Tails and Trails Farm

09/21/2024

Our Trick or Treat Trail Ride is back! Come take a lead line Trick or Treat Trail Ride through our spooky woods and collect treats along the way. Visit with the mini horses and learn how to brush them and dress them up! This event is perfect for kiddos ages 3–11 who love horses and Halloween!

Please click the link for more info on dates/times and to sign up:

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com/trick-or-treat-trail-ride

09/18/2024

Pony Camp Picture Catch Up: Advanced Camp

This camp was so much fun! Most of these Advanced Campers have been with us for 2 or 3 camps and one camper has been 4 times! It’s been a privilege to watch these kids grow as humans and horseman/horsewomen through the years. Each camper worked hard throughout the week to learn different skills and we are very proud of each of them.

This group of campers is very special to us. I know as they enter their teenage years, the chances of them coming to once a year pony camp with us gets smaller and smaller. So thank you for spending the week with us and being so good to the horses. You guys rock!

09/17/2024

Kachina update! Over Labor Day weekend we noticed Kachina wasn’t quite herself. This soon progressed to her not wanting to eat and acting very lethargic. The vet was called as our biggest concern at the time was colic. Donkeys are very stoic creatures and they often won’t show “typical colic signs” that a horse would. These signs can include pawing the ground, rolling, kicking or biting at their stomach, or stretching out their body in different ways to alleviate stomach pain.

Despite several vet visits where she was tubed with epsom salts and mineral oil to try to break up the impact in her gut, Kachina declined. She wouldn’t eat. She wouldn’t drink. We hadn’t had p**p in days. We made the decision with the vet to sew a catheter into her neck so she could receive IV fluids immediately and consistently. I slept in the barn for the next four nights to make sure she was hooked up properly to her IV bag. I will forever be grateful to Dr. Christine for teaching me how to do this for Kachina.

Over the weekend she started to perk up! She was grazing and we had p**p! We knew we weren’t in the clear yet, but these days gave us a lot of hope. However, Monday afternoon she started to develop a huge swelling in her muzzle/mouth. In a matter of two hours her face had become so swollen, we had to remove her halter as the nose band became too tight. When the vet arrived it was devastating news. They thought she was in kidney failure and they didn’t think she would live through the night/next day. We decided to let Mocha stay with her through the night as they had been separated at night for the last week. The vet was on call if euthanasia became necessary in the middle of the night.

For the next two days, Kachina seemed a bit out of it but she went out with Mocha to graze and took small minimal bites. She would dunk her head in buckets but not truly drink much. We were giving her Karo syrup and water orally with a syringe. I truly thought she was going to decline rapidly and we would have to make that call. Or we would come out one morning to not see her at the gate. We thought each day would be her last and we were grateful to spend it with her.

But guess what….she started to eat. She started to actually drink. She isn’t lethargic anymore. All of the swelling is gone. She is still here and acting almost “normal”. Kidney disease is a chronic condition. Cancer was also mentioned as a possibility. We don’t know. All we know is that Kachina was not ready to leave us. And when/if that day comes where we have to make that decision to help her transition, we will do it with love and grace. We celebrate Kachina now and every “extra” day we have with her.

We cannot thank Dr. Christine, Dr. Sweeney, and Dr. Quinter and the team at Countryside Veterinary Service, P.C. enough for their time, efforts, education, and compassion throughout this time. In such a high stress situation you provided an amazing support system for us.

Thank you for the outpouring of support from our friends and barn family. The last two weeks have gone by in a blur. I will be getting to the back log of messages this week. Thank you for your patience.

07/29/2024

Is anybody interested in an adorable, super sweet kitten? This beautiful girl just showed up on our doorstop crying for attention and food. After some cat food, she just wants to be in our lap purring. I’m guessing she is around 4 months old. She seems to be in good health except being underweight. So sweet and just wants to be with you. She is very brave and gets along with our Pitbulls. Our house is unfortunately full and she is just too sweet to be an outdoor cat. Please PM me if interested and please share. She is currently laying in my lap making biscuits. Please help her find her own family!

07/17/2024

All lessons are canceled for this week. I will be reaching out to families individually for make ups. We are experiencing a very heartbreaking loss and appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience.

Boarders: the farm is closed today and tomorrow to everyone. Text me BEFORE you come out if you need to during that time.

07/16/2024

We could not love this photo more. ❤️

Tiny Tots Pony Camp had a great first day!

More pics coming soon of this camp and the last two Pony Camp sessions….

07/05/2024

We have one unexpected opening for Advanced Pony Camp that starts this Monday!

Link with more info and to sign up:

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com/pony-camp

07/04/2024

Tiny Tots Pony Camp is a half day camp that is perfect for horse loving kiddos, ages 4-6 years old. We learn how to brush, lead, and tack up our pony before we go for a ride. Our campers learn about nutrition and horse keeping by helping us with morning chores. We play many fun games on horseback and the ground. The most fun craft is painting the ponies and then learning how to bath them after.

Link with more information and to sign up:

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com/service-page/tiny-tots-pony-camp

06/17/2024

Our next Tiny Tots Class is this Saturday, June 22! Come say goodbye to little Harley who will be moving to Tennessee at the end of the month! His big personality in such a tiny body has left a huge impression here in such a short amount of time.

