Building Natural Horsemanship at The Horse First Farm Riding Arena
“This was a corn field a year ago,” says Lori Wegner, looking reflectively at the horses and boarders, mingling together around The Horse First Farm. Her business partners, Carlos Osario and Gretchen Arndt, stand next to her. There’s a feeling of comradery, understanding, and a shared passion between them. The air is charged with their success. “We had our grand opening last May and we’re very happy to announce that we have a waiting list for our boarding facilities. We teach all breeds and all ages. Many of the students that come here are learning Parelli Natural Horsemanship”.
The Horse First Farm is truly a labor of love that began with Osario. Recognizing he needed a place of his own to ride his horses, he partnered with Wegner and Arndt to bring his vision to life and to extend it to others. “This is definitely a dream come true,” says Osario. “We’ve worked so hard for this and we are really, really proud to have this facility”.
Custom additions to the building included roll-up curtains, automatic garage doors, and an attached conventional building. “We absolutely love the curtains and we like working in this environment where the breeze comes through. It’s a safer place for our students and boarders because they can see what’s going on outside. The curtains help to prepare the horses for a whole different environment because many have been ridden in dark arenas with walls. So the curtains have made a huge difference in the arability to help out the horses. Being that horses are prey animals and do not like to be cornered, I think they are much more comfortable in here. The height of the building, the openness of it and the light all contribute to it. The size of this building means we’re not getting in each other’s way and we can have many horses in here.
We have nice lighting in the arena, so we work in here well after dark,” continues Wagner. “During the day there is a nice atmosphere in here and the horses are just more comfortable”.
Finding the perfect riding arena to fit into their dream started at the Parelli Center in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. “Pat Parelli has a Cover-All,” explains Wegner. “We have studied at their center in Colorado. We spent a day travelling to all the Cover-All’s that were in this area. We wanted to have a much more open area to ride in and my first impression was how light the buildings were”.
Careful planning and research lead to the installation of a Cover-All® TITAN® riding arena. “When people see this building as they drive down the driveway, they are very impressed with this whole setting. Once they get inside – they’re speechless. They just think it’s unbelievable and beautiful”.
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