About Us
Punkin Patch Farm is a natural horsemanship stable. Horses are our partners and we strive to build co-operative relationships with our best friends. Our farm is as organic as possible. Our horses get 24/7 turnout in the summer and 12 hr turnout in the winter unless the weather is really bad. Grazing is limited to 2 hrs/day. Hay is the best quality low sugar hay we can get. Concentrates are high protein, low sugar. There are four or five feedings per day. All horses share play pens with buddies with similar food or play requirements. Our horses are barefoot except when ridden out, when they wear horse sneakers.
Kathy Knight is the owner and head trainer. She has owned horses for 49 years and has been coaching for about 30 years. Although she did her coaching program through the Canadian Equestrian Federation, she finds that natural horsemanship is much more exciting and a lot better for both horse and rider. Natural horsemanship is a never-ending journey of self-improvement that is only limited by the time and energy you spend with your horse.
Horses don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care. Natural horsemanship is about love, language and leadership. Horses love leadership and will do their jobs better with heart and desire. Natural horsemanship is the foundation for any form of equestrian sport: dressage, jumping, reining, games or trail riding. Natural horsemanship is about safety, building trust and solving problems. Level 1 gets you started safely. Then you can refine your skills and really start to live your dreams.
Kathy has rescued and rehabilitated a number of horses. As the Barn Talk columnist for the Hudson Gazette, she has introduced and discussed several Natural Horsemanship topics. Finding a need for feedback with her own Natural Horsemanship journey, Kathy started the Rigaud Natural Horsemanship Club. Currently there are about 110 people on the ever-growing RNHC newsletter list. The club has “play” days on the fourth Saturday of each month, hosts clinics with Parelli Professionals, has a library of DVDs from Parelli, Hempfling and Jonathan Field, as well as Savvy Times magazines.
Become the horseman your horse needs you to be.
Kathy Knight is the owner and head trainer. She has owned horses for 49 years and has been coaching for about 30 years. Although she did her coaching program through the Canadian Equestrian Federation, she finds that natural horsemanship is much more exciting and a lot better for both horse and rider. Natural horsemanship is a never-ending journey of self-improvement that is only limited by the time and energy you spend with your horse.
Horses don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care. Natural horsemanship is about love, language and leadership. Horses love leadership and will do their jobs better with heart and desire. Natural horsemanship is the foundation for any form of equestrian sport: dressage, jumping, reining, games or trail riding. Natural horsemanship is about safety, building trust and solving problems. Level 1 gets you started safely. Then you can refine your skills and really start to live your dreams.
Kathy has rescued and rehabilitated a number of horses. As the Barn Talk columnist for the Hudson Gazette, she has introduced and discussed several Natural Horsemanship topics. Finding a need for feedback with her own Natural Horsemanship journey, Kathy started the Rigaud Natural Horsemanship Club. Currently there are about 110 people on the ever-growing RNHC newsletter list. The club has “play” days on the fourth Saturday of each month, hosts clinics with Parelli Professionals, has a library of DVDs from Parelli, Hempfling and Jonathan Field, as well as Savvy Times magazines.
Become the horseman your horse needs you to be.
Kathy and Wolfi
Contact information:
Kathy@punkinpatchfarm.com
Punkin Patch Farm
338 Ch du Petit Brulé
Rigaud, Quebec J0P 1P0
Canada
450 451-1158
Kathy@punkinpatchfarm.com
Punkin Patch Farm
338 Ch du Petit Brulé
Rigaud, Quebec J0P 1P0
Canada
450 451-1158
Peta Wakin
Peta Wakin means “shining star” in Sioux. He is Morgan and Mustang, born in 1984 (29 years old). I rescued him 12 years ago and he has come a long way since then. He has a big heart, lots of energy and a soft spot for kids.
Punkin Dude
Punkin is a 38” miniature horse. He is the farm’s mascot and namesake. He will be 19 in April, 2012. Punkin is a left-brain introvert and is hard to motivate except with food. He helps our little beginners learn to focus by pushing the ball around and having them guide him to it. He is fun to play with as an adult. What does he like to do most (besides eating)? Punkin likes to pull a small cart. His best friend is Magic.
Millenium Lunar Eclipse (aka Clippi)
Clippi was born right after a lunar eclipse January 23, 2000. His dad was Pere, a grey Arabian and his mom, Peaches, was a peach-coloured Pony Of the Americas who had a cream-coloured blanket with brown spots. Clippi is very sensitive to signals so you better watch out. If you think about something, he’ll do it. What a great dance partner! He loves to play. If he had opposable thumbs, he would have been an engineer. With only lips, he likes to take things apart to see how they work. Make sure you clip his door shut. He can open it faster than his best friend, Johann.
Toby
Toby is our best beginner horse. At 13.1, he’s really a pony, but that’s only because he has short legs. Everything else is real horse, including heart. He loves to play with kids, but don’t think you can get away with being sloppy. Toby is 13 this year. He’s a Standardbred cross, designed to pull a chariot. Toby does tricks. Bring out the carrots and the show begins! He gives the best kisses.
Johann
This cuddly bear is Johann. He’s a 14.1 Haflinger that was rescued from the meat auction. Natural horsemanship got him over his issues and now he’s a really great guy to be around. He has a few tricks up his sleeve; he lies down, bows and snickers when you tell a joke. He’s a really good herd boss. Only a year younger than Clippi, they are best buddies, affectionately called “the jokers”. He’s pretty good at soccer too.
Caly
This is Caly. She’s also a Haflinger that was rescued from the meat auction. She was just over a year old then. Her dubious past set her up for a near-death experience at age 2 when she had a bout with guttural pouch mycosis (in layman’s language: a severe bleeding nose). She is only alive because of luck and a quick trip to St. Hy. Being the youngest horse (13.1 pony) here, she is the only one that is Pure Parelli. She was really a tough nut to crack, but if I hadn’t seen the video of Pat playing with Allure when Linda first got him, I wouldn’t have thought it possible to get through to Caly. Now she is wonderful, considerate and a really great partner. She just needed time to grow up. Now she’s six, she’ll get more riding time. She really loves to dance on-line and has the makings of a super star.
Magic
Magic is a 39” miniature horse that is now 9 years old. She arrived at Punkin Patch Farm when she was 3, with baby Tickles. She was adopted by the farm and is now Punkin’s best friend. She loves to play and is really responsive. The kids who ride her adore her. Magic is learning how to drive enjoys pulling the toboggan. She has been hitched double once with her friend Punkin.