Tucked off Highway 64 between Pittsboro and Siler City, New Beginnings Farm has been teaching riders for more than twenty years under the steady hand of Meredith Philipps and her daughter Dylan — a mother-daughter team with a combined four decades in the saddle. Meredith holds a degree in child development from UNCG and serves as District Commissioner of the Eno Triangle Pony Club; Dylan teaches jumping and brings the same patient eye to every student who walks through the barn. Between them, they meet kids exactly where they are — and grown-ups, too, since lessons here are open to riders of all ages and levels.
Lessons are sized to the rider. Thirty-minute sessions ($60) start in the ring with a tacked horse and focus on safety and the basics; ideal for younger children. Forty-five-minute to hour-long lessons ($75) bring students into the barn first, where they learn to groom and tack before mounting up; that fuller arc tends to suit kids eight and older with the patience for it. The barn keeps beginner school horses for first-timers and timid riders, plus intermediate and advanced horses that can school upper-level dressage and jump 3’3″ courses. Both English and Western riding are taught.
Summer camp typically runs four weeks, June-August. Camp groups stay small on purpose, so kids ages 5 and up get real time on horseback, whatever their experience level. Riding sessions are shaped to the camper: trail rides, mounted games, jumping, dressage, lunge lessons, bareback work, and even riding with the farm’s cows. Off horseback, campers learn the rhythms of the barn: grooming, tacking, stable management. They finish each day with arts and crafts, a packed lunch, and supervised swimming. Helmets are provided.
