WildeWood Farm, Inc.

🐴 Penny for Thought

Some horses don't need a different trainer.

They simply need a different life.

Penny, our giant Percheron/Paint cross, came to me as an almost untouched two-year-old. Her owner wanted her started under saddle much earlier than I would have preferred for such a big, immature baby, but I knew I could give her the gentlest start possible.

Penny was all baby.

Every morning from 10:00 until noon, she took a two-hour nap—flat out on the ground! If you woke her up during nap time, she simply couldn't function. Imagine trying to convince a sleepy toddler to go to work. That was Penny.

After sixty days, she went back home.

Thirty days later, I got the phone call.

"How soon can you come get this terrible horse?"

Apparently, Penny had decided that living in a stall wasn't for her. At nearly 1,600 pounds, she simply jumped out and went exploring!

I was in the middle of summer camp, so her owner hired a commercial shipper to bring her back to WildeWood.

The moment she stepped off the trailer, she was home.

Living outside with friends, room to roam, and plenty of grass transformed her. The "terrible horse" disappeared, and in her place was one of the kindest lesson horses we've ever owned.

For twelve years, Penny faithfully carried riders. We affectionately called her Pig Pen Penny because she could always find the muddiest spot in the pasture, and Sofa because riding her was as comfortable as sitting on your favorite couch.

Eventually COPD forced her into retirement, but she spent her final years surrounded by people who loved her.

Penny reminded me that behavior always has a reason.

Sometimes, what looks like a problem isn't a problem at all.

Sometimes... it's simply the wrong environment. ❤️🐴

From Ms. Ms Hannah Writes

2 weeks of camp remaining with spots left in them. Sign up today.

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Birthday parties at the farm are so much fun!
www.wildewoodfarm.com

🐴 A dream...

Over the past few months, so many of you have told me how much you've enjoyed reading the stories of Casi, Simon, Titan, Amber, Conspiracy, Blitz, Lena, R***r, and so many of the other horses that have called WildeWood Farm home.

Those Facebook stories are only the short versions.

What many of you don't know is that I'm quietly working on something much bigger. A book called 'The Horses of WildeWood'.

It won't simply be a collection of horse stories. It will be the story of a farm... told one horse at a time.

Some chapters will make you laugh. Others may bring tears to your eyes. Each horse has left a mark—not only on my life, but on thousands of children, families, and friends who have crossed paths with them over the past 30 years.

These horses weren't just lesson horses.

They were teachers. Friends. Healers. Partners.

Many carried children through their very first ride. Others carried me through some of the hardest seasons of my own life.

I'd love to know...

Would this be a book you'd enjoy reading? Is there a horse whose story you're especially hoping to see included?

I'd love to hear from you. ❤️🐴

From Ms Hannah Writes

Can anyone guess who this baby is? Hint - she's at the farm, is 19 now, and is not this color anymore.

Because I won't be near a computer tomorrow morning, you all will have 2 stories today!

Bey Lady 💛🐴

Every horse has taught me something.
One horse changed the entire course of my life.
Her name was Bey Lady.

In 1995, after working at one of the country's premier Arabian horse farms, I was offered a two-year-old bay Arabian mare. I was thrilled. Young mares are rarely given away. I didn't yet know the farm was quietly going bankrupt, or that horses with difficult reputations often became disposable.

The excitement lasted until I unloaded her. She spun around, galloped down the driveway, and headed for the road with a thirty-foot lead rope flying behind her - which made her run even faster. My brother Tim took off after her while I jumped in the car. We finally caught her at a neighboring farm where she'd stopped to visit other horses.

That was only the beginning. Over the next year, I discovered Bey Lady wasn't simply afraid. She was angry and afraid. And unlike most frightened horses, fear didn't make her run. It made her fight. If she felt trapped, she would rear and strike like a stallion.
If she felt cornered, she would whirl around and kick with both hind feet. She hated being touched, wouldn't let anyone pick up her feet, and simply walking into her pasture required determination and courage.

I searched everywhere for answers. Then a friend handed me 'The Man Who Listens to Horses' by Monty Roberts. I attempted my first Join-Up from what I was able to glean from the book. It was awkward. It took nearly two hours. But something changed. For the first time, Bey Lady chose trust instead of fear.

Months later, one of my students unknowingly caught Lady in the pasture, led her into the barn, groomed her, and had her saddled before I even realized what had happened. I nearly had a heart attack.

There had been a time when simply entering her pasture required careful planning. Now someone had quietly brought her in without incident (we had 2 bay Arabian mares with a star. One was Lady and the other one of the best lesson horse’s ever Conspiracy - I'll tell her story soon).

