Boulder Ridge Icelandics

08/07/2024

😊

07/28/2024

Such a tough life for the boys too. 😂😂❤️❤️

07/24/2024

07/08/2024

We may have extra 1st crop hay to sell, if anyone local is interested, please send me a message!

07/04/2024

This 💜🥰🐴

06/02/2024

Yay! Hay season is here! Anyone want a free gym membership? Just come unload hay!

05/31/2024

They are just the bestest boys ❤️❤️

05/04/2024

Who said that horses aren’t smart? ☺️. Thanks Gretchen for the video of the mares assuming their positions for their daily “grain”.

03/19/2024

Sweet boy, waiting for his buddy to finish his grain, and begging for more 😂❤️

03/11/2024

Yep! ❤️❤️

02/23/2024

“Does this braid make my butt look big?” 😂😂.
Braid was compliments of Gretchen! 😊❤️

02/13/2024

Horse boarding available! Limington, Maine.

I have room for 1 or a group of 2 horses. 24/7 turnout with a run-in shed, automatic waters, hay feedings 4 times a day in the winter, grazing and hay in the summer, grain 2x a day (if needed, otherwise once a day). Blanketing when needed, and stalling when needed (bad weather). Horse(s) need to be easy to handle and need to respect electric fencing (tape fencing mostly).

Small and Quiet facility with a 60’ x 100’ indoor arena, and a 200 m riding track. A variety of Riding trails are accessible from the property.

Please contact me with any questions.

01/30/2024

Such wonderful boys ❤️

11/27/2023

Icelandic horse farm in Virginia 😊

Icelandic horses have a rock-star quality with luxurious manes. A 125-acre farm in Middleburg specializes in these beauties.

11/09/2023

So true. Make sure you listen too.

😍❤😍

11/06/2023

Icelandics are a very stoic breed. We definitely NEED to pay attention!

Horses are generally content and compliant animals—unlike humans, they don’t typically have “bad days” that negatively affect their personalities due to emotional duress. Furthermore, as a prey animal they are cognitively designed NOT to show stress or injury, or else they will be recognized as a target by a predator, or bumped down the herd hierarchy.

If a horse is acting differently, it is almost undoubtedly due to a medical issue. We can appreciate this as lameness, but typically the behavioral signs preclude an obvious gait abnormality. Sometimes these behaviors seem chronic (e.g., “He/she always pins their ears when we tighten the girth, or bites at my leg when I ask for more effort.”), but it is important to remember that many horses live with chronic pain. It is rare that a horse is angry or cranky as a result of its genetic nature. Admittedly, some horses “train” their people to back off if they demonstrate a particular behavior, but pain absolutely should be ruled out before coming to this conclusion.

Therefore, if your horse is acting differently, or comes out stiff or lame, it is necessary to consider medical reasons for this behavior, even if your equine friend “works out of it.” As pain is generated, the horse’s body releases pain modifying agents in order to perform its job—which once again goes back to being a prey animal.

As the guardians of these magnificent animals, it is imperative that we “listen” to what the horse is trying to tell us and at the very least get a medical expert’s non-biased opinion about what could be going on, in order to rule out injury or illness as a contributing factor. We owe it to the horse.

Brought to you by the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee
•
Want to learn more? Watch the documentary based on Dr. Sue Dyson’s groundbreaking work on signs of pain in the ridden horse here: https://equimanagement.com/news/dr-sue-dyson-featured-in-new-equine-documentary-on-the-24-behaviors-of-the-ridden-horse-in-pain/

10/14/2023

Pretty girls! ❤️❤️

10/12/2023

So true, unfortunately at times.

Feeling reflective....
Lessons learned long and hard in the horse business as a professional..

1. It's easy to fall in love with your customers, they become a family who you spend a lot of time with. However, in the end they will do what's best for themselves, and for you and them those paths may not be the same, prepare to get your heart broken, keep business and personal relationships separate.

2. People will not always trust in your experience and will second guess you, they will think they know better because they read it in a book, or saw it online. Don't try to be all things to all people, do what you are good at, and run your barn in a way that you can sleep at night knowing that you did right in your mind by them and their horses. The clients opinion of that may be different of that then your beliefs, but you have to live with choices that leave you at peace. That may mean confrontation, hard conversations and even asking people to move on for your own peace.

3. Horses are easy 99% of the time, it's the people who come with them that make things complicated.

4. Remember that horses need to be horses.

5. People will always judge you, and have opinions, the better you are , the more haters will have opinions.

6. Success isn't measured by ribbons and show placings, it's measured in happy animals and quality of their lives.

7. There is always an exception or quirk that doesn't " follow the rules" in horse care. Do what works, not what the " books" say works.

8. When you get annoyed by seeing somebody's car pull in to the barn, it's time to let that person move on, your barn should be a happy place. It literally only takes one bad sour apple to ruin the whole atmosphere and dynamic in a barn.

9. Let it go.... if someone moves on don't be upset by it, ignore what they say, don't take it personally, every barn is not a good fit for every person.

10. This is a business, if a person or horse isn't working for you , or the compensation isn't offsetting your cost, it's time for them to go, the exception to this is your retired horses, see #11.

11. Horses only have so many jumps, so many runs, so many rides on each horse. Dont waste your horses. Teach your students they arent machines. You owe it to your retired horses to have a safe , comfortable and dignified end. Your schoolies worked for you, when the time comes they can no longer do that, either give them a pleasant retirement, or put them in the ground where you know they are safe. Do not dump them at auctions or onto other people where you are not 100% sure that they will be cared for.

12. There is no shame in euthanasia for a horse owner, always better a week to early then a second too late. Do not judge anyone for their reasons for doing this.

13. Most clients fall Into two categories, those who are " high maintenance ", and open in their opinions and will confront situations head on. The second is the quiet type who will not say a word and will not openly talk with you about their expectations or issues , and you have no idea they have a problem until it's too late. The people in between these two are the clients you want and will be long term and make life easy.

14. Know your worth. KNOW YOUR WORTH.your time and experience has a monetary value, don't do things for free, even if you like the person , every bit of time or effort you give to clients has value, so when you don't value your effort, neither will a client and they will come to expect " freebies" which always leads to resentment from someone.

15. Be honest, it's not always easy, but in this business it takes forