES!

We brought him home and told my nephew this was ‘his’ horse and he had to give it a show name. Well, he just blurted out, “Rockstarsrunninoutatime” which was pretty awesome since my nephew was just a little small fry at the time.

Tic Toc lived up to every expectation we had. Well, I should say he exceeded them. People talk about how hard it is to find their unicorn. I was very lucky to have my very own unicorn for so long. Lots of little kids were enchanted by him when they met “a real live unicorn.” He touched so many lives. Rest easy my old friend. I love you.

Katie at Dun-Pikin Farm 🐴

“Never stop believing in unicorns because the world is a better place with a little magic in it.” – Anonymous

09/18/2026

Friday night lights hit a little differently when the stadium is practically your back pasture!

Amie snapped a sweet shot tonight of her daughter cheering on her cousin under the stadium lights at Chesapeake High School. Long before the stadium bleachers and turf arrived, that field was actually part of our farm. These days, though, the boundary line just means our four-legged residents get prime VIP season tickets.

Buffy the donkey and Charlie the pony always take their places along the fence line for a front-row seat to the action. From the barn, you can clearly track every touchdown on the scoreboard—and Buffy certainly has opinions on the referees' calls.

People often wonder how our lesson horses stay so unflappable. Forget specialized desensitization training; we just turn them out on game night. Between the blaring air horns, roaring crowds, thumping marching band, and the bone-rattling growl of the Chesapeake Cougar mascot over the loudspeaker, our herd has seen and heard it all.

Honestly, bombproof doesn’t even begin to cover it. If a horse can munch hay peacefully while surviving the chaotic roar of a Chesapeake High football game right next door, they can handle anything life throws at them.

Come Ride With Us!

Cindy 🐴

09/17/2026

I know the quality of this picture is really poor, but to me it was a beautiful sight that I wanted to capture. This was the first time since Sunday when we put the new horse Durango out with Percy and Arlo that they were all eating peacefully together. Honestly there has really not been much drama. Percy and Arlo have just stayed on one side of the field and Durango on the other, with very little interaction. The only issue that I’ve noticed has been when Durango has gotten close to Percy. Even then Arlo has mostly just put himself between the other two. It seems he doesn’t want to share his friend.

Tomorrow we will be closing off the grass field for a bit. It’s just a small field and we don’t want it over grazed. That will mean the 3 horses will be forced a bit closer together. My fingers are crossed that things will go well. It’s always stressful introducing horses to each other. So far we’ve been lucky, there’s not a mark on any of them. It’s been all bark and no bite, or should I say all squeal and no kick.

We'll keep watching them closely as they adjust, but I'm feeling optimistic about this new chapter for our little herd. Here's to hoping for peaceful days ahead—Come Ride With Us!

Cindy 🐴

09/16/2026

Over the years Dun-Pikin has evolved in many ways. We went from being strictly a boarding barn to adding lessons. After adding the lessons we began showing. We then ventured into doing pony rides and pony parties. We’ve done and been involved in a lot of horse activities in our 26 years.

With all this going on we’ve still had the everyday care of the horses to keep up with. Feeding 2 times a day, putting out hay, turning the horses out and walking horses in along with doing stalls has always needed to be done. We’ve always been lucky and mostly found wonderful help. Generally our help has been recruited from our lesson program. Students who became competent and who wanted to spend more time at the barn. Usually most would walk over from the high school next door, help with feeding and then take their lessons. Eventually most would graduate and either get a real job or go off to college. This has been the cycle almost since the day we started with lessons. High school kids were who we mostly counted on. Most of them were really great workers.

This fall, there has been a big, big, change! Starting in late August Dun-Pikin’s barn work has been done mostly by those of us that are more “mature.” With the exception of Amie, the rest of us are well into our 60’s and early 70’s. Myself, Roxanne and my sister Jody are the morning crew. Aleta, Amie and myself are the evening crew. The weekends are covered by Amie and myself. Though none of us are young - young, I will say everyone of us does an awesome job. No matter how hot or humid it's been, we’ve gotten the job done. We may be slower, we may have more aches and pains, but obviously youth has nothing on us! The bottom line is I’m proud of us!

Rick and I were down the bottom 40 fixing some fences yesterday (BTW he’s REALLY old) and our neighbor stopped by to chat. He commented that “aren’t you two getting a little old for all this stuff.” Ha, he’s even older than Rick. Anyway that’s what made me realize things are growing old around here. Say “Hi” to the old folks when you Come Ride With Us!

Cindy 🐴

09/15/2026

There are always a lot of opinions when the topic of feeding horse treats comes up in the barn. Some people feed them by the handful, while others ban hand-feeding altogether.

​Around here, treats are allowed, but we do have some rules. At the end of every riding lesson, our students head straight over to the treat bucket to reward their horse for a job well done. We stock the bucket with crunchy, grain-based treats from the local feed store. The horses know the routine by heart, and it gives the riders a moment of connection on the ground after working hard in the ring.

​When most people think of classic horse treats, carrots and apples immediately come to mind. Surprisingly, they’re actually my least favorite option. Whole or large chunks of carrots and apples pose a real choking hazard, especially for senior horses who have worn down or missing teeth.

​My personal favorites might come as a surprise: soft Red Bird Peppermints and plain sugar cubes. Peppermints are a favorite in the barn—most horses love peppermints and sugar cubes. Both dissolve quickly in a horse's mouth. If a horse swallows a bite too eagerly, the treat begins melting right away, dramatically cutting down the risk of choke.

​Feeding treats demand good barn manners. Hand-feeding can definitely cause issues.

Horses are fast learners and have great memories. Hand-feeding without clear boundaries can make them mouthy, nippy, and pushy about personal space. If a pony begins to get grabby or nippy we just feed the treat in a pan or bowl instead.

We teach our riders to feed treats from a completely flat, outstretched palm—never held with fingers.

Some use treats for positive reinforcement or target training. They pair the reward with a clicker or a vocal bridge like "Good!" so the horse understands why they earned it, rather than just expecting a handout.

A little mindfulness goes a long way in keeping treat time safe, and polite for everyone in the barn.

​Come Ride With Us!

Cindy 🐴