From Sara G. - "My time as a working student at Watermark Farm was (and I hope will continue to be) one of the most educational experiences in my riding career. I learned so much about how a horse should feel underneath you and countless exercises to help prepare horse and rider for real dressage work.

Riding their seasoned FEI horses allowed me to sharpen my dressage skills for use on my Advanced event horse and youngsters alike. Riding their quality "grean-beans" gave me further insight as to how a horse learns as well as a chance to see if I really knew what I was doing. One of the things I love about working horses at Watermark is that they always get a generous dose of jumping!

Also, mixed in with time in the saddle, I got to experience first hand the effort that goes into managing a breeding operation from managing a stallion to wrangling a foal into it's first halter."

Sara has a blog about her adventures in the upper levels of Eventing with her Abundance daughter Always A Lady!

From Melissa G. -

"The Watermark Farm working student program is most certainly one of the best opportunities you can get. It’s perfect because you get mini-lessons every day on each horse you sit on, constantly reinforcing the foundations. Plus, it’s not just dressage. Anne has given me just as many jumping lessons as she has dressage.

In addition to loads of time in the saddle, you get a good feel of what it’s like to run a major breeding program, familiarity with all kinds of different pieces of tack (bits, lunging/long-lining equipment), and everyday horse care. It’s the perfect program for a dedicated equestrian. "

Melissa also is doing a blog about her travels and experiences as part of the American Warmblood Registry's International Young Breeders Team.

From Briana K. - "I like coming to watermark because I enjoy working with and riding all the many youngsters that are there. They are so much fun to teach and to learn on at the same time. They all have different strengths and weaknesses which makes the rider learn to adapt to each horse.

I love jumping them! Even the ones that are just learning to jump. It is so much fun to create difficult courses to test the horses's abilities and to see them succeed. I've learned that each of the horses needs to be ridden slightly differently and that the rider cannot try to make to horse into what the rider wants, instead the rider must adapt to each horse.

As a rider I have gone on to become HHSA Working Hunter Champion, Adult Equitation Champion, Schooling Hunter Reserve Champion and Adult Amateur Hunter Reserve Champion."

More to follow...