Link with more information and to sign up:

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com/tiny-tots

06/16/2024

Our first session of Pony Camp for the 2024 season has concluded. Thanks so much to all of our wonderful families and amazing horses! Photo dump below 👇

06/10/2024

06/05/2024

We’re now on Tik Tok! Give us a follow 🐎 😃

https://www.tiktok.com/?_t=8mxMdwkN8QB&_r=1

06/04/2024

Pony Camp update! We just had an unexpected opening for next week! June session 1 starts this Monday and has one spot! June session 2 has just two spots left!

***New this year!***
July is Tiny Tots Pony Camp! A half day camp designed for 4-6 year olds that includes all the pony camp fun, just in a smaller package.

August Pony Camp still has spots available.

We still can’t believe next week is the start of Pony Camp season! We have a wonderful season planned and we are excited to see you!

Link with more information on camps and to sign up:

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com/pony-camp

05/30/2024

We have a few more spots available for “Dates with Donkeys” this Sunday! This is a super fun interactive time with our amazingly sweet donkeys, Mocha and Kachina, as well as our mini horses. Fun for all ages!

Link to sign up and more information:

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com/mini-therapy-donkeys

https://www.airbnb.com/book/experiences/create/3491486?experienceId=3491486&experienceListingAvailabilityId=97316819&locale=en

05/13/2024

Calling all of our Tiny Tots horse lovers! Our next Tiny Tots Class is this Saturday and we have just a few spots left. Tiny Tots Class is a one time class that is great for kiddos ages 3-6 years who are interested in horses. Learn how to brush a mini horse, take them for a walk, and dress them up before taking a pony ride!

Tiny Tots Mini Camp is new this year! This camp is for 4-6 year olds who love horses. In addition to riding, we learn about horse care, nutrition, and how to connect with our horse. Lots of games with our horses and a day to paint the ponies!

Link for Tiny Tots Class, Saturday, May 18:

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com/tiny-tots

Link for the summer Tiny Tots Mini Camp:

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com/pony-camp

05/09/2024

Pony Camps are just one month away! We are so excited to see all of our return campers and meet the new ones.

Our first June session is full and we have just a few spots for the second June session.

July brings two new camps for this year: Advanced Camp and Tiny Tots Camp!

Our Pony Camps will conclude with one final week in August where we have several spots available.

Please visit our website for more information on all of our camps or to sign up.

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com/pony-camp

04/22/2024

Pony Painting Parties are back! This is such a fun activity to do at a birthday pony party, family fun experience or our “Dates with Donkeys”.

Interested in a birthday party or an experience?

Visit our website to learn more about everything we offer.

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com

04/09/2024

Our first Tiny Tots class of the year is this Saturday! Come visit all of the mini horses, donkeys, and our haflingers Clyde and Fifi. We can’t wait to enjoy the warmer weather and the ponies with you.

Link with more information and to sign up below:

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com/booking-calendar/tiny-tots-horse-time

03/20/2024

“Giddyup With My Grownup” is the perfect class for kiddos ages 2-5 years old. An interactive class for child and adult, we spend time brushing our pony, leading them around, and then taking a pony ride!

This class meets Wednesdays from 4:00-4:30 in April.

Link to sign up:

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com/service-page/giddy-up-with-my-grownup

03/12/2024

Our newest offering for April is Homeschool Horsemanship Class! “HHC” is a six week interactive class that offers students an introduction into everything horse. We learn about everything from safe handling to nutrition! Each class builds on the previous one and we conclude the six weeks with a horseback riding lesson. This class meets Wednesdays from 2:00-3:30. The link to sign up is at the very bottom of this post.

April Homeschool Horsemanship Class

Week 1: Introduction to Horses: Meet the horses that will be working with us for the six weeks and learn about safe handling, grooming, leading, and anatomy. Enjoy a grooming session with your new buddy and practice leading through our fun obstacle course.

Week 2: The Horse’s Body: Building on our anatomy from the week before, we will learn about different horse breeds, body conformation, gaits of the horse, and different jobs of the horse.

Week 3: Horse Communication and Ground Work. How do we communicate with the horse? Learn how to connect with your horse through body language and ground work exercises that are fun for both human and horse. Each student will have a chance to “join up” with a horse in an exercise that connects a horse to human using no lead ropes, halters on their faces, etc.

Week 4: Horse Keeping, Health and Nutrition. What do horses eat? How much do they eat? How do we feed it to them? Students will experience how we care for all of our horses ranging from a 28” miniature horse to a draft Clydesdale!

Week 5: Tack. Students will have an opportunity to learn about different disciplines and what that tack is used for. They will practice saddling up in preparation for their first ride.

Week 6: Horseback Riding. Using the skills we have practiced over the session, students will tack up their own horse and prepare for their first ride.

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com/service-page/homeschool-horsemanship-class-1

03/06/2024

Pony Party season has begun! If you’re interested in having a birthday party here at the farm, send us a message or check out our website. So much fun for all ages!

https://www.tailsandtrailsfarm.com/pony-parties

02/25/2024

If you are local, please consider checking out this event today! Let’s help Avery get what she needs and give her family one less thing to worry about. Tacos and Tarot today at 2:00 in the Adrian High School cafeteria. We hope to see you there!