Don't miss anything happening
at Greenbriar Riding Academy!
OCTOBER 2024
Issue 12 - Happy Fall!
A hint of Fall is in the air. It is my favorite time of year. Our horses are
beginning to shed their summer coats! The new winter hair is just
beginning to come in and their haircoats look refreshed.
Our 2024 Show Team had great success at the Tamarack Championship
Show last month! We always like to see our lesson students when they
come to support the team at the local shows. Look for information on how
you can be on the team in 2025 in upcoming Gazette editions!
On the home front, many of our lesson students participated in our
Greenbriar Schooling Show on September 8th . Judge Kate Kostenbader
did a great job of providing feedback for students and instructors to use as
they prepare for the next Schooling Show. The October 6th Schooling Show
is postponed until November 10th . The upside is that there is more time to
hone riding skills and develop better relationships with the horses. The
new deadline to register is November 1st . Riders need at least two show
practices to participate or take some private lessons to be able to work on
the pattern.
WHAT'S COMING
October will be a busy month even without the Greenbriar Schooling Show!
Our instructor, Emma Long, will be putting on our Halloween Party again
this year. It will be Saturday October 26th starting at 5pm. In addition to
that, she and Devin get married on October 30th followed by a reception on
the 31st .
Join us for a fun
filled Autumn!
October 19
Barn Buddies 11am-2pm
October 26
Halloween Party from 5-7pm
Horse Lover - Barn Buddy Program
Building community is one of our goals for this year, so we thought we could ask our Horse Lovers to be a mentor for a younger student who wants to be around the barn more. Many of our younger students wish they could be at the barn more, so we devised a plan to allow that to happen. Current Horse Lovers know and understand the procedures we follow to take excellent care of our horses. Horse Lovers do a lot of behind the scenes work! Activities include scrubbing buckets, cobwebbing, cleaning water tanks, helping with class changeovers, moving horses to the areas that they are needed next.
If you are interested in being a mentor or being a buddy please
ask your instructor help you find a match.
Next opportunity is on October 19th 11am - 2pm
Sign up early!
Important Notice
Tuition Increase Effective October 1st
Dear Greenbriar Family,
The past 16 months have been a whirlwind as we’ve integrated our unmounted Horsemanship Classes into the program. We’re thrilled that many of you are taking advantage of these extra classes, and it's been wonderful to see how our students are blending Horsemanship skills with their riding sessions. On a personal note, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the social events, including Derby Day, the Greenbriar Olympics, and our upcoming Halloween Party on October 26th is sure to be fun! We’re making great strides towards building a vibrant and supportive community.
To continue providing the high standards of care for our horses and maintaining the unique experience we offer, we need to adjust our rates due to rising operational costs. Over the past eight months, we’ve seen a 12% increase in grain prices and a 23% increase in hay prices. Additionally, to address the increased cost of living, we are also raising the wages for our dedicated barn staff.
Effective October 1st, for clients who enrolled before May 1, 2024 Bronze level lesson prices will increase by $20 per month. Silver and Gold level lessons prices will not change. The Horsemanship classes will remain unlimited, and I strongly encourage you to participate in as many as possible. These classes are crucial for developing into a skilled horseman or horsewoman.
This adjustment will enable us to continue providing the necessary care, feed, and environment for our deserving horses and ensure our staff receives a fair wage for their hard work.
Thank you for being a valued part of our Greenbriar family. For those who joined after May 1, 2024, your subscription price will remain unchanged. Please visit our website for more information.
Warm regards,
Robin Ballantyne
HORSE SPOTLIGHT
MEET JULIA
Julia is a 2003 Thoroughbred Mare. Her Jockey Club name is ‘Wordplay’. She raced 5 times as a 4 year old and was a fairly poor racehorse. She ended up at Kindred Spirits Stables in the fall of 2007 to find a new career. When I was home from college over Thanksgiving break, I rode her a few times and absolutely fell in love with her. She was very green but super willing and smart so we ended up buying her. I was a freshman in college and was lucky enough to be able to take her with me and board near my school. I did all of her training myself and would go home during breaks for lessons. She came along with the jumping super quickly and always had a great attitude towards work. She was so quiet and easy on the ground always that I could even have my non-horsey parents handle her.
Her favorite phase was always cross country, it just clicked for her. She was super brave and the more challenging and technical jumps were the better. It took us a while for her to let me have a say in speed, but once she was more experienced and I was more confident letting her go forward she was always super rideable. She only ever had two refusals cross country-the first at her first event, and the second was complete rider error!
