Monday, November 28, 2016

Off to another great week!

Good afternoon!

We are off to another great week here at the farm. We also hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and were able to enjoy it with family and friends.

Sheri, her daughter Addie and Addie's fiance enjoyed the annual trail ride with friends at Packy and Judy McGaughan's Banbury Cross Farm.

How cute are these photos?



We also want to remind everyone that we are still accepting boarders for this winter! It's not too late! Don't wait until there is snow and ice on the ground to realize you would like to board at a place with an indoor this winter :) For more information or to schedule your tour visit: www.southwindfarminc.com

Monday, November 21, 2016

Sheri on The Surrey Blog!

What a chilly 24-hours it has been! Winter has definitely arrived, but the horses are warm and happy! 
In case you missed it, we wanted to share Southwind owner, Sheri Thornley's blog on The Surrey entitled 'What I Learned This Season.' 


Also, we wanted to wish all of our boarders and friends a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday!




Monday, November 14, 2016

Winter is Coming! Some helpful tricks of the trade to stay warm this winter!

Good morning,

We hope that everyone has a wonderful start to their week. Today we wanted to share an article from the USEA entitled 'Tips and Tricks of the Trade: Competing in Cold Weather' because as we all know, not everyone can go south during the winter to continue training. But before we do that we first wanted to thank everyone for sharing the post about our kitty Bob. We are sad to say that she was found and is no longer with us, now reunited with our other deceased animals. Bob will be greatly missed.


This past weekend Sheri was also able to visit with daughter Addie at West Virginia University and continue the celebration of her engagement! 




And now for the article! Don't forget, if you are looking for somewhere to board this winter that has an indoor arena, come visit us! www.southwindfarminc.com



Monday, November 7, 2016

Trainers of Southwind Series: Barbara Strawson

Today we are continuing our 'Trainers of Southwind' series where each week we highlight one of the many different trainers that teach at Southwind. Up next is Barbara Strawson!

Barbara is an FEI dressage competitor, trainer, and instructor who has brought her 30 years of experience to training and competing horses from USDF Training level through FEI Grand Prix. Earning her USDF Gold, Silver and Bronze medals as well as her USDF Gold and Silver Freestyle Medals, Barbara continues to seek out and provide excellent levels of education to horse and rider.

As an active competitor, Barb has studied and competed in Europe under the tutelage of four-time Olympic gold medal winner, Nicole Uphoff-Selke, and is working towards representing her country internationally. While in Germany for 3 years, Barbara trained and competed through Grand Prix while riding as Nicole’s assistant.

Barbara began her FEI career as a young rider, winning a team bronze in the 1985 North American Young Rider’s Championships. She continued this training with Scott Hassler, USEF National Young Horse Dressage Coach. She was the Assistant trainer at Hilltop Farm in Colora, MD from 1990 to 2003. After her return from Germany in 2005, Barbara established her own business, Barbara Strawson, LLC. She is currently managing her own facility, in Clarksburg, MD.

Through her European based training, degree in Psychology from the University of Delaware and her certification in Balimo™, Barbara exceeds the expectations and the varying training needs of both her riders and horses by providing each the necessary tools to achieve their goals.



Barbara's skills and sensitivity allow her to bring out the potential in a variety of horse types and personalities. In addition, her philosophy, that each client is an individual with a unique learning style, results in her ability to help each horse and client to connect to the power of their own potential.

In addition to being an experienced trainer and instructor, Barbara co-authored My Riding Goals Journal and contributed to Equestrian Education. Both books are dedicated to improving personal performance in riding and instruction methods. In addition she has written or been featured in several articles for horse publications such as Dressage Today Magazine.

As well as being an active clinician herself, Barbara hosts International clinicians Nicole Uphoff-Selke and George Williams as well as others.  Barbara is also dedicated to giving back to the community in such endeavors as co-founder of the PVDA Ride for Life Dancing Horse Challenge,  riding in several fundraisers giving freestyle demonstrations and donating her services to silent auctions.