Maple Springs Farm

08/13/2025

2007 a women and her horse vet in for Redwood Ride, without a thought of what the next 18 years would entail.

She would finally bite the bullet and release her 6 year old daughter from leadline. Soon to follow would be her daughter bobbing down the endurance trail atop her Shetland pony, Patches, that would later be dubbed, “Kung Fu Pony.”

A time would come where her daughter would sprout quite rapidly causing her to move to a full size horse, lest she adorn her feet with roller skates.

The horse she vetted in 2007 was one of the many horses who came to the start line for her daughter, and to the finish.

And that horse did also happen to have a son, in 2005, a son meant for his rider’s daughter. But the horse’s son was still a green frolicking monkey of horse. Much too frisky for the young rider still honing her skills.

Until a trainer rose for the challenge. A trainer who generously sponsored her time and skills to the women’s daughter who was, at the time, Little Miss CSHA.

The horse’s son was finally ready.

2015 the women’s daughter was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma, cancer.

A year of treatment was only the beginning.

Recovery consumed the following years, until her perspective shifted. Time seemed lost, AERC rides were passing, her horse aged every day, and everyone around her progressed whilst she lay behind.

The mob mentality of rushing to a finish line almost took over. Fortunately a well placed example was before her.

Her horses father was still competing into is 30s, and her mother with him.

She had time, time to sustainably rebuild in order to preserve her and horses longevity. Rushing and pushing would likely bring an abrupt end.

Slowly but surely rides were being completed by her. But the true goal lay a little further ahead.

18 years later had come, in 2025, at the same ride, with the same veterinarian, the same spot, and even the same stride. The daughter and the horse’s son vetted out at their first 50 miles together.

The ride was completed with 3 hours to spare and high vet scores, after years of meticulous care and conditioning for both horse and rider. In addition, she still had a frolicking monkey of a horse the next day. The spark remained lit in his eye.

I am the daughter
My mother is Audra Homicz
My horse is 20 year old Janet’s Kiowa Spirit
And 42 year old Kiowa Chief is his sire

We strive to promote sustainable longevity and I believe we have done so with last Saturdays ride.

Both Chief and Spirit made the journey to the redwoods, displaying the value of a senior horse.

Chief began endurance at 22 years old and continued until 39 years old, and still remains rideable, fit, kinda chubby, and most of all, happy. Spirit is just getting started.

It is likely Chief is the oldest horse to have completed an AERC sanctioned ride, but that is unconfirmed.

A healthy senior horse should not be abnormal.

Cancer was not the end for me. It slowed me down in order to show me the importance of patience.

Patience grants you more time in the end.

Chief, Spirit, my mother and I will see you at Cuneo Creek on Sept 6th. ✨🌿

07/07/2025

Nearly 20 years ago two horses traversed a mountain field in effortless delight.

One hastily sped and leapt down pathways of every shape, angle, surface, and beyond without a care in the world.

The other horse gently moseyed over treacherous spaces with a meticulous and focused effort in their hoof steps.

When the trails opened to soft billowing soil, without the treacherous grades, the horse would allow himself to head it on in the same carefree manner as the other.

Whilst the first felt he could invincibly tackle any manner of trail with stampeding furry, the other collected his patience awaiting the proper conditions for rambunctious shenanigans.

One day, the invincible little horse felt his body strain and tense at the attempt of the usual activities.

The other horse remained the same, collected and waiting for the right moment.

Another day passed and the strained horse could only muster a slow climb of the hill to his morning forage.

The other horse remained the same.

The last day had come. A horse once full of fury and spark had been reduced to a dull husk. His limber and straight joints were now stretched and contorted, sagging in painful misery. A misery that was ended.

The other horse remained.

That other horse is 42 year old Kiowa Chief (pictured below in 2008). A horse that remains sound, healthy, and moving forward with patience.

Many rush forward in attempt to grasp what they aim to achieve.

Then the mob mentality takes over and we are consumed by our goal, we must achieve it, it’s all that matters. A fear of being left behind sets in.

But, if you step back, ground back into the present, and focus on what’s before you, rather than only ahead, you will find the others, as you pass them, broken and unable to move.

You can try to pull them up, even carry them, but unfortunately if they do not take your hand they will sink further away into the trail behind you.

Some may even smack your hand away, heck, they may even beat you over the head with the shovel they’re using to dig their own hole. But the occasional few will gladly take your hand and ride alongside you.