Unfortunately, when she was about 10 I started to have trouble keeping her back from getting sore, and while we managed it for a while there came a point where I didn’t feel like she could keep doing that job happily. I bred her and she had Piper in 2015! She was an awesome mom and then just hung out living the semi-retired life. I could always trust her to hop on bareback and go for a ride on the trails, or put kids on her for a pony ride!
I was struggling a little with her back in 2022, feeling like she was very bored and actually unhappy at my quiet farm and then I saw that Greenbriar needed lesson horses. She looked really sound and comfortable and so I offered her to Robin to try out. I am absolutely thrilled that she is even happier back in work and in a busy barn where she gets lots of attention and love! I couldn’t imagine a better situation for her and am so thankful that she is doing so well at 21 years old and is enjoyed!
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
MEET LIZZIE
Tell us about your first experiences with horses. When did you start riding?
I started riding age 10 at Greenbriar! I eventually moved to group lessons and drill team which was a ton of fun, before I moved on to another barn to start eventing about age 13/14.
Who was your favorite horse when you were a Greenbriar student? Rocky
Do you have a favorite memory from your time at Greenbriar?
Drill team was so much fun, being able to ride with the same group of 6 girls
for a few years in lessons for that reason was awesome.
In what ways have you reconnected with Greenbriar?
I had ridden in a few of the shows they hosted for Tamarack which was great, and then at the fall of 2022 (?) I saw that they were looking for lesson horses and I thought there was a chance that my retired event horse, Julia, might be a good fit! I reached out to Robin to tell her about her and they took her in and have done a fabulous job. It’s been so fun knowing she’s been being utilized and loved and reconnecting in that way has been fantastic.
Tell us about your experiences with horses since leaving Greenbriar.
I started eventing with Kindred Spirits Stables back around 2003, and have been consistently doing so ever since. I had opportunity to start on a seasoned older horse before riding on my own horse through Training level. Then Derith Vogt generously offered me a season on her mare Emily who taught me to love jumping the big jumps and did my first preliminary while starting Julia’s eventing career after I got her off the track. Then while Julia was coming up the levels while I was in college and after I also rode Derith’s other mare through the prelim level. Julia had to retire from eventing in around 2014 when I started developing Gia as a young horse and had a lot of success with her through training level eventing. She now is retired from jumping and we are working towards our bronze medal in dressage! In 2021 I really needed to get my jumping confidence up and just find some joy in the sport and was generously offered the opportunity to ride The Flying Iris who is an Appaloosa/Percheron cross who I knew well from her owner and friends of mine riding her. She is absolutely the most fun, versatile, honest horse on the planet and I bought her the following spring and love to event with her, and we also do some dressage and I’m getting into fox hunting.
Do you work with horses today? Do you have your own horse?
My career doesn’t involve horses, but I still ride and compete seriously! I have 4 horses (one of them being Julia) and keep them at home on our farm in Solon!
What are your current goals?
My goal with Gia is to try to finish my bronze medal-need to work towards our 3rd level scores! With Iris, I’d like to just enjoy eventing through hopefully training level, and also maybe do some second level dressage and just have fun fox hunting and enjoying her versatility. Gia and Iris but they are both 16 this year so I did buy a yearling Irish Draught/Thoroughbred cross, Luna, who I hope will follow in their footsteps when they’re ready to slow down.
If you have been a student of Greenbriar
in the past and would like to share your
story, fill out our questionnaire!
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
MEET KAILI SÖÖT
Tell us about your first experiences with horses. When did you start riding?
My first horse experience I remember I rode a horse in Bend, Oregon named Candy when I was probably around 4 or 5. When I was 9 I moved to Iowa and started seeing horses on farms and became more interested in them, so for my 10th birthday I asked to start riding, so me and my mom started lessons at Greenbriar. My first lesson horse was Precious and she taught me all the basics.
Who is your favorite horse and why?
JP and Patches. JP has taught me so much and he is what motivates me everyday. Patches has forced me to overcome fears, we don’t always get along but he’s the first horse I feel I helped teach just as much as he taught me.
What is your riding goal for this year?
I want to get on lots of different horses so I can continue my riding skills and just learn cool things.
What has connecting with horses done for you?
The horses are what makes me happy when I’m having a bad day. They are my therapy.
Other than riding, do you have a favorite activity you like to do at Greenbriar?
I love cleaning stalls in the pony barn. It’s so relaxing with no one up there and you can hear the birds chirping and the horses eating.
What can Greenbriar do to help you realize your dreams?
It has helped shape who I am today and has shown me who I want to be as a person.
If you would like to share your story, fill out
our questionnaire and we will publish your
experience in our next newsletter!
STUDENT ART
OUR MAILING ADDRESS
Greenbriar Riding Academy
PO Box 435 - Springville, IA, 52336
United States
+1 319-854-7115