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NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP
Here at Windflower Farm all our horses and ponies receive a foundation in Natural Horsemanship. This method is based on our
employing behavior that horses use within the herd to establish their ranking. Anyone who has seen a band of horses run across
a pasture realizes how aware they are of each other. After a quick look, a glance, or an erect posture, they miraculously seem
to stay out of each other’s way. Horses communicate and learn primarily through body language. At Windflower, a rider often
begins the lesson dismounted with the horse loose in the round pen, a circular paddock 60 feet wide. Standing in the center she
learns to control the direction and the speed of the horse. The horse’s respect for the rider is established first on the ground.
This ensures a safe and rewarding mounted session. At the end of the round pen work, the horse should walk up to the student—without
a lead or rein—--indicating that the house now regards the rider as leader of the herd.
MOUNTED WORK
Windflower Farm offers lesson to students of different ages, abilities and levels of experience. With a foundation in Natural
Horsemanship we teach basic horsemanship, beginning jumping, and dressage. Bareback riding and lunge lessons are frequently
used to help the rider establish an independent seat and a strong core, which is essential to all riding. We often ride on
conservation land—there are eight miles trails connecting to the farm--and intermediate and advanced students sometimes go with us
to Crane Beach, where we ride in the tide pools and gallop along the six miles of shoreline (October 1 to March 31.)
OUR RIDING PHILOSOPHY
In addition to the principles of Natural Horsemanship, we believe riding should be fun and that no one can learn when they are afraid.
We listen carefully to our students and tailor each lesson to that student’s particular needs, wishes, and aspirations. Riders learn
not to project or ascribe their own feelings, beliefs, and ideas about human motivation onto horses but instead to understand the horse
as a uniquely wonderful animal we have taken from the natural world into ours. At Windflower we believe the least we can do is to
understand that original world of the horse and use that understanding to improve our relationship with the horse and, of course, our
riding.
RATES
$55.00 per hour
$35.00 per half hour
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