 |
The Kostelniks are very blessed to be boarding their horses
on
several acres on Blue Rock Road,
which the owners have very kindly permitted us to call
"Blue Rock Horse Park"!
  At
left is a clickable overview of the property, from Google,
including the places
where we currently board, ride and teach. Click it to see it
full-sized (huge).
At right is our main lesson horse,
an older American Quarter Horse mare named Sugar
Champagne Lace, standing outside the large, well-constructed pole building
(blue roof in the aerial view), The Barn, with three stalls and a large storage area, which also houses some
construction equipment used by the land owners in their business. The
property has a security system around its entire perimeter!
 Here,
a student stays a while after her lesson to just enjoy sitting
bareback on Sugar in her stall. If you click it to see the
full size, in the background you can see the round pen.
The Pasture: Adjoining the building are approximately three fenced acres of
grass and trees, The Pasture, into which all three stalls open. We give the
horses the freedom to run loose in that pasture land, and go in and out of
their stalls as they choose, unless we close them in their
stalls due to especially "bad horse weather" (rain, cold & wind).
Below are the horses coming in for dinner, recently. These two
pictures are very similar, but we're working on adding the video
version. Click
here to try it in Quicktime format.
The Round Pen: Near The Barn, inside the 3 fenced acres,
and seen above, is The Round Pen, a 45'
sturdily fenced circle, just right to give beginners the confidence of a
smaller enclosure, while still allowing for walking, trotting, and
cantering, with a nice, sandy footing. The following candid photo
was taken during a student's Western riding lesson on
Doc, and at right, another girl's very first horseback ride, on Sugar, both in
The Round Pen:
The Goat Pen: Above and adjoining the three fenced acres is a smaller fenced area, with
more trees and some sloping, winding paths -- which Dr. Kostelnik realized makes a
perfect "trail riding practice" area. Students can perfect
their trail riding skills, from navigating paths to riding up and down
hills and between trees, in this relatively small, fenced area,
without worrying about their horses running away. Originally it was home to three goats;
so, we
still call it "The Goat Pen". Here's a photo of Barbara
giving a student a trail riding lesson on Amir during September 2011
in "The Goat Pen". The winding sloping trails
through the trees are to your right, their left. At right,
below, is the view leading up to the gate of The Goat Pen. The
Pasture gate is at left.
The Ball Field: At the top of
(north) this aerial photo is a large, level area bounded by trees
and fences, which makes a perfect large, natural arena. It's
where we practice barrels, poles (usually in the form of cones),
serpentines and figure eights, and also ride in a large oval at the
walk, trot and canter, to develop consistency of gaits.
Because it was once used by the owners' sons as a football field,
complete with a goal post (now gone), we still call it "The Ball
Field". Left, below, a "grass break" in The Ball Field after a
trail ride; at right, a student gets barrel instruction on Sugar,
also in The Ball Field:
 
There are a few other, gently sloping open fields through which
we are allowed to ride, as well as two separate wooded trail areas... a grassy
"road" with trees overhanging that looks like a scene from old
England to us, which we call "The Robin Hood Trail", and on the
other side of the open fields, a large wooded hillside with trails
going up, down and across it. Accessing this trail area requires crossing a
small, nameless creek, which is also fun to ride through, weather
permitting!
 |
The Firepit Field: At
left is the first of several of those fields, which from
time to time has a fire pit in the middle of it.
So, we call it The Firepit Field. We hope some day to
include toasting marshmallows after dark as one of the
available activities at Blue Rock Horse Park.
|
 |
The Middle Field: Looking
left from there, you can see the freshly-mowed opening
to
The Big Field, which has only a gentle slope, and
lots of room for trotting or cantering across, or just
letting the horses graze while you chill out. Pics of
The Big Field, coming.
|
 |
 The Creek Crossing, at the
bottom of all of the fields, and leading up to many
Wooded Trails. Left, our beloved
Arab and our pug were still
|
| alive and
very well, and we and some old friends were just hanging
out. The concrete slabs were laid down for the
owners' ATV's; the creek flows between and under them.
Above right, Doc doing one of his favorite things:
splashing in the creek, frozen or not! |
 |
We ride in all kinds of weather! But riding in at
least several inches of fresh snow, while it's still
falling, is THE BEST!
|
 |
If and when we offer lessons again, you can be ready
in advance by printing and filling out a release form! For
students under 18, both parents or legal guardians must sign.
If bringing friends, they or their parents or legal guardians
(if minors) must have one also.
-
-
-
-
Here is a copy of Ohio's equine
liability law that I made for my use, that you might
find informative : OHIO
|
|
