Spirit Run

01/31/2025

It’s been a challenging few days for everyone I think. On a big open farm like ours high winds and snow is a nightmare situation. Get stuck, don’t get it out fast enough and you’ll get buried. Just getting hay out to horses was a real challenge.
I hope everyone got through it safely

11/26/2024

It’s that time of year again…weaning. That awful day is coming when everyone will be upset and hate me. In all the years I’ve been in charge of choosing the weaning date on thoroughbred farms I’ve been leaving it “way too late” according to most in the industry. They are usually 6-8 months old. When I was younger I wondered if the naysayers were right, they were adamant weaning should happen no later than 4 months with pregnant mares. The theory was that the drain of having a foal by their side would impact the growth of the fetus.
We know though that the caloric needs of a 6 month pregnancy is actually minimal. That little baby the size of a Jack Russell can easily be supplied with an extra scoop of grain. The flip side is that weaning earlier is hugely stressful and unnatural for both foal and mare. High levels of stress hormones can negatively affect the pregnancy. If you wait till 6+ months the mare barely bats an eyelash when you take the foal away. Additionally the foal has learned so many more lessons from mom and has gained so much more confidence. An insecure neurotic traumatized foal isn’t a good setup for a racehorse that will have so many mental challenges. And in all the years I’ve been doing this sacrilegious late wean…I haven’t seen more problems. Mares are fat, foals are born a good size. Since when is a high birthweight a good thing anyway….

11/11/2024

When our horses move on to new owners, sales, racetrack training, people often comment on how quiet our horses are. It helps that we have an absolute circus of animals on the farm that interact with the horses on the daily. Instead of sheltering horses from scary stimuli we throw it all at them. Bulldozer driving by? No problem. Tesla flying by an inch from a yearling I’m riding? Minor problem. But we get over it.

09/27/2024

09/27/2024

Spirit Run has boarding spots available for broodmares, layups, and starting yearlings. We have two experienced rider/trainers on staff to make sure your horses are well handled and worked with every day.
We focus on adapting ourselves to each horses needs instead of a factory system. We work long hours to ensure longest possible turnout in grass paddocks. A layup here is a real vacation with sun, airy stalls and a good time.

03/03/2022

Congratulations to Conquest Bad Girl. She had her first born filly on February 27 @1:38 am. Mom and baby are doing great! The filly is by Point of Entry.