Timberline Equine

09/28/2026

Hey horse girl…
It’s okay if you have to take a rest.
It’s okay if you had the longest day ever, you’re running on 5 cups of coffee, you’re sitting in traffic, you’re at your wits end and trying to get to the barn before the sun goes down…. And you start to think maybe you should just go straight home instead.

It’s okay if you are getting over an illness, or an injury, you’re having a bad pain day, or your mental health isn’t in the best spot and you’re thinking… I don’t want to go to the barn today.

Your barn can be your favorite place, and you can still need a 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒚.

Your horse doesn’t want to see you rushed, in a bad mood, sick or weak, or hurting and stumbling. Your horse wants to see you healthy, happy, and ready to give him or her all of your attention.

You don’t need to be everything to everybody every second of every day.

If your body is telling you to rest, listen to it… every day looks different 🩵

09/24/2026

Things your riding instructor wants you to know:

1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard; every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.
2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to...
3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then you're not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to...
4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs. and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in a while; they improve because they make riding a priority and give themselves opportunity to practice.
5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what you AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...
6. Riding should be fun. It is work; and work isn't always fun, but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.
7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.
8. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.
9. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.
10. Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others, but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one 🩵

09/21/2026

Winter is slowly approaching 😫 Heated barn and arena 🔥 open riding and riding lessons available year round ✅

09/15/2026

High school students interested in the Department of Animal Sciences we invite you to join us for our Discover NDSU Animal Sciences Event!

Experience what it is like to be a student in our department through hands-on learning activities, interactions with faculty, and a student panel!

Register by October 11th: https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/extension/events/discover-ndsu-animal-sciences

09/11/2026

Today, we remember.

As we mark the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, we honor the nearly 3,000 lives lost, the first responders who ran toward danger, the families forever changed, and the countless heroes whose courage continues to inspire us.

At Cheyenne Frontier Days, we pause to reflect, to honor, and to remember.

Twenty-five years later, we still remember the unity that followed, the resilience of the American spirit, and the bravery shown in the face of unimaginable tragedy.

May we continue to stand together as a community and as a nation.

We will never forget.

09/03/2026

Ah yes, back-to-school season. The time of year when suddenly everyone has soccer four nights a week, volleyball three nights a week, dance, cheer, football, homework, birthday parties, and approximately 900 other commitments...

And horse practice is the thing that apparently needs to understand.

I completely understand that kids are busy. I'm not asking horses to be the only sport.

But we do have to be realistic.

You can't bring your kid to riding once a week, occasionally skip that, and then wonder why they're not progressing at the same rate as the kid riding 3-4 times a week.

You wouldn't tell the dance instructor, "We're gonna miss half the practices but we'd like her to be in the recital with with advanced kids."

Yet somehow horses get handed the leftover Tuesday night and we're expected to produce magic.

One lesson a week is absolutely enough if your goal is to enjoy horses, learn, and have fun.

But if the goal is to compete, progress quickly, and ride at a higher level, consistency matters.

Your trainer can't make up for the hours you're not here.

And really - just make your kids pick a dang sport. Maybe two. You can’t realistically give your all to multiple things. I dont know. Maybe I’m just irked. Sue me.

08/27/2026

WELCOME BACK, SADDLE & SIRLOIN!

We’re kicking off another great year and we’d love to see you there!

September 9th
6:00 PM
Shepperd Arena

Come learn more about the NDSU Saddle & Sirloin Club, meet new people, hear about what we have planned for the year, and grab a root b**r float!

Whether you’re a returning member or brand new to S&S, everyone is welcome. We hope to see you there! 🐂🌾

08/25/2026

In order for youth sports to do its job, parents need to stay out of it. Park the helicopter and stop hovering.

Character > Athletic Ability

I’ll never forget it.

I was a high school freshman and we were in the middle of a heated basketball game with one of our rivals.

I was on the floor when I heard my coach yelling for me, “Mandy! Mandy!”

I heard him. But I was blatantly ignoring him.

On the third, “Mandy!” I turned away from the court to the bench and yelled “WHAT?!!?” My hands were in the air to signal I was annoyed.

This coach was not one to mess with. He knew basketball like the back of his hand and he DID NOT DEAL with disrespect. His face immediately got beet red and his eyes were bulging out of the sockets.

I heard the buzzer blaring for a sub and I knew I was coming out of the game.

I went to sit in an open seat at the top of the bench and he said, “no. You go take a seat at the end of the bench. And get comfortable.”

It was the first quarter and I didn’t play another second of that game.

During halftime he said to me, “if you ever talk to me like that again - if I ever hear you talking to a referee or another coach like that - you will be so far down on this bench you won’t even see the court.”

Noted.

After the game, he walked up to my Dad who was a long-time boys’ basketball coach. He wanted to explain why I was benched but my Dad cut him off. “You’re the coach. You don’t owe me any explanation when it comes to your team.”

I think about that moment a lot because I think we’ve drifted so far past that when it comes to teaching our kids about accountability.

In our house, if you’re not playing, that’s on you. Work harder so you leave no doubt (even if politics are involved).

You look cross-eyed at your coach, I hope you are benched.

You’re not focused in school? Benched.

You tear down a teammate? Benched.

Youth sports have changed so much…some days the stories I hear or see firsthand it’s like inmates running the asylum.

Coaches are too afraid to hold kids accountable because parents lobby to have them fired 🙄

And it’s sad because a lot of the parents are my generation…and come on, we know we learned and benefited the most from the teachers and coaches who pushed us the hardest and held us ACCOUNTABLE.

I love youth sports because it’s so much more than scores and records.

It teaches us teamwork, builds and reveals character, we learn to work through adversity…the list goes on and on.

There’s nothing wrong with coaches holding our children to higher standards by saying “that’s not how we behave here.”

I don’t know about you, but my kids need that because I’m trying like hell to make sure I’m not raising narcissistic, entitled and self-absorbed humans.

They’re going to make mistakes…
They’re going to have low-character days…
They’re still learning and growing…

I just hope every coach and teacher knows that I have their backs when they tell my kids: “nope. Take a seat.”

Forever grateful for Coach H for telling me to get comfortable on the bench. Nothing I could have done on that court that night could have overridden my disrespect.

In order for youth sports to do its job, parents need to stay out of it. Park the helicopter and stop hovering.

It’s the fighting through the adversity that will lead our kids to endless success. Truly.

Character > athletic ability

📸: that’s me in a good ole mid 90s polyester uniform. And yes, I’m chewing on it 🤷🏼‍♀️

08/22/2026

Trail Week 🪵