Generate and Grow Connection

Riding and Horsemanship

SORRY – WE ARE NOT ABLE TO ACCOMODATE ANY NEW RIDING OR HORSEMANSHIP STUDENTS AT THE MOMENT.

Head Instructor Emily (Pelletier) McClure runs a successful riding lesson program in hunter/jumper, dressage and horsemanship at Generation Farms. Fun, well-trained school horses are available for all levels. You may also bring your own horse.

Our riding program is small. People tend to stay for a long time so openings for new students are infrequent.

We are most able to accommodate people with some riding experience.

We do not offer Therapeutic Riding.

What We Offer

Our riding and horsemanship program offers you a place to:

  • Explore your relationship with horses
    Advance your skills with thorough, correct, kind instruction
  • Learn to communicate with horses and work with their feelings and opinions
  • Find your path – what is YOUR way of working with horses?
  • Learn to be both gentle and assertive (without aggression!)
  • Set goals that work for you.
  • Experience support for these goals rather than pressure to achieve them.
  • Retain or rediscover your love of horses, rather than being solely focused on sport
  • Be part of a community of like-minded riders and horse people

Riders at Generation Farms enjoy the freedom to explore the avenues of horses that appeal to them. On any given day you may find someone riding bareback or bridleless, a jumping lesson underway, practice for a dressage show, someone roundpenning a horse, etc. We love our horses and we find many ways to enjoy their company!

On horses

At Generation Farms, we believe that the relationship with the horse is extremely important. The horses’ well-being and health, physical and emotional, is at the top of the list. Understanding your horse is key to a positive experience, regardless of what you wish to accomplish. We believe that horses are intelligent, sensitive and caring creatures that desire relationships with people. They deserve respect, and they get it here. Riders are taught to be sensitive to the horses’ experience, emotions and personality. No two horses are alike and they should not be treated as such. Horses try very hard to please the rider/handler, and we must respect that and avoid punishment, which horses do not understand. As horse people, we need to interpret undesirable behaviour in the horse as a communication, and ensure we find a way to work together in partnership. At Generation Farms, horses and riders work together and learn from each other.

Atmosphere

Generation Farms is a place for people and horses to share space together. It is a peaceful, pressure-free, friendly environment in which to explore your relationship with horses and yourself. Our riders often comment on the feeling of community they find here. Generation Farms is first and foremost a center for learning and wellness. We expect our members to be courteous and conscientious, supportive of each other, and motivated by a strong love for horses. People of all ages can find common ground and shared experiences here.

Why choose a non-competitive barn?

For some people, competition is simply not a driving force. Others may have had bad experiences in the show ring. And for some, the learning process and development of relationship with the horse is the main focus. At Generation Farms we enjoy the quiet, spacious barn atmosphere that exists outside of external pressures. It is easy to step back and re-assess our progression when our goals are focused on the learning journey rather than something with a time limit. As they say, ‘Education is a journey, not a destination.’ This perspective helps us keep relationship as the underlying goal that informs what we do. You may choose this type of setting for your child if your hope is to retain the deep level of caring for animals that children can possess. Some of our students do choose to compete and may attend a few shows each year in dressage or jumping or both. We have a great time and as always, we focus on the learning involved. We believe that competition should be a pleasurable experience and we strive to make it that way for everyone, including the horse! With only a few students attending, these riders have the advantage of personalized attention from the instructor.

This is horse paradise, but sorry, we do not take boarders.

If you would like more information or if you would like to receive an information package or price list, please email generationfarms@shaw.ca