RED GATE FARM
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As summer ends, we've finished this year's camps. They were the BEST EVER! The Horses: All horses are doing very well. We love them all so much! Our newest additions are Ginger, Linus, Haley, and Chip. Read about them on the Horses page! The Instructors: We are fortunate to have such a wonderful, caring staff. Judi Novak, Pam Kunkel, Martha Wunder and Christine Vitkus continue to teach group lessons on weekdays. Martha Wunder teaches group lessons on Saturdays. Rebecca Asevedo teaches private lessons on Sundays. All instructors are busy, busy, busy! The Facilities: The facilities continue to meet (and exceed!) our needs. We continue to improve the facilities constantly. We LOVE our indoor ring for summer camp and keeping warm in winter! And our new pavillion is great for camps and birthday parties! We also added 2 new run-in sheds, and 2 stalls to the barn, making camp even better! And our upgrades for hosting horse shows include a secretary stand, judge's stand, and lots of new jump equipment. Leasing and Hacking/Practicing: The following horses/ponies have availability for leases to students: Abby, Prince, Hershey, Bon Bon, Trooper, Knight, Penny, Chip, , CiCi, Linus, Haley, and Tuppence. A lease means that you “rent” the horse for a set number of days per week to ride without an instructor. The purpose of the lease is to ride more often with one horse to practice skills learned in lessons. Prices of leases vary depending on the number of days per week you want to ride. Generally, it is $100 for 1 day a week, $200 for 2 days, and $375 for the whole week (when the horse is not in lessons). Contact Christine for more info at (540) 882-3530. Lower level riders may be able to lease if a parent is a rider or has enough knowledge to assist safely. Hacking/practicing is a one-time flatwork practice ride for an hour in the ring (not in a lesson). It must be pre-arranged, and the student must be able to tack up independently. The cost is nominal. Both leasing and hacking must be supervised by an adult, and do not include jumping. Student Horse Show: Our Spring shows were a wonderful learning experience and a fun family day. We were so proud of our young riders! We will host at lest one show in the Fall on Sun, Oct. 19th. These shows are for Red Gate Farm students only, and are casual dress. There are classes appropriate for all riders, including new beginners and young children. All participants receive a ribbon for each class. Riders enter 3 classes for $60, so the cost is minimal. Outside Horse Shows: Please check the sign-up sheet in the barn. It includes the dates and locations that we will offer once-a-month trips from April to September with our horses to outside shows to compete against other barns. Minimum attendance necessary. VHSA Horse Shows: Red Gate Farm has finished hosting our first series of VHSA shows! We will have a banquet to recognize and award our top riders for the season. Next year, we will host another series. Come and join us! The entire facility will look beautiful, and the pictures of your children are wonderful. The shows are not too hard, even for the young riders. They also offer a great opportunity to see some amazing riders from our area. Clinics: Please check the sign-up sheet in the barn. We are now offering once-a-month clinics, which are special , one-time lessons that address a specific topic. October will have a clear-round jumper competition and horsemanship clinic; November will have Western Games. Safety Issues: Our lessons are geared specifically for children, and our horses and instructors are child-friendly, but we must not forget that a horse can weigh 1200 pounds or more! When children are in lessons, we watch over them and do all we can to keep them safe. Make sure your family is doing all that you can do to keep yourselves safe too. Please don’t enter the barn with open-toed shoes or let small children run around unattended. Younger siblings or friends cannot help groom or tack horses. Try your best to help maintain order. DO NOT enter stalls or fields without permission, or forget to close gates or doors to the barn or tackroom. Regarding treats, you are welcome to bring cut up apples and carrots or store-bought horse treats to feed to the horses, but please leave the bag in the car or trash can. Plastic bags are very dangerous for horses, and they will eat them if they smell like food! You are welcome to bring our bunny, Marshmallow, any vegetables also. Remember, dogs are not allowed to roam on the farm. Please leave them in the car. Resource Issues: Let’s keep on being mindful to good use of our resources here at the farm. Our saddles and bridles are very expensive, and we are lucky to be able to have such nice equipment. Taking good care of our equipment will enable us to use it for a long time. Hay, shavings, and grain are expensive too, so don’t allow children to play with them. Please don’t waste the water from the faucets by letting them run longer than necessary. The extra water muddies up the fields too! |
Red Gate Farm
15929 Hampton Road
Hamilton, Virginia 20158
(540) 882-3530
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This site was last updated
Sunday November 16, 2008 03:33:56 PM
