Lower Maple Crest Stables

09/05/2024

This Saturday the 7th, please join us at LMCS to honor and remember Heather Smith at 4pm. Please bring photos and fond memories to share. Heather’s service is being held at Forastiere Smith Funeral & Cremation at 5:30. All lessons are cancelled on this day.

08/26/2024

https://www.forastiere.com/tributes/Heather-Smith?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR34sa6qpyhW8jUaMcRUMIwV5kFeX56cObsAGdliUrd2A8H48UPGOkKIq9A_aem_EKlh2ip8frWRbapA7YHVgg

Share memories & support the family

08/18/2024

Upon the passing of Heather Smith, I have been struggling with ho… Sabrina Obremski needs your support for Honor Heather by Supporting Dakota’s equine journey

08/16/2024

It has been a very difficult few days here at Lower Maple Crest Stables. We are devastated to share that our Western instructor, and my partner for 10 years, Heather Smith passed away earlier this week. I greatly appreciate the support, love, and patience of our clients as we navigate this tragedy together.

05/26/2024

2. Before my coffee it’s a 2.
Also: did anyone else notice that 6-9 appear to be mares?

05/03/2024

We are going to avoid trail riding out in the back field today!

05/01/2024

As we approach the onset of horse show season, let’s all enjoy a reminder of the “two minute rule” 😂

12/25/2023

🔔🎄Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from our barn family to yours 🎄🔔

Thank you to Zhanna and Dakotah for the amazing photos

10/03/2023

Board is going up this coming year. It sucks, I know, but costs have forced this change. To help a little bit with understanding, I created a breakdown of the cost to keep each boarded horse here. Boarders do NOT cover the cost of my horses so all of these expenses are just for one horse being boarded.

Instead of measuring hay in bales, I can more accurately measure it in weight. About 30lbs of hay per horse, per day is $217/month

Bedding is at $7.50 per bag and each horse stall needing approximately half bag per day is about $116.25/month

Electricity and dumpster fees have skyrocketed, and even if you’re not around often enough to turn on the lights, the well pump kicks on everytime we fill waters and bedding bags fill the dumpster! These two simple utilities break down to $45/month per horse.

Every stall is $3 per day to clean, so $93/month.

If I were to pay $9 per day per horse for labor, that’s $9 to feed a horse breakfast and dinner, hay 3x daily, scrub and fill water tubs and buckets in turn outs as well as stalls, fix fences, find and put on/take off fly masks, turn your horse out and bring your horse in, and so much more… for $9 a day that’s $279/month

This does not include insurance and other business expenses, or replacement of materials.

This does not include the cost of grain as all boarders are expected to purchase their own grain.

Each horse by these minimum numbers costs ME $750.25 per month.

Board is not going up that much. Don’t panic. I just want to provide some insight into my financial decisions and assure everyone that I am doing everything possible to keep the cost of board low without sacrificing the quality of care. As always, I appreciate my clients so much, and thank you all for your understanding!

09/26/2023

Grateful to have a younger herd this fall than last, but the question will always come up. Every fall. Who will “make” the winter? It’s agonizing.

08/31/2023

❤️

Teach the student that shows up.
I’ve gotten what some have referred to as “difficult” students… the slow thinkers, the dyslexics, those with shockingingly minimal proprioception, the nervous over thinkers, the physically challenged,…
Whatever. I teach them the best I can. They learn what they learn. It’s not my job to decide if their speed of progress is acceptable or not- that’s up to them! If they are happy and having fun, and they keep showing up, (and yes, pay their bill) then I keep teaching them the absolute best I know how!!!!
I’ve had students that progress [what to me feels] painfully slow at first, but then things click and, like grass growing, you can’t see it, but there it is!!! Some are slow thinkers but fast learners. Some have a challenging learning style that pushes me to become a better teacher. Sometime kids show no RIDING progress, but parents rave about how the child is better behaved and a better listener for 1-2 days following their lesson- that’s progress!!!! Who cares if they still bumble around in posting trot, and can’t figure out diagonals. Sometimes adults struggle for awhile until they get strong/fit enough and then suddenly make a big leap. Sometimes fear issues can hold someone back for what feels like forever, but then they “suddenly”, after a year of repetition, break free and find their confidence.

Progress isn’t linear, and sometimes we are using the wrong metrics to measure success anyways. If two hours at the barn is the only time a parent isn’t worried about their child taking their own life, than who cares if the kid doesn’t want to trot and is content steering at the walk.

Sometimes us pros think “good” students have to be like us- athletic with big goals, and dedication to spare. But not everyone is in it for that, and that’s okay- I’ll meet them where they are and teach the best I can… using THEIR metrics- not mine.

Btw- pic is most instructor’s dream student. Quick learner, good feel, knows left from right, memorizes a pattern quickly, brave without being reckless…. But I would be out of business if I could only teach kids like this one. 😉

08/25/2023

We beat the rain yesterday! Almost 1300 bales of hay later, I have a lot of people to thank. However, these two amazingly strong and dedicated women were there for every hay wagon that arrived. I didn’t even participate in unloading every wagon! We are all sore and tired, but I can’t let a full day go by without remarking on their work ethic and superwoman abilities.

