About Us- The Farm

Twin Lakes Farm is a riding academy and competitive show stable located in Twin Lakes Park on the border of Eastchester and Bronxville, NY.  We sit on seven acres of farm and 150 acres of protected parkland- including miles of trails!  The farm itself boasts two outdoor rings; including the lighted North Ring- where we can lesson outside after dark and enjoy warm evenings on horseback- and our 70X180 foot indoor ring- where we lesson year-round! We have five turnout paddocks and each horse is turned out daily- weather permitting.  Our heated indoor wash stall insures that we can bathe horses and clean scratches and scrapes year-round while still keeping ourselves and our horses warm and comfortable.

Our 55 stall facility has recently been renovated- with brand new airy box stalls, tight new windows and lights bright enough to make it feel like daytime- no matter what the time!  

About Us- The Riding Academy

Our Twin Lakes Farm Riding Academy is the largest academy in the area and is based on a Traditional Riding School curriculum.  We are committed to creating good horse-people as well as good riders.  We offer “horsemanship” lessons in the barn as well as riding lessons, in an effort to give students a comprehensive learning experience.  Students who are new to our program are given an evaluation private lesson in order to determine the riding level and class in which they should be placed. 

Our purpose as a riding academy is to expose children and adults to English riding in a safe, fun and welcoming environment.  We maintain a fleet of 30-35 lesson horses of varying levels that are truly the stars of our riding academy!  Students can learn all of the basics- from posting to jumping courses of fences, right here on the backs of our “professors.”

Beginner students are taught in private lessons until they can post their trot and steer safely and independently- after which they can move into an hour-long group lesson with their friends.  We try to keep a healthy balance of education and socialization in our lessons so that students feel encouraged when they ride together.

Our Riding Academy Staff is made up of career-riding teachers who teach a curriculum set by our Riding Director- who personally oversees the academy and principles our school.  Classes are evaluated and monitored by our senior riding staff and our teachers are constantly adding to their knowledge base with clinics, workshops and other educational experiences that we are always so excited to bring back to class! Our curriculum is based the fundamentals of Hunt Seat Equitation; with special emphasis on safety and instruction at the proper pace for each individual rider.

 Riding Lessons are great, but they are just the beginning of the experience here at Twin Lakes Farm! What kinds of fun programs do we offer for Riding Academy Students?

Our Riding Academy School Show Program

Each academic year, we offer four schooling shows that are only open to our riding academy students.  Each show has a special fun theme (such as “On Luau!” or “Happy Halloween!”) and we expose students to their first taste of friendly competition in a relaxed and low-key environment.  We hire a USEF rated judge and we always encourage the judge to talk to the kids about their riding and what judges like to look for at horse shows.  We can never resist a learning opportunity!

 In addition to our traditional prize list, we like to remember to add some fun to the mix!  Past riding academy shows have boasted: the “something fun mystery class”- where students have raced to scoop up tropical fish from a pool and leg each other up to rely-race to the ingate, the “gambler’s choice” class- where students race to jump a series of silly-looking jumps with a point-value assigned to each one and (of course) our “costume class”- where students dress ponies and themselves up to reflect our show’s individual theme!  We know that all competition needs to have a healthy dose of humor in order to make it fun for EVERYONE!

At the end of the school year, we host our Twin Lakes Farm High Point BBQ and Awards Ceremony- where the points accrued at each show are tallied up and we pin out places one through ten for series champion of each division- as well as our coveted “Sportsmanship” award!  Every year, Scotty burns the burgers while we clap for our winners and enjoy everyone’s company in a family-style picnic- complete with ice cream and games!

Drill Teams

One of our most popular programs for Riding Academy students is our TLF DRILL TEAM!  Twice a year, Our Esteemed Drill Sergeant choreographs and teaches a patterned ride to music that involves a lucky team of twelve academy riders.  The team practices together for 12 weeks and then performs their drill to a packed house of spectators.   We always have to offer several seatings to get everyone in! 

By far the best part of Drill Team is the camaraderie built between the team members as they learn to maneuver together and enjoy working as a team to make a difficult pattern a reality on horseback. 

Drill Team has gotten so popular that we have started offering TWO teams each semester- one for older riders and one for younger riders.  The kids wear special jackets to distinguish themselves as valued team members and we always videotape each drill to post on the internet for everyone to admire!

