Mossy Oak Stable

10/18/2024

10/16/2024

Pictures from our adventures over the weekend 🐎

10/05/2024

Seen this on our horse camping adventures today.

10/05/2024

Camping trip to Lake Louisa state park with the horses, Sandra Kimpel and Lyle Kimpel.

10/01/2024

New saddle charms came today for the girls saddles ❤️

09/29/2024

I want to talk about something that doesn’t get enough attention...

The guilt of investing in YOU. Whether it be money, time, self care or something that brings you joy...

We are conditioned to always put others needs before our own.

What we need to realize is the COST of not taking care of ourselves far exceeds that of investing in us.

Everything from being irritable and tired or worse, getting run down and sick.

Lack of confidence and mental clarity...

The negative mental effects of not loving who you see in the mirror....

This list can go on and on.

Invest in YOU. Do what you need to do to feel happy and healthy. It is, hands down, the best decision you could ever make.

🌻 Cara

📸 Max & Maxwell: Equestrian Photography

09/22/2024

Had a very nice ride with good weather, Ali Austin and Beatrix this morning. Just need to get Jazz to slow down and smell the roses 🤠😂

09/22/2024

Another shelter up to protect the hay from rain, sassy seems to approve Lol

09/17/2024

These girls having an enjoyable time in the shade with their hay ❤️

09/01/2024

New bridle wall for my girls

08/15/2024

Worked on putting up new walls in the tack room today. Not quit done but doesn't look too bad. Trial and error but it's getting done.

08/12/2024

Everyone out for the night 🌙

08/12/2024

I don't do too bad growing grass but will kill a plant 🤪

07/21/2024

The calm before the storm started again. Very bad lightening, blew up both my electric fence boxes.

07/13/2024

This puts a little insight into what kind of expenses go into boarding. Of course I don't train but just board part puts it into prospective for others. It isn't just the money expenses but the physical part of it that comes with it and the expense of the upkeep on barn, pastures etc.... The time spent and the additional expense to care for them. I never really thought about all this until I started boarding. It has gave me great insight into the boarding side of it and how to charge for the costs. It is a learning experience but I love the horse world.

Another view…

Over the last few weeks I’ve thought a lot about opening my barn doors back up this Fall for training and lesson board. Even though I haven’t had the best luck with boarding situations, I am all about helping as many people and horses as possible. I will have 2 or 3 empty stalls, so why not put them to good use, right?

Then, the last 4 or 5 days happened and it really put things into perspective for me. I decided to share this because it may help you, too, or even open some eyes…

We had family in town over the weekend and my son was scarce from the barn. Then I had an emergency and he stayed with my mom. He didn’t carry his chickens around, pick veggies in his garden, help feed horses or dig with his construction vehicles in the fresh shavings in the stalls. He was in the pool, playing with dogs, learning how to play board games and hanging out with his aunts.

It was weird. He had an absolute blast, my chores went a bit quicker, but I missed him playing in the barn.

Then it hit me, if I bring in client horses again, it’s going to take time away from BOTH of my sons…and my horses. So it would have to be financially worth it, right?

Let’s do some horse trainer math…

Remember this post from a few weeks ago? In my area (just south of Ocala), full board at a facility comparable to mine is in the $1,200-1,500 per month range. Because we have many of these expenses to keep in mind: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=997110749081172&id=100063467683293

THEN we have to factor in training sessions or lessons. I charge $100 per hour for lessons. So if I do 20 to 25 sessions per week with your horse, technically that’s worth $2,000 to $2,500 per month. Add that to the board rates above of physical expenses and it could get as high as $4,000 per month. I don’t know many who can afford that. Therefore, trainers tend to cut down the value of their time, knowledge, experience, etc. significantly to accommodate the client.

I had been charging $1,950 per month for full board and at least 25 training sessions per month. Factor out the $1,500 for full board (personally, I provide 24/7 hay when not on grass) and that leaves $450 a month in training fees. That’s $18 a session! With grooming, tacking up, bathing, use of equipment AND the actual education and the session. Sure, a package type deal is understandable, but that’s less than a 1/5 of the trainer’s value per hour. How does that make sense? We subsidize and significantly cut ourselves short to fill a need/want/desire.

So…there’s the conundrum. Obviously, the client wants the best of the best for their horse and we want to give it to them, but how much can one person sacrifice to help others?

No wonder so many of us are burnt out…

Just something to ponder.

🌻 Cara

07/13/2024

Morning stroll with my little red head 🐎