Horsemanship News

We are passionate for sharing the love of God through professional horsemanship instruction.

Exploring your worth in Christ

“For I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right hands and says to you, ‘do not fear, I will help you.'" Isaiah 41:13 What I do defines who I am. The choices I make define my value – for better or for worse. Are those things true? There are countless times in my life where I believed that what I did defined who I am. One poignant example occurred when I was 14 years old. I ...

How God Blessed Warm Beach Horsemanship in 2023

As the new year begins and we reflect on the blessings of the past twelve months, we are filled with gratitude for our community. Warm Beach Horsemanship is blessed by a generous support network, the many hands of devoted volunteers, a valuable circle of horsemen and women, a team of passionate leaders and teachers, and everyone’s (yours, mine, theirs, ours) prayers. Every prayer over our students, horses, volunteers, staff, instructors, and facility is heard and answered. In each season of ...

What’s Unique about Tiny Tots Riding Lessons

“There’s no other place like this.” -Tiny Tot Rider’s Parent The Warm Beach Horsemanship (WBH) program draws participants from ages 3 to 80! From beginning riders to dedicated competitors, kids interested in the Olympics to home schoolers completing their PE credit, there's something for most everyone at WBH. One aspect of the program that can be easy to overlook are the young riders who participate in the half-hour lessons for ages 4-5 called Tiny Tots. A four-year-old rider, new to ...

Pony Club Rallies

Warm Beach Horsemanship proudly presents its pony clubbers with the opportunity to test their skills in the educational atmosphere of Pony Club rallies. Rallies are designed to foster young athletes in the areas, including but not limited to, showmanship, teamwork, horse care, and sportsmanship. Riders compete in a “horse show” environment where they are judged for their performance and evaluated for their skills in horse care, organization, grooming and turnout. The process is designed to thoroughly prepare competitors for the ...

Preparing Leaders through Horsemanship

Warm Beach Horsemanship fosters a wide array of hopeful young riders each year. The WIT (Wrangler in Training) program is designed to develop horsemanship, schooling, and teaching skills in a ministry-based environment. Within a WIT’s time at Warm Beach, they sharpen and practice skills in horse handling, schooling horses with specific goals in mind, riding with a strong basic balanced position, and finding connection with the horse. Through the dynamics of a relationship between horse and rider, a greater understanding ...

How Horses Have Drawn Me Closer to God

Growing up, I never thought horses would become an integral part of my life. I was five when I saw my mom bitten by an abused horse at a girl scout camp my sister was attending. I was terrified after that. When I was twelve, my best friend saw an advertisement for riding lessons and she begged me to try it once. I finally caved in and agreed to one lesson and one lesson only. I was put on an ...

Welcome Heather Goetsch!

Heather joins Warm Beach Camp as the new Horsemanship Volunteer Coordinator. Heather was born in Adak, Alaska, to a military family, often moving until the age of 12, when her family settled in Virginia. She married her wonderful husband Loren in 2010, who was in the military at the time, and in 2011, they settled in Washington, the third time for Heather! Heather has experience working in and owning her own bakery/café; she worked in the legal field, was involved ...

Pony Club Camp

When I reflect on my Pony Club days, growing up in a wonderful team and family environment, the bright memories of camps and rallies rise to the surface first. These memories are strong for many reasons. Not only were they happy core memories, but they were events filled with immense personal growth. I learned more in those short spans of concentrated education delivered by a handful of brilliantly diverse instructors, than I did in entire school years in the classroom. ...

Volunteers Are Integral to the Horsemanship Ministry

Imagine you are standing next to a horse, physically vulnerable, and mentally terrified. How will you get on? How will you get off? How will you sit in that saddle way off the ground? How will you go, stop, and most importantly, steer? With your mind racing and your body doubtful of this situation, you turn to the volunteer who is smiling at you and say, “Could you please help me?” The Warm Beach Horsemanship program is unique: we provide ...

What Led You to Us?

What brought me to Warm Beach and this beautiful community in this special corner of the country? The answer is simple. The answer is prayer; to the same God who has faithfully led me through every chapter. He has led me through mountains and valleys, over peaks, and through storms. But all metaphors aside, in truth, I am starting over. I am here to begin anew and I am filled with hope for the future God has planned for me ...