Bey Lady never became a lesson horse. She never became the kind of horse I could hand to a beginner. In fact, I was the only person she ever truly trusted to ride her. But that wasn't the point. She had learned that people didn't always bring fear. She had learned that she could choose trust instead of defense.

For a horse like Bey Lady, that was an extraordinary victory. Looking back, I realize she wasn't sent into my life so that I could change her. She came so that she could change me.

That one frightened angry mare set me on a path that eventually led me to study with Monty Roberts, become one of his certified instructors, and spend the next three decades helping thousands of horses and the people who loved them.

Sometimes God sends us the teacher we need.
Mine just happened to have four legs. 💛🐴
From Ms. Hannah

Blitz – The Horse That Started It All 🐴❤️

Every horse person has one. The horse against whom all the others are measured. For me, that horse was Blitz (my bay Arabian sport horse stallion Sir Lancelott).

When I moved to the United States from Haiti in 1993, I was a poor college student with one dream to own a horse here in America - an Arabian horse or Morgan if possible. After all I'd grown up with 'The Black Stallion' and 'Justin Morgan Had a Horse'.

I found an eleven-month-old Arabian c**t for $500 and somehow made it happen. We didn't even have a pasture ready for him yet. During spring break, we borrowed a chainsaw and carved enough land out of an old overgrown homestead to bring him home.

Looking back, I had no idea that awkward, gangly c**t would change the direction of my life.

For over a year, Blitz was my only horse. Every spare minute that I wasn't in class or working, I was with him. We grew up together. We learned together. We built a dream together.

He was brilliant. He was athletic. He was absolutely full of himself.

He also had a mischievous sense of humor. He loved practical jokes and could invent new ways to keep me humble. More than once, I was convinced he laughed at me.

One of my favorite memories happened when I took him to a neighbor's farm while I was going out of town. I tucked him safely into his stall, then walked across the aisle to pet another horse.

Apparently, that was unacceptable.

Blitz burst through his stall door, marched over, bit me on the shoulder as if to say, "Excuse me... you're mine," and then galloped around the arena while everyone tried to catch him.

At home, all I ever had to do was whistle. He always came running.

When Blitz was only eight years old, a devastating shoulder injury ended his athletic career. The university veterinarians recommended euthanasia, but I couldn't give up on him. He wasn't ready. He made that abundantly clear by flirting shamelessly with every mare in the hospital while collecting what I jokingly called their "phone numbers."

He never rode again, but he became the foundation of our breeding program. Many of his children and grandchildren have carried riders, taught lessons, and touched lives here at WildeWood Farm.

Blitz died far too young at age 16. After I lost him, I stopped riding for myself. Life became about raising my young son, paying the bills, and building the farm. Nearly eighteen years passed before another horse made me want to ride simply for the joy of it again.

People often ask why Blitz remains the standard by which I measure every other stallion.

It isn't because he was the most beautiful. Although he was. It isn't because he was the most talented. Although he certainly was.

It's because he carried me through one of the hardest seasons of my life.

Not just in the saddle...But in my heart. Some horses leave footprints. Blitz left a legacy.

From Ms. Hannah 💛


www.wildewoodfarm.com

One of the questions we get asked constantly during summer is:
“Should my child start with lessons or horse camp?”

In my experience, I strongly prefer beginners start with camp whenever possible. 💛

Here’s why: horse camp gives us four full hours each day to teach, practice, and build confidence. Riders receive far more one-on-one help from counselors and instructors, more hands-on horse time, and far more repetition than they would in a traditional weekly lesson.

In many ways, one week of horse camp contains the equivalent of about five weeks of lessons — and often even more because the learning is cumulative each day instead of spread out over months.

Every rider is carefully paired with a safe, well-trained horse appropriate for their level and personality. We focus heavily on:
🐴 Safety
🐴 Correct position
🐴 Horsemanship
🐴 Confidence
🐴 Kind, respectful communication with the horse

We do not teach “tricks” or shortcuts. We build real riders in a patient, encouraging environment for both boys and girls.

And camp is also an incredible value. Camp is $100/day, while individual lessons are $80 each pay-as-you-go. The amount of learning, horse exposure, and confidence-building children gain during camp is tremendous.

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There is something powerful about spending full days immersed in horses, animals, nature, friendships, and hands-on learning. Riders progress quickly because they are living it — not just visiting it once a week. 💛

And yes… there is still room in camp for last-minute additions! 🐎

Camp isn't just for kids! Adults are welcome too!


www.wildewoodfarm.com for registration