Appy Acres

11/14/2024

One day I’ll ask God about how He paints the sunsets. These have been so comforting and beautiful to watch this week. 💗❤️💜🧡💛

11/04/2024

Fall came in with a brrrrrr. ❄️But my horses new blankets from came just in time! Doesn’t Dior look so cute?? She doesn’t grow a good coat in winter- (must be the thoroughbred in her 😉) I’m glad to finally have her own designated blanket after three years of having her here! 💜💜💜 . I’ll be posting some tips about when/when not to blanket your horse- seems to be such a great debate amongst our horse community!

10/29/2024

It’s a bitter sweet time as we come to the close of our regular riding season this week! Seasons are a wonderful thing for us humans though- even though I hate change, it’s nice to take a moment to rest, for us teachers, students, and for the horses!

However, we aren’t fully saying goodbye to lessons! We are going to be starting our winter series rides at Golden Spike this December as well as our ground learning barn lessons. These lessons are filled with info- so don’t take too big of a break from learning this winter. 😉 Message me to make sure you or your student is signed up!

PS. Can I mention how amazing these branding photos from turned out?? I’m so excited to share more of them. 🤩

10/11/2024

LAUNCHED! Appy Acres online clothing store is ready to go in time for the fall cozies and the holidays. Do you want clothes that express how much you love the BARN life, FARM life, and COUNTRY life?! Then check these out! And for this special launch enter code HAPPYAPPY for 20% off of your first order. Thanks for your support! 🐴

10/06/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/TAqHu12YYr7TXTUF/?mibextid=WC7FNe

As we enter the fall, and soon winter, hay production slows.

The unwanted horse ads start to appear.

“Beautiful pasture ornament available, very sweet and kind. Cannot be ridden. But only 6 years old so lots of life left!”

Or

“Retired senior horse. Very arthritic so only pasture sound. We love her but can’t justify keeping a horse we can’t ride. We also can’t keep weight on her and she costs too much to feed!”

There are not enough homes out there for horses that have health issues and are “less desirable” due to not being rideable.

Not saying it’s fair but it’s the reality.

If a person doesn’t love a horse enough to keep them through their retirement, expecting a stranger to do so does not make sense.

In fluke cases, sure you may find the unicorn retirement home that has no bad motives and actually intends to keep the horse until they pass.

But, the fact of the matter is that these types of horses are most valuable when sold to auction, usually for meat.

And if the person who lamed them or owned them into their senior years doesn’t care enough to take care of them for life, a stranger with no attachment to the horse isn’t particularly likely to.

Are there some incredibly generous and kind strangers who do this? Yes.

Are there enough of them to keep up with the “demand” of all of these unwanted horses? No.

Rather than rolling the dice and hoping that these unwanted horses will find a soft landing when they’re given away for free or cheap, consider what kindnesses are within your power to offer them.

1. You could keep them, because an unrideable horse generally costs the same as one who is ridden.

2. If you’re unwilling to do so because of their health issues and lack of “usefulness”, you could give them a humane ending with euthanasia.

Horses don’t fear death like people do. They live in the present moment. They don’t spend time worrying about their mortality or if there’s life after death.

So, if that present moment is a miserable existence, that is what their life is. Miserable. That is their reality.

If all they know in the moment is suffering, that’s what their life is comprised of.

Passing off the unwanted horse to be someone else’s issue in lieu of giving them a humane ending may feel more noble because it extends longevity of life, but it doesn’t factor in quality.

A horse being passed off from home to home, always a second class citizen due to being unrideable, isn’t a kindness.

It is humans continuously evading accountability for the care of the horse and instead passing the horse off to be someone else’s problem.

It is the humans feeling morally superior for doing so because they think keeping the horse alive is a kindness.

Even if the life is no life to live.

Or even if it is condemning the horse to be taken to the auction and sold to a kill buyer.

Love your horses enough to love them through their lack of rideability or at least give them a humane end if it’s between that and rolling the dice and throwing them into a market that is already flooded with unwanted horses.

Horses should hold value whether they’re rideable or not but currently, that’s largely not the case.

Rather than ignoring that fact, people need to be honest with themselves about what they’re actually doing.

What their choices put their horses at risk of.

Let your elderly horse pass in the home they’ve known for so long instead of throwing them out into a new environment as soon as they can no longer be ridden.

Give your lesson horses the gift of retirement after they’ve kept your business afloat instead of pawning them off when they are no longer useful.

Or give them the gift of a good death instead of just making them someone else’s problem.

If you do not love the horse that you’ve spent years bonding with enough to keep them through their “less desirable” stages of life, why would a stranger be more likely to do that for you?

Winter is coming. Don’t throw your damaged horses to the “wolves.”

Part of owning horses is caring about them enough to give them a good end.

If you feel like a bad person for euthanizing them because you know retiring them would be the kinder option, that’s likely a sign that you should buck up and keep them into retirement.

The answer is not playing Russian roulette with your horse’s quality of life.

Stop pawning old and lame horses off onto other people.

There is not the amount of kind and caring homes available that people are making it out to be.

09/12/2024

Spent last weekend in Panguitch and we got to ride in one of my favorite events: 5-in-a-row. 🤩 We made some memories- of which my favorites were running down the track with my friends, singing around the fire, and seeing some beautiful country horseback. Our horses were champs and we had some great times watching the other events in the stands. 💜

08/31/2024

The other day I received the best present! My student painted this in oil for me of our late Trish Two Hearts. ❤️❤️ So incredibly thoughtful and I will treasure it! We still miss Trishy, but she has inspired so much here at Appy Acres- including why it’s called Appy (Appaloosa) Acres- and I remember her every day.

08/15/2024

Our Appy Acres Fall Show registration is open! We will do the show in three different age groups and students can use our barn horses. First come first serve for registration though! We don’t have too many horses to share so make sure you get signed up asap. 😊

08/12/2024

Horse board: OPEN! Get your boarding spot secured before fall! At Appy Acres we are known for a CHILL environment, CLEAN barn, and diligent ATTENTION to your horse.

🐴 Prices $415- $540 Full care only.

📍Ogden, UT

✨ This month only- we have a referral bonus! Mention this ad and get $50 off of your first months board.

🎉 If you refer a friend- we’ll get you a gift card to a local farm store for horse goodies.

Welcome to Appy Acres! We are a horse boarding facility and lesson barn. Just sharing our love for horses, one spot at a time. Come join our community for boarding or lessons. 🐴💕

08/07/2024

I edited a few of our camp photos and am loving reliving the fun memories! My favorite picture is the last one… that’s how the kids felt about hot shoeing 😂😂.

07/30/2024

07/30/2024

Good horses. Good people.

07/29/2024

A few more epic pioneer days moments needed to be shared… Our stop at was way too fun on horseback! They were good sports serving us on horseback. Ogden Utah is a beautiful place- we are lucky to live here! I have some great photos of our group I’ll post on Facebook too- Instagram formatting won’t do them justice 💕.

07/19/2024

When the picture is with a thousand words. This is why we love doing lessons!! 💕💕💕

07/07/2023

For those of you who love my stiff rope halters- my friend is making them! Multiple colors to choose from and high quality material that really makes all the difference. Message me for Hailey’s info… I’m definitely ordering my hubby a hunters orange one for Cap! 😉🐴

07/05/2023

Happy birthday America! Wow what a great day to see some of our students ride in the parade. Truly a dream come true. I’m so proud of everyone and grateful to live in a country where I can pursue my dreams and help others do the same!