Lessons | Experiences | Leases
- Safe horse handling
- Horse etiquette. Body language, polite handling, boundaries and personal space and more!
- Horse care & wellness
- Fundamentals of universal riding skills (advanced students are referred to an outside instructor)
- Conscious Horsemanship
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We took classes here last autumn and really enjoyed the Conscious Horsemanship lessons: The kids and the horse have the right to say “yes” “no” or “maybe” to requests. Learning to tune into this brought about a lot of important conversations; Body autonomy, safe boundaries and personal space are all excellent concepts for our children to understand and be able to request/respect. |
Class agenda is customized for each student’s personal goals
Co-taught by Carrie Eastman and the East West teacher horses
Ages 5 and up
Lessons:
Note: Families may share 1 horse between them OR individual private lesson.
Looking for a short-term commitment or not interested in riding? Check out our Experiences.
Experience – Learn Horse Language
Learn how horses assess and communicate with humans, taught by the horses themselves. We have been offering this experience on AirBnB Travel since 2017 with 170 5-star experience reviews: “The horses were all friendly and came to greet us…Carrie doesn’t just put you on the horse and ride like most places. She will teach the guest about how to read the horse, proper communication with the horse, etc. -Kevin” “Carrie’s Farm was an amazing experience for my granddaughters as they live in a city. They interacted with beautiful horses… Carrie was communicative, helpful, friendly, and made us feel at home. -Anastasia” Your experience begins in the barn (please dress for the weather, expect manure/bugs/wildlife, moderate hill climbing) with a short orientation and bathroom break (outhouse). Then, if the horses have not already joined us, we go meet them in the field. You will by taught by one or more of the horses (their choice), hands-on, to experience communication. Be prepared for a potentially emotional experience. You cannot lie to a horse, and horses sense everything about your emotions. Guests are encouraged to take photos with the horses, and we are happy to assist. The experience ends in the barn for discussion. Total experience time is 1 hour. Maximum of 4 adults from same social distancing group. AirBnB Experiences are currently paused. Please book here instead. On sale now! 2 for 1 $10!
Experience – Hiking With Horses
Take a guided hike of our breathtakingly beautiful farm with our horses. Your experience begins in the barn (please dress for the weather, expect manure/bugs/wildlife, moderate hill climbing) with a short orientation, basic instruction and bathroom break (outhouse). Then, we will pair you up with one of the horses (their choice). We will take a leisurely hike to the top of the ridge to enjoy the incredible views. On the way, I’ll answer questions about our rare horses and conscious horsemanship program. Once at the top, we will relax for 15 minutes or so while guests take photos with the horses, and we are happy to assist. We will then hike back down by a different route. The experience ends in the barn to say goodbye to our hiking partners. Total experience time is 1 hour. Maximum of 4 people from same social distancing group. AirBnB Experiences are currently paused. Please book here instead. On sale now! 2 for 1 $15!
Meet The Rare Jilfan Malabar Arabian Horses
Meet rare Malabar Jilfan Arabian horses. You cannot find this experience anywhere else. We are the only Malabar Jilfan farm, and only 200 Malabars and a few Jilfan exist globally. We have been offering this experience since 2017 on AirBnB Travel with 170 5-star experience reviews: “Definitely don’t miss the morning farm tour! Learning about the horses and their stories may have been the highlight of our stay. -CJ” “This was an amazing experience and I cannot wait to return! Carrie is very kind, patient and knowledgeable. -Christine” Your experience takes place in the barn (please dress for the weather, expect manure/bugs/wildlife) with a short orientation and bathroom break (outhouse). Carrie then tells the Malabar/Jilfan story and about rare breed preservation. The horses are very curious about visitors, and have offered hugs, lessons in communication, and requested petting or scratching the spots they cannot reach. Guests are encouraged to take photos with the horses, and we are happy to assist. The experience ends with discussion and questions. Everyone has walked away from the experience touched by the beauty, extreme empathy and intelligence of these beings. Total experience time is 1 hour. Maximum 6 people from the same social distancing group. AirBnB Experiences are currently paused. Please book here instead. On sale now! 2 for 1 $10!
Relationship Leases…
- Build a closer relationship with one or more of the teacher horses
- Enjoy free time with “your” horse
- Flexible schedule – you choose your days/hours as needed
- Excellent family activity
- Potential for many different home schooling projects or scouting badges
You can select one or more horses or Jasmine the donkey from the teacher herd to lease and make part of your family. Please come meet the horses before choosing. You can change horses at any time. The decision to work together should be mutual between horse and family.
