Final Assignment: Oak Ridge Farms

Oak Ridge Farms, a full-care boarding facility for horses was established in 1993. Owner Carolyn Miller, lives on the 50 acre property and strives to provide a friendly, family-oriented boarding facility.

Chrissy Schieszler naturally calls the horse stables of Oak Ridge Farms her home away-from-home. Despite the long drive to the stables, Chrissy makes every effort to visit 4 to 5 times a week.

Currently, Chrissy is ridding and training a small pony named Sparky that is a cross between a Welch pony and a quarter horse pony, for a friend who isn't able to ride. Sparky was abused by his previous owner, so Chrissy focuses on de-synthesizing, the fundamentals of jumping, and the basics of trotting.

Chrissy starts off every lesson with Sparky with a warm up trot around the arena.

Oak Ridge Farms has three different bars with approximately 20 horse stalls total.

Chrissy's tack room is where she keeps all her horse gear, including; saddles, tack box, bridle, blankets and of course treats.

Chrissy wears ridding pants and half-chaps while ridding for protection.

The horses are given grain/vitamins mix two to three times a day as their main meals.

Sparky waits for Chrissy to tack him. Before tacking, his blanket is removed, and he is brushed and groomed.

To make it easier for the riders to get their horses out of the stalls, a few minutes of grazing is allowed before and after the lesson.

The trust connection between a rider and their horse is extremely important. Chrissy told me most small male ponies suffer from "little man syndrome," meaning they are usually very mischievous and mean. However, Sparky is an exception to the rule with his loving nature.

The Girth, that goes around the horses belly must be securely tight or the saddle will move around.

I love the worn textures of the stirrup leather and saddle in this photo.

Chrissy strongly emphasized that praising your horse for doing a good job is key to their improvement.

Because of Sparky's abusive past, the apprehension of jumping has been the hardest task for Chrissy to teach him. however she assured me he had improved from the first time she tried to jump him.

The worn textures in Chrissy's half-chaps represent the hard work & wear and tear from ridding.

Along with praising, treats are also commonly used to reward a horse for good things.

Sparky's treats are apple-flavored. Give him one, and he'll be your best friend.

The texture of Sparky's rough hair and the rough leather of the bridle, are a nice contrast.

Sparky spends time with trainer, Therese Schwartz doing de-synthesizing exercises. These exercises are done to help the horse become used to sudden movements, other people and horses, more trusting and less likely to get spooked.

The owner, Carolyn Miller's cat greets everyone who comes to the stables and gets along with most horses. Part of Sparky's de-synthesizing exercises are to also help him become more comfortable with the other animals like cats and dogs that roam the stables.

Chrissy leads Sparky back to the tacking stalls after a 2-hour lesson of hard work and progression.