Warm Beach Horsemanship Pony Club

There is something remarkable happening down at the barn! When you blend a team with different strengths and skill sets, and they put God first in all they do, avenues open where the love of Christ becomes apparent to all involved. Through this divine orchestration, renewal, connections, and healing take place for individuals who only experience Warm Beach Camp through the Horsemanship program. Pony Club is an educational course where members learn riding techniques and the proper care of horses ...

Skills, Lessons, and Relationships

Most people regard horseback riding as a simple concept: you get on, you go. Sure, there’s some other important details: stopping, going, turning, but how does one accomplish those things? Within the Warm Beach Horsemanship program, we organize our instruction around essential themes that relate to a rider’s life: communication, trust, timing, patience, exploration, balance, feel, preparation, and gratitude. While these are all critical components of riding well, they are also critical to a person living a whole-hearted life. Riders ...

Blessed and Uplifted

My daughter recently attended the Pony Club Horse Management Camp in Port Orchard with the Warm Beach Horsemanship Pony Club. This was her first away from home event and only her second Pony Club event. She was quite nervous about being away from home and me not being able to join her until late in the evening after the first day’s events. Thankfully, she was blessed by wonderful chaperones who encouraged and reassured her as well as went to classes ...

Learning to Take the Lead

Mercy stood quietly as the woman next to her burst into tears. She stayed centered and calm as the words tumbled out of Susan’s mouth. The unspoken fears about parenting that Susan had been struggling with made their way to the surface. It was a profound moment for her. A moment when those nagging feelings of dread, hurt, and fear expressed themselves in words for the first time. Through the tears, Mercy was her rock as she held this sacred ...

The Transformational Power of Riding

As we age, our inclination is to be safer. There is more at risk as we mature: employment that we need to show up for because we have monetary obligations (hard to do if you’re injured), families to care for, and obligations in our community. We take fewer risks with our time, our bodies, and our resources. This is why I am always so impressed and inspired by our riders who are pushing their boundaries by getting on the back ...

This is Why We’re Here

On this particular Friday, twelve pairs of eyes looked down at Onyx and I from the arena grandstands. As I sat on Onyx’s sturdy frame, I looked back at the twelve campers. My mind flashed to Monday, the first day of camp. There was one camper who had been scared to get on her horse. However, after some reassurance and coaxing she had said she would try to ride. “I am so proud of you for pushing through your fear! ...

Ministry is the Connection Between Instructor and Student

About a year ago, a wonderful 85-year-old grandmother entered my life. She approached us with the interest of taking riding lessons after many years of being out of the saddle. Inez grew up with horses and even raised a horse from a foal to his last day on earth. Her daughter was involved in a local Pony Club and Inez had ridden until her kids moved on to adulthood. She deeply missed riding and the bond that comes with riding ...

Trust in Hope

Hope in the context of the Bible is not the same as hope in the context of our current culture. Our culture often uses hope as wishful thinking, "I hope so…." Biblical hope, on the other hand, is an assurance of a promise that will come to pass! Down at the Stables, we have another "Hope" I'd like you to get to know. A large, beautiful, gentle giant of a draft horse named Hope. As an equine partner in our ...

Outsmarting The Giants

Pictured, Rachel Tilgner, WB Horsemanship Program Assistant, Barn Manager, Instructor, Pony Club member Our role as educators and mentors is to bring someone younger up to our level as quickly as possible and then catapult them into the future. With support, they will accomplish more with the balance of their lifetime than could be accomplished with the balance of ours. Whether we’re talking about how to ride and train horses or discipling people about the intrinsic qualities of Christ, the ...

Gentle Feeling, Quiet Moments, Slowing Down

“I have learned more about being a person from a horse than I ever learned about being a rider. I wouldn’t be alive, and I wouldn’t be who I am today without them in my life,” says Stella (Warm Beach Horsemanship student and wrangler alumnae with autism).  Imagine experiencing clanging symbols, flashing lights, and prickly textures all in what a neurotypical person would term an ordinary environment or scenario. For a person with autism, life can quickly go from peaceful ...