More than one family may lease the same horse or Jasmine, but online scheduling makes sure you have personal time with your animal when you choose (We do reserve the right to block off certain times for special events at the farm and we ask that you respect the animal’s daily routine as much as possible. Lacey especially considers nap time mandatory). Just message us weekly to request your days/approximate times, and we will update the public online calendar. We understand that life happens, and if you need to change your time or day, just let us know so we can update the calendar. The schedule is open for lease time Saturday through Thursday (we are closed on Fridays) from 12 noon until 5pm. If you need a different time, please contact us.
You can schedule time to just come to the farm and relax with your horse, volunteer for stall cleaning or other projects, or share activities with your horse, or even ride your horse (after you have completed enough lessons to be safe riding without an instructor). You can have the relationship benefits of horse or donkey ownership without the expense, obligations or time demands.
Additionally, by leasing a teacher horse, you are supporting our rare Arabian preservation program and allowing us to provide additional perks for the enjoyment and wellness of our entire herd. Your lease automatically qualifies you as an Elite Horse Hero, with all the Elite perks, for the duration of your lease.
Relationship Lease:
Package specials
Lease/4 lesson combination $130
12 noon to 5 pm Saturday through Thursday (closed Fridays)
Also, please check out our Horse Hero program.
Riding clothing suggestions:
Long pants or safe skirt and closed-toe shoes with a moderate heel are required.
Helmets are highly encouraged. Please provide your own.
Horsemanship: the study of all skills related to horses. A true horseman learns much more than simply riding. A true horseman learns the care of horses, riding, training, equipment use, and horse psychology.
Conscious horsemanship is horsemanship that follows similar rules as healthy human relationships.
- Both partners have the right to say “yes” “no” or “maybe” to requests.
- Both partners have the right to safe boundaries and personal space.
- Both partners respect that there are differences in culture and language, and work together to bridge that gap.
- Horses in conscious partnerships become willing partners and volunteers.
- Conscious horsemanship often develops into liberty work, bridleless riding and more.
(Read more about Conscious Horsemanship here.)
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Miss Doc Alena
American Quarter Horse
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Bos Salty Shiner
American Quarter Horse
Note: Salty cannot be ridden
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To Catcha Thief
Polish Arabian
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Frostalitos Ricka Sue
American Paint Horse
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Carrie Eastman was drawn to animals and healing at a very young age, when a family friend shared her knowledge of Reiki, Touch for Health, and nutrition. From the time she could toddle, Eastman thought all kids got muscled tested, supplemented, and taken to the chiropractor for injuries. She carried crystals home in her lunch box, spent hours in the woods, helped her dad garden, and had a variety of pets, from dogs and cats to fish, guinea pigs, rabbits, and snakes. She started riding horses during elementary school, learning hunt seat and training-level dressage at Connecticut’s New Canaan Mounted Troop and Ox Ridge Hunt Club. In high school she drifted away from her Eastern medicine roots and embraced the more conventional Western medicine approaches to animal health, while staying Eastern herself. Losing her horse Buck to a horrible colic nudged her back toward the Eastern medicine path for her animals.
Carrie graduated from Penn State in 1990 with an honors B.S. in wildlife science and additional focused coursework in horse production and crop and soil sciences. In the early 1990s her horse Poco developed navicular disease, ringbone, and arthritis at the age of twelve, and he was put out to pasture for full retirement. In desperation she turned to homeopathy and nutrition, and two years later Poco was again happy and healthy. Poco then gave her a wonderful case of whiplash during a trail ride, which led her to a chiropractor that practiced bio energy work, who in turn led her to Dr. Regan Golob. Dr. Golob developed the Bio-Energy Analysis Technique, which combines acupressure, craniosacral therapies, chiropractic, reflex points, applied kinesiology, Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique, defense physiology, and other modalities into a powerful system that frees the body to heal itself. Carrie apprenticed under Golob and became a student of TTEAM and TTouch, while also getting her Level I Centered Riding certification.
Her horsemanship mentors and teachers include Ward Studebaker, Centered Riding® Instructors Saundra Cabell and Robin Brueckman, Tom and Martha Shires (Canadian Olympic Equestrian Team), TTEAM® Instructors Copper Love and Debbie Potts, Kim Walnes and her stallion Gideon, and Tanya Bevilacqua of Mindfully Mounted and Fit. Her best teachers have been the horses themselves.
All of our lessons and experiences conform to current PA Covid19 guidelines. Please follow safe distancing and current mask guidelines. See pa.gov for details. Groups are limited to one family or quarantine group. For Covid19 and liability insurance reasons, we ask that guests arrive no more than 30 minutes early, stay no longer than 30 minutes past the end of your activity, and stay in the barnyard or pond areas, a safe distance from other guest groups.