No one in my mind is not worth reaching a hand to.

When you only look forward, rushing ahead, you may be shaving off years from not only yourself, but the ones around you. If you take meticulous care with patience you may be given more years than you ever realized.

06/20/2025

A couple of Saturdays ago the mighty and reliable Jake came to the rescue.

The Pony Express Days parade was unknowingly on the horizon. I myself had not planned on being involved in the event. But, a student in need of a pony would change that.

Unfortunately her steed, that was planned to be her parade partner, was involved in a scheduling mistake. In attempt to find a way to continue the parade they requested the assistance of my ponies. Fortunately Jake and I were able to make the great journey, with some finagling.

Many a times Jake and I have perused town streets, crosswalks, and even grocery stores. He has been subject to shenanigans involving balloons, RC cars, kites, toddlers zooming on bicycles, and anything of the like all while holding a level head. Most importantly, one of relaxation and not fear or defeat.

But, he had never strolled a parade route prior.

A parade is an environment containing stimulation of lights, noises, animals, people, vehicles, and oh so many sparkles. Most take time and preparation before participating in such an event, with an equine.

But, many also do not. Of which I have witnessed time and time again at almost every parade I have been present.

The CSHA parade and royalty program I thank above and beyond for training and educating me of the importance of taking a parade seriously. This is not an environment to throw an unprepared situation into. It gets dangerous, and quick.

Jake was and has been prepared for years with his a many lifelong shenanigans. Time simply was not on our side with scheduling him to be apart of a parade earlier, until now.

The one week I planned to take off happened to be the same day of Pony Express Days, and I could not be more thankful. I have missed the experience of an early crisp morning filled with sharp outfits, hairspray, pony wrangling, shining steeds, and proud marches representing what you stand for.

It has been my plan to begin the parade adventuring again next year to represent my meaning of horsemanship. That adventure, much to my excitement, has been able to start earlier than anticipated.

I thank Jake and my student for bringing a memory of my past back to the present. ✨🌿

06/13/2025

The opportunity to not only ride a horse, but to learn the horsemanship that surrounds these majestic critters awaits in beautiful Carlotta. ✨🌿🪻

Learning everything from the ground up is vital in creating an honest perspective and understanding of horses. My approach focuses on adaptive learning/training shaped to the needs of the individual person and horse.

An additional opportunity offered is that of establishing a foundation, and or refinement, in your own horse and self.

Horsemanship lessons are offered on Fridays and Sundays on my own equines in Carlotta. Horsemanship lessons and training are available on Thursdays and Saturdays at your location, or one of the authorized facilities listed on my website.

Availability is currently limited with Thursday, Saturday, and Sundays waitlisted. However, Fridays hold biweekly lesson openings.

Not toot my ponies horns, but they are worth the wait. Do not feel deterred from signing up due to a waitlist. 🦄🌱

Please visit my website, or contact me, if you have any questions or inquiries. To sign up, or to be placed on the waitlist, visit my website. Introductions of myself, horses, etc lay pinned to my social profile and are also accessible on my website.

A vividly beautiful story awaits in the journey offered before you. 🍁✨

04/03/2025

I bring this up frequently in lessons and trainings. This is a more in depth overview of how lush green grass can actually be quite damaging to your equine pals. Their diet is an extremely vital factor to their health. 🌿

DO YOU KNOW WHAT CAUSES GRASS FOUNDER?

Spring is a wonderful time of the year, but it may be the beginning of some serious problems for horses vulnerable to grass founder — like horses that are over the age of 10, easy keepers, overweight or cresty-necked.

Laminitis or founder, as it is commonly called, is inflammation of the laminae of the horse’s foot. Laminae are the delicate, accordion-like tissues that attach the inner surface of the hoof wall to the coffin bone (the bone in the foot). A horse suffering from laminitis experiences a decrease in blood flow to the laminae, which in turn begin to die and separate. The final result is hoof wall separation, rotation of the coffin bone and extreme pain. In severe cases, the coffin bone will actually rotate through the sole of the horse’s hoof where it becomes infected and can ultimately lead to the horse having to be euthanized.

Laminitis can be triggered by different causes, like repeated concussion on hard ground (road founder), grain overload, retained placenta, hormonal imbalance (Cushing’s syndrome), obesity, and lush grass.

In cases of grass founder, the sugar fructans produced by rapidly growing grass stimulates an overgrowth of bacteria in the horse’s large intestine. The bacteria produce and release toxins (endotoxins) that are carried by the bloodstream to the foot where they cause damage to the laminae and small blood vessels.