Summer Camp!

Our camp program is the BEST part of being a young rider at Twin Lakes Farm.  Because we all went to summer camps as kids (and are extremely immature!) we have a great time coming up with new and crazy ideas to keep our campers coming back to us year after year!  In addition to their daily riding lessons and horsemanship classes, our campers have amazed us with their creativity and enthusiasm in our “ Camp Weddings ” (where two horses are married in a lavish ceremony planned and officiated by our camp! Move over “Platinum Weddings!” This is “Platinum PONY Weddings!” J) “Paint the Pony Game” (washable paint and a grey pony- eat your heart out Jackson Pollack!) and (of course!) our water-slide and water-balloon extravaganza!  We end each day tired, dirty (often wet!) and beaming from ear to ear!  See our special “Summer Camp” tab for dates and prices for each year!  Hurry!  Camp enrollment fills FAST!

 School Break Leasing

Almost as popular as our summer camp is our School Break Leasing Program!  Each year, during the winter, summer and spring vacations from school, our qualified riding academy students have the opportunity to lease their favorite school horses and enjoy the fun of horse “ownership”- without the responsibilities or long-term commitment!  The program comes with two lessons per week and (of course) a special hack time for each child to enjoy riding her pony independently!  (Don’t worry Moms and Dads!  All hack times are closely supervised by our staff!) Each rider gets exclusive use of her leased pony during the designated leasing hours and can tack, untack, ride, bathe, brush and generally fuss over her pony and call it her own. Of course, we would never want to leave our “overgrown kids” out of the fun!  We welcome adult “break” leasers- as well as children!  Just bring your sense of humor and love of horses with you! 

Field Trips, Parties and Outings

Because we always like to have as much fun as possible, we often host field trips and other “horsey” outings for our TLF students.  Past events have included a “Confirmation Clinic” at a neighboring farm to learn about how different builds and breeds of horses perform, A “Judge’s Clinic” to hear from rated horse show judges about all aspects of showing, a “Course Walk” of the Grand-Prix course at the Old Salem Farm Charity Horse Show, a special trip to the movies to see the premiere of “Dreamer” and (our favorite!) a trip on the Halloween Haunted Hayride at our neighbor facility with our friends from Kelsey Farm!  Check our bulletin board for information on our latest plans!  We are always coming up with new ideas! 

 About Us- The Show Team

Our Twin Lakes Farm Show Team can be spotted all over the circuit in their tell-tale blue jackets and covered in ribbons!  Our Team competes in over 70 horse shows a year- both locally and “travel team!”  Twin Lakes hosts seven USEF rated show dates a year; as well as attends shows all over the local area- click on the FW-PHA website to see our horses and riders standings in the Fairfield-Westchester Professional Horseman’s Association high-point program! We also go on the road to HITS, Vermont Summer Festival, Ocala FL , and everywhere the shows are!  We can be spotted at Pony Finals, Zone II Hunter Finals, Marshall and Sterling Finals, CHJA Finals, and (of course!) the FW-PHA Finals- check the winner’s circle to find us!  Check out our show pictures to watch us having fun on the road together!

Our Team is composed of both private and TLF-owned horses.  Riders must make a serious commitment to riding and showing and must lease or own a show-quality horse to be on our Show Team.  Our Team is made up of riders of all ages- from short-stirrup children to upper-equitation riders and adults! 

Show Team riders lesson and practice together and all room together when we are on the road.  We try to keep showing a team experience and Team sleep-overs and social events bring Team members together as close friends. 

At the beginning of every season, each Show Team member sits down with the coaches and lays out goals and plans for the upcoming season.  These goals are actually written down and then referred to as the year goes on in regular discussions and meetings, to keep every student on-track with his individual progress and triumphs.

Show Team is a serious business, to be sure, but we always remember that this is meant to be FUN!  Our Team is always laughing and playing jokes on each other- and on their long-suffering coaches!  

We do our best to offer something for every rider here at Twin Lakes Farm- from the rider who lessons once a week and simply enjoys being around the horses to the serious show rider who has a specific plan for a career in horses.  Twin Lakes Farm as a place for all students who love horses and want to have fun and learn!

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