07/30/2023

Thanks to a bizarre fail involving the transport of literally tons of produce, and the quick thinking and generosity of Cote Cattle Company, our horses were treated to an amazing and healthy salad with dinner! We were even able to share the love and donate some of the romaine to Odin’s Heart Wildlife Rehab. We are so thankful!!!!

Side note: I apologize for the stink of garlic everywhere while I experiment with how to best feed our horses this very healthy treat!

06/15/2023

And the pictures of our healing boy! The single tooth is the closest to what the root should look like. If we imagine the bulbous roots of the other teeth all trying to squeeze into the space under his gums we can imagine how painful that must have been!

06/15/2023

Mackadoodle is doing great! I have posted here a wonderful link about the disease EOTRH and the surgery Mack had to relieve his pain.

The very basic description of this disease is that the roots of the teeth break down and the body attempts to fix the “injury” by coating the root in cementum. However, the disease continues to degrade the dental roots so the body continues to lay down cementum and these irregular bulbus roots become painful sometimes causing abscesses.

Learn about EOTRH: Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis, and how this dental disease effects horses. Learn about how to best support your horse after being treated.

06/08/2023

Thank you to everyone who came to our games day! With your support we were able to raise $1293 towards Mack’s surgery this month. A number that exceeded anyone’s expectations. It was such a fun day, and the entire barn is proud of each of the amazing riders 🧡 We will keep you all updated on how Mack is doing and his journey. Please share your own photos in the comments!

(Thank you Zhanna for your photography skills)

06/07/2023

This sucks so much!

05/30/2023

🔔 https://cart.silverscreendesign.com/lower_maple_crest_stables/shop/home 🔔

Our clothing website is offically live!

Order online and ship directly to your front door. Check out our cool new items, available in a variety of colors 🤩

04/29/2023

Join LMCS for a fun day raising money for a good cause! This is available for all LMCS students and is a family event. Sign up next time you visit the barn with your instructors permission 🐴

03/29/2023

Last horse we have to introduce you to! GIlbert aka Gilligan aka train wreck! More on him soon 🙂

03/25/2023

When your horse likes their job…

From Andrew Ryback Photography - Horse Show Photo of the Day from the World Equestrian Center - Ocala Fall Show. “Straight from the horses mouth: rider for sale cheap to a good home. Can be spooky and known to jump ship. (Yes, both horse and rider are perfectly fine...and they approved this photo).”

03/18/2023

Back to introductions! Redbull, our most recent addition.

03/14/2023

Actual quote told to me by various people over the last 6-7 decades---words used might vary slightly but the gist remained constant---

“You have to make that horse more afraid of you than the thing he’s scared of.”

Another variation, same general idea---

“You have to show him what will happen to him if he doesn’t do what you tell him to do.”

The idea behind both of these statements is that fear and force are useful horse training strategies. If the horse sees something that scares him, and he won’t go, punish him until he does go. If the horse won’t get in the trailer, make it so painful that he goes in. If a horse stops at a jump, hit him and spur him. If you put your leg on a horse and he doesn’t move away from the pressure, kick harder. If that doesn’t work, use your spurs. That will make him move away. If a horse gets strong while you are cantering or galloping, get a more severe bit. If a horse won’t put his head down, strap him into draw reins.

It is a long list. There have been all sorts of ways and strategies and types of equipment created to make horses do what humans want them to do.

I started riding about 70 years ago, got my first pony in 1952, and the “You have to show that pony who’s boss” concept was pretty much standard procedure.

There are two big problems with the fear and force approach. The huge one is that it works. Horses do usually submit to pain and fear, and when they do, it reinforces the idea that it is, therefore, a valid training theory.

The other problem, though, is that while fear and pain do get the horse “to do as he’s told,” it leaves the horse basically fearful, nervous, anxious, on edge, so although the horse may be rideable, he is never calm and relaxed about it. He may seem so if he has been brutalized to the point of total submission, but even then there can be things that trigger his resistance.

The good news about all this is that in 2023, there is a whole lot more knowledge about kinder, gentler training methods. The bad news about all this in 2023 is that many riders don’t know about these better ways, or do know, but choose fear and force despite it.

02/27/2023

I haven’t gotten all of our horses yet! Tobi, slightly less known but just as loved 🥰

02/16/2023

Little Blue 💕 what would we do without you!

🤣🤣🤣

02/07/2023

Lucy aka Lucy Goose aka Justin’s mare 🤣

02/01/2023

Tw***ie! Aka Twinkle Toes, aka Cupcake!

01/30/2023

Oh ffs 🤦‍♀️

A letter published in Horse & Hound on 4 May 1957 – its contents seems quite extraordinary now

01/28/2023

Alexander (I honestly don’t remember his jc name 🙈) goofy boy!

01/24/2023

Chippo the hippo aka Chipotle aka Chipster, is tolerating the mud! No, he is not bred.