RoanOake Farm / Golden Edge Sporthorses home of Sagar

11/06/2025

These days, everybody seems to have grooms, but “R” judge and trainer Geoff Case thinks many riders are missing the quiet time spent simply doing for their horses. “Horsemanship doesn’t just happen in the saddle,” he said. “It’s everything you do around the horse that teaches you who they are.”

Case believes that the best riders, the ones who seem effortlessly in sync with their mounts, aren’t just great athletes. They’re great caretakers.

Case came up in a generation where riders did everything—groomed, bathed, wrapped, and tacked up their own horses. He still believes those habits are the foundation of success. “When you groom your horse, you start noticing things,” he said. “You feel the muscle tone. You feel if something’s tight. You learn their reactions.”

That kind of attention builds awareness and empathy, two things that can’t be taught in a lesson. “If you only ever show up to get on, you’re missing half the education,” he said. “It’s in the details. How they stand, how they breathe, how they look at you when you walk up with the halter.”

He encourages his students to spend as much time on the ground as they do in the saddle. “The more you do yourself, the more connected you are,” he said. “You start riding differently because you understand who’s under you.”

Case recalled working with Peter Wylde, who won the World Championship and an Olympic gold medal, but still did all his own care. “Peter was the perfect example,” Case said. “He could have had ten grooms if he wanted, but he still groomed, tacked, cooled out—everything. He knew every bump on those horses.”

That level of attention was about pride and partnership. “Peter didn’t separate the care from the riding,” Case said. “He knew they were part of the same thing.”

For Case, that mindset is what defines real horsemanship. “When you spend time doing the basics yourself, you stop thinking of the horse as a piece of equipment,” he said. “You start thinking of them as your teammate.”

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/11/03/why-doing-the-basics-yourself-builds-better-riders/
📸 © The Plaid Horse

11/02/2025

Sharing from another page💕

“I kept my horse”
We rode many miles, won many shows, and we spent hundreds of hours side by side.
Now you’re old, you’re retired, and you’re my old man.

I kept my horse when he went lame- every damn time.
I kept my horse when I fell off - it wasn’t his fault anyways.
I kept my horse when I thought it shouldn’t be this hard- I didn’t know that’s how I would learn.

I kept my horse when he told me he couldn’t be ridden anymore - because I know compassion.
I kept my horse when I moved away for college and struggled with time- because he’s family.

I kept my horse when I was broke- because sometimes times are tough.
I kept my horse when he couldn’t jump high and run fast because I could see that he still would try if If I asked but he shouldn’t.

I kept my horse when I bought a new one- 3 actually, because he’s irreplaceable.
I kept my horse when I wished I had room for one that was sound- because I owe it to him.

I kept my horse when he was costing me more money to feed then any of my riding horses, because money isn’t everything.
When his legs had enough- and all he could bare to carry was his own weight, I still kept my horse.

When his career as a riding horse was over- I knew I had to keep my horse.
No one owes this horse a retirement except for me, and shame on anyone who selfishly convinces themselves otherwise. I owe him so much more for what he has done for me, but I plan to try and make it up to him when he has nothing more to offer me.

Because that’s how it should be be ❤️

10/30/2025

10/30/2025

10/30/2025

10/03/2025

This

09/23/2025

Remembering the great loves that graced the barn aisles💕

❤️ There will come a time...When you ride them for the last time.
When you buy their feed and cringe at the price, not knowing it’s the last bag you’ll ever buy.

When you scrub the dirt from beneath your nails, their hair from your clothes...unaware that soon, you’ll miss the mess.

When you text the vet about a mystery lameness, dreading the bill...never realizing it's the final call.

When you clean their sweat from the saddle pad, pick the wads of hair from the washing machine, and don’t think twice about the routine.

When you send their blankets off for repair, frustrated by the baseball sized holes, never imagining they won’t need it next season.

When you cancel a ride because they found the only muddy spot in a ten acre pasture and rolled until they were unrecognizable...just as they always do.

And then, the time will come when you hang up their bridle.
When you clean their halter and tuck it away into a shadowbox, a silent tribute in the hallway.

When you carefully store the tail you sent them to heaven without, waiting to turn it into something that keeps them close.
When you hold onto their worn horseshoes, knowing you’ll never hear them clinking down the barn aisle again.

It never happens the way you expect.
You always think there will be more time.
You’ll wish life had slowed down, just enough for you to be there more, to appreciate them longer.

And then, one morning, you’ll wake up...just as I did...and realize the horse that raised you is tired.
That they need you to be strong one last time.

Maybe, somewhere down the road, another horse will come along and leave their mark upon your heart.

But it won’t be them...they wove themselves into your soul...
And nothing...or no one can take that away.

🩷 Michelle | Born In The Barn

09/20/2025

2024 palomino knabstrupper gelding by Corteo out of Viva😍

Such a fancy guy!!!

09/20/2025

2024 KWPN homozygous pinto filly by Sempatico M

09/13/2025

2024 Cremello Oldenburg (GOV) filly by Mitril out of Mystical Note (tb)
Just a candid pic so please excuse the au natural look- we never charge extra for including some good old fashioned western soil!🤣🤣