The best way to deal with laminitis is preventing and managing the causes under your control. Consult your equine practitioner for further information and to formulate a plan tailored to your horse's individual situation. If you suspect laminitis, consider it a medical emergency and notify your veterinarian immediately.

03/20/2025

Attn Clients/Students.

Services will be on a pause until further notice due to a family emergency.

My brother fell from a 30 ft boom due to break failure causing the vehicle to roll uncontrollably. This was while working on the border wall as a marine. He’s critically injured and in the ICU. His recovery, as of now, should be a complete one however it will be long. He has many broken bones and a TBI.

Unfortunately my parents are unable to efficiently coordinate with the hospital and USMC, as well as family, and I have been one of the primary individuals advocating and coordinating for my brother while he is neurologically healing.

I’m currently in San Diego and I am unsure how long, it could be weeks or even a month. I will keep you updated to the best of my ability. My social medias contain frequent updates.

I want to apologize to those that this is short notice to as well. My time has been very thin with a heavy lack of sleep.

Please reach out with any questions and I will respond as soon as possible, however, expect a slow response time.

Thank you all for your understanding and patience.

02/28/2025

🌿 Meet Spartacus, also known as Spartypotamous, Baby Huey, and has even been dubbed Asparagus by a little girl! 🌱✨ He is a 15 year old Trakhener Arabian cross that will be getting his hooves working in my program.

🌿 Spartacus has a long tale to be regaled, similar to Chief (our 42 year old horse), and in relation to Chief, we actually consider Spartacus his stepson! And in turn, Spirit his stepbrother. This all goes back to a beloved mare, named Maddy.

🌿 Maddy was a dearly cherished mare of our friend Robert. She was initially an endurance horse in her younger years but due to hereditary conformation deformities, that were unbeknownst to everyone at the time, she was unable to sustain to a high demand of the sport. Breaking down at the 50 mile distances. In order to prevent her from breaking down further Robert reached out to my mother to have her placed with us in a gentle mountain trails life.

🌿 2008, she had made the big trip and arrived to Oregon mountain. She was still considered Robert’s as well as ours. She belonged to all of us, as a family that included close friends. Rehoming, reselling, ect, was strictly forbidden. But of course we could not bear the thought of ever letting go of her in that way.

🌿 While in our care Chief absolutely adored her. Basically in a manner of speaking, was in love with her, and his son Spirit was as well. Spirit’s mother, Dusty, passed when he was 6 months old, leaving him with his father, Chief, and his other pony friends. But no Mare was there to take on the mother role for him, until Maddy.

🌿 One day the lil escape artist deviously pulled his gate boards aside, with his nosey little face, and found himself galavanting down to a pasture that held a newly arrived friend. He ran right up to her as if asking, “are you my mom?” And Maddy became his new mother figure.

🌿 During her years with us a few breedings were attempted with her, by her original owner, in hopes her offspring would bear her positive traits and be able to sustain in endurance (her hereditary deformities were still unknown and discovered later.) Only one of these breedings was successful.

🌿 Maddy heavily carried a foal for many months, on our home of Oregon Mountain, until the final leg of her pregnancy was reached. She was sent back to Robert’s care to birth the foal. I remember vividly, as a little one, Maddy being sent away to an old cowboy fellow. When I met him again, on the way to crew for him on the Tevis ride, he giddly asked if I had remembered him, boy did I. Almost in tears I said to him, “you’re the one that took Maddy away!” My big glorious black mare being taken did not sit well with me at the time. I’ve since forgiven him of course

🌿 2009, Spartacus was born into the world, originally named Arrow. I remember many times seeing him in his younger years from small, to a little bit bigger, to being unexpectedly quite gigantic. “I couldn’t see over his back!” I thought at one point. 17 hands, that’s how big he’d grown.

🌿 Unfortunately he was born with the same confirmation deformity and was also unable to sustain in a high demand version of endurance riding. Robert then placed him with his best friend Mike, of whom became quite bonded in his partnership of many years with Spartacus.

🌿 12 years they lived and rode together as cowboy and horse on backcountry adventures. They had as deep of a connection as any best friend could ever hope for. Their cowboy adventures came to a slow when Mike began developing health issues. He’s been burdened with much physical pain and was unable to fully adventure with his horse for almost 2 years. So in the intentions of providing Spartacus with more years and chance of mountain adventures, my family and I was reached out to.

🌿 I had already began my search for an additional horse for my family and program, so this was beyond perfect timing. It was most fortunate that a horse I have known his entire life was coming home to us, rather than a strange horse that would take an unknown amount of time to adjust and train.

🌿 In the fall of 2024 Spartacus and Mike made the first leg of the journey, to my parents on Oregon mountain. Spartacus made it to a home he had not been since being carried by his mother. He unfortunately would not have the chance of seeing her again, she had since passed in the year of 2021. But he stood in her very same pasture she had arrived to many years prior.

🌿 The following month I made the trip to visit and ride him. We had a wonderful Oregon mountain adventure traversing the same trails his mother had. Not much was forgotten to him in his years of stagnation, he was ready to go. Shortly thereafter he made the trip to me, arriving to the Redwoods.

🌿 He is an incarnation of a golden retriever, an absolute gentle and loving giant, just as his mother was. In the past few months he’s met and bonded with Chief, Spirit, and Jake, his Stepfather, Stepbrother, and… well Jake is just a pal, but still family. While on the subject of Jake, Spartacus has become quite fond of the little guy. They often snuggle and play in the pasture when they’re together. An unlikely friendship, but a welcome one.

🌿 He’s a beautiful cowboy dream to ride in the Redwood mountains. He has been tasked with becoming my husband’s first horse and will also become a pack and lesson horse for my program. Him and my husband have been doing wonderful together, they’re a perfect pair.

🌿 Everything has come full circle and Spartacus is home with his family. Much to the same nature as Maddy was ours in our home, but was still Robert’s, Spartacus is still Mikes, and he shall remain with us to the end of his days never to be sold or rehomed. We are his beginning and end to his next journey and we look forward to traversing it with him.

02/27/2025

Spirit has officially been promoted! 🥳 He now dons the new title of “trail lesson pony.”

I’ve admittedly been stingy and keeping him to myself for over a year and he’s been more than ready for a while now. He’s my boy and I’ve been selfishly keeping him to myself. 🤣🥹

Chief and Jake are still doing fantastic and are continuing with the usual lessons. Spirit is not going to be entering the mix of arena lessons for a bit yet as he is still my personal endurance horse. He has a specific training regime that regular lessons would through a wrench in. He will be utilized for a new addition of my program that will benefit his, and students, training, and that is trail lessons.

Trail lessons will be an opportunity provided only to my more advanced regular students. Especially to those with the goal of endurance riding. Spirit will eventually be bestowed with the task of sponsoring students in rides as well!

Now I usually do add a little bit of trails to my usual lessons but the difference between those, and my newly added trail lessons, is that they are exclusively focused on the trail. They also hold more advanced trail work as well with varying terrain, longer distances, more in depth verbal learning on aspects of endurance training, and even having the option of a half day lesson.

My usual format of lesson focuses on rider building exercises for muscles and skills and usually ends with a little trail mosey about to unwind.

I’m very excited to be providing this next level of training to my students that are advancing with bigger goals. My first student to take this on did fantastic and has been itching for the day to start riding Spirit. I’m very proud of both of them on their first day of their new journey together. 💜☀️

02/27/2025

Last Sunday, after much battling with the weather, we finally had our first lesson day of the season! ☀️ And boy did little Jake miss all the attention and snacks!

It was lovely for both the ponies and I to see you all again, and to meet a couple of newcomers, of which did fantastic on their first day.

Everyone who was returning did a wonderful job retaining what they had learned last year and re applying themselves to the world of horsemanship. We look forward to furthering all of your journeys. 💜🌿 (and Jake also looks forward to more snacks 🐴)

11/08/2024

It seems nature had other plans for me today. I’ve come down with the stomach flu this morning, on top of everything else. Not an ideal thing to have in my condition but with my mighty critters at my side I will get through it!

My biggest frustration is that I feel horribly guilty to have had to cancel lessons today at such short notice. Especially since they were to be the last day of the season for Friday students to say goodbye to the ponies.

My deepest apologies to you all. I am forever grateful for your understanding, encouragement, and support.

As I have previously stated, I promise you I will win the war for my health and come back stronger to provide the quality, and consistent, services you deserve.

I hope to be up and moving in time Sunday to plan a farewell day for everyone to have an opportunity to see the horses one last time before next year.

Again, thank you to all my students for your patience and support. I would not be what I am without you. 💕