Collective Equestrian Academy seeks riders
♦ Offerings include both summer camps and private lessons.
After years of showing horses, equestrian Liz Crumbly says she now makes it her commitment to provide students with experienced instructors and horses for a fun and educational learning experience.
Crumbly owns and operates the Collective Equestrian Academy, housed on 50 acres of woods and pasture on John’s Creek in Rosedale — or Everett Springs, depending on which local you ask — and she’s now offering summer camps and private riding lessons.
“Our lesson ponies, Chey and Ava, are 19 and 15, respectively. Ava is a buckskin American Quarter Horse mare, and Chey is a bay overo mare double registered with AQHA and the American Paint Horse Association,” said Crumbly. “They have each had long and successful show careers, and they think they’re retired! In reality, they work part time helping riders learn the ropes of effective horsemanship.”
Camp includes daily crafts, equinecentric learning games, riding, individual lessons, snacks, farm activities like small animal care and collecting eggs, and a horse show at the end of camp. The remaining dates are July 15-19 and July 22-26. Participants receive a personalized water bottle and T-shirt.
The camps are open to beginning level to low-intermediate level riders ages 6 to 13. Crumbly said as the training program grows they’ll begin taking on more advanced riders, but that move will require some facility upgrades and different horses to do the job.
Crumbly is a Berry College graduate and lifelong equestrian. She began riding at the age of 8 and eventually became an open-level rider for the Berry College Equestrian Team, representing her school twice in national competition in both hunt seat equitation and Western horsemanship. She has shown horses extensively with the American Quarter Horse Association and United States Dressage Federation.
She said her family purchased their farm three years ago with the intent of eventually opening it to the public.
“Preparations took a bit longer than expected, but we’re ready to welcome riding students now,” Crumbly said. “We lesson children and adults using the Horsesense Learning Levels curriculum for mounted and unmounted instruction. Two Georgia trainers developed the program based on U.S. Pony Club standards. There are eight levels. We recommend weekly lessons and we use rainy days for unmounted housekeeping instruction like medical care, proper grooming and tack care.”
For more information, contact Crumbly at 770656-7238, on Facebook or visit their website at http:// collectiveequestrian.com/ academy/.