Hidden Valley Ranch LLC

10/31/2024

Bahahahaaaa

10/29/2024

Another boarding area ready for it's new arrival. Looking forward to our newest boarder. 😀

10/25/2024

It is the time of year when we start winterizing the paddocks at the Hidden Acres area. We use the skid steer to dig out icky spots, replace them with fresh 3/4" sand from Rocky Mountain Gravel, and put some horse bedding over the sand from Diamond Recycle.
It makes it so much better for our horses and helpers. I had a great team, Noel on the helm directing and dragging mats and moving panels. Diane, Ron, and Rachelle assisted with shoveling, raking, and cleaning feeders. It went great.
More, much more to do.

10/17/2024

❤️ this

10/15/2024

Omg... more craziness at HVR

10/14/2024

Sprucing up the loafing shed.

09/03/2024

Weeheeee, we are helping put this awesome event on. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/6dyjeDcxko3tnnff/

Send a message to learn more

06/08/2024

Don't forget to take a drive up to Cowboy Campground At Legacy Park, Idaho City ID tomorrow, Saturday morning. It's our amazing St Jude ride and we have a great breakfast planned, 8.30 am til 10 am.
Wonderful silent auction items and off course the poker ride for best hand. No need to bring a horse btw, you can participate and help raise money just by coming up for the day. Idaho City itself has a great day planned too, soooo, lots to see, experience and get out of the Valley. Silent auction ends at 3 pm with an ice cream social. 🤠

05/17/2024

So loving this... help arrived. Still a few things to finish, challenge accepted. I am a bid of a neat-o-freak.

05/17/2024

Ahhhhh

05/15/2024

Dinner turnout

05/14/2024

It's day 2 of the great pasture party for the horse herd! They're munching on grass and frolicking like they own the place!

05/03/2024

Just 1 hour to go....
https://www.idahogives.org/organizations/legacy-park-trust please help if you haven't done so. Our goal this year was $2,000. We are only at $440. Please make your contribution. Thank you. 🤠

I’m ready to support Legacy Park Trust Inc. on April 29, 2024 during Idaho Gives 2024. Learn more about Legacy Park Trust Inc. and all the other organizations participating in Idaho Gives 2024.

04/18/2024

First green pasture turnout of the year, gradually increasing from 40 minutes each day. They were thrilled, and hay followed for bribing and breakfast.

04/05/2024

Weeeeee, my photo made the news, thank you Roland Steadham 1st time. Amy Collins-Ritchie caught the moment for me.

04/04/2024

We might made the news with this shot from 5 pm.

03/31/2024

03/17/2024

Any gardeners out there, we have some great horse manure for you.

Perfect mix for your garden, trees etc. Large loads I can load with a skidsteer, otherwise, please bring your shovel and containers. Off Columbia & Cloverdale area, SW Boise Donation for our...

03/12/2024

So much truth in this, I could add a few more things. Overall, we have great boarders here at HVR. They are thoughtful and do help, but, I haven't ridden my horses. Each time I go outside with the intend, I see something that needs attention, am I a bid a**l about things, yes. Do I want HVR looking good, yes. Do we renew things, add things to keep HVR fresh, yes, all the time. 😎🤩

Full Board Isn't Full Service

A friend asked me to write this a while ago..and I have been thinking on it for several months. So here is a go.

Full board Isn't full board. The average boarding farm with anywhere from 5 to 40 boarders is so much work. Just the daily grind of getting up, feeding, haying, checking water takes up a significant amount of time. Stalls, another massive chunk, then repeat pm feed.

Then you want the boarding farm to do blankets ( something I refuse to do. I worked for a QH trainer in the 90s and spent hrs every morning and night reblanketing all the horses under lights ...cured me ) , meds, you want night check. You want their weight and physical appearance monitored through their blankets.

Now all the extras : tackroom swept, aisle perfect, walls hosed down, no rodents, cobwebs , working washrack with drain that never clogs...

Then perfectly manacured fields , mowed, fertilized, weedwacking. Fences repairs etc....

Board or bored...when your horse is in the stall more for inclement weather , you need to get there to exercise it and prevent colic ( motion is lotion for guts and joints ! ). Full board doesnt cover checking every single inch of the horse ( though most of us do take a quick look, i have trained myself to look at all 4 legs both side every day ) for bumps, bruises, shoes with sprung heels , mysterious fungus that appears on its flank. Owners need to be present, take responsibility for their own horse, make coming out to groom that retired horse on a schedule....and always always be accessible for emergencies.

When you see something needs done, just do it instead of complaining about it. We have all seen the posts about the costs of boarding and basically, if you are paying less than $1000/ month, someone is subsidizing your board. So pick up a rake, a broom, be present. Run a hose, scrub the tub. Triple check your horse. Check on the horse whose owner is ill ( with their permission ) . Leave things better than they were.
Many barns have a person or 2 that randomly helps with some stalls....I guarantee you the barn owner appreciates that person. I used to have a students father who would clean many stalls while his daughter rode. I know I'll never forget him.

Holidays....most barns have 1 of 2 ways of thinking. 1. Don't come out at all. 2. If you do come out, plan to help with feeding, haying, watering turnout and stalls. I can speak from personal experience...I havent had a holiday off since pre 2001 except for 1 Christmas, an exceptional student did all the work as my gift. I'll never forget that act of kindness. Nurses get double time for major holidays ( and still get to take off a day for Christmas , heck even the local convenience store pays double or time and half on major holidays) , barn owners get nothing, most of the time not even a thank you... I recall a colleague who boarded horses ( and of course taught lessons, trained horses, sold horses and ran shows because boarding doesnt pay the bills ) saying one day she realized her life was like the movie Ground Hog Day....and that she has done the same thing every morning every night for decades. Her farm went up for sale and she now boards her own horses.

Education. Do you know what horses diseases are, understand deworming, know what ailments to watch out for. When should the vet be called ? Can you wrap legs properly, handle an abscess, recognize fungus, spot a colic ? If not, pick up a book, watch some videos. Horse ownership means you love horses and you want to know everything about them.

Anyway...full care isn't day care you drop your "kid " off too and never pick them up from again. Be present. Your horse will appreciate the attention and the barn owner will feel relief that you are watching out for your horse.

3/27/23 update. 212,000 views. 1400 shares. And I have gotten a few nasty comments. I cannot understand the nastiness . Bringing awareness is a good thing. If it doesnt apply to you , then move on. Every barn has boundaries. Apparently some people are mad that I wont do blankets...not sure why, as none of them board with me ! Boundaries are made out of clarity and self respect. Every barn , I hope , has rules and boundaries ! Best wishes to all . Horses are my first and longest love.

( This post was made to bring awareness. At least in my area, boarding barns are becoming fewer to non existent. If we want them to stay, we must change . I have seen mostly positivity come from this...i particularly loved the person who shared it and wrote " I go a bit the other way . I try to help in some way every day that I am at the barn "
I , of course, want all the horses in my care to have good, healthy lives too. I would like to think we all do. )

02/26/2024

Another crazy day putting a little gravel and sand in the only remaining muddy paddock, Levi, the mud churner, has been busy building his own workout gym and was daily walking, churning and stomping, purposefully through the mud, yes he had high ground, but kept going.... not any more, we adding bedding chips with sand on top to hopefully keep this workout fanatic a little less entertained. 😁 Love our clients.

02/24/2024

Great day to get a few paddocks ready for new clients, scrapped out mud, new sand and bedding added. And Sunny got his 1st turnout. Love warm bonus days.

02/01/2024

Transformations, from mud to drying out quickly, the benefits of great drainage and a good base. We usually stockpile sand and roadmix for quick fixes. Another benefit, today Tractor Bob stopped in and scrapped our 8 acre herd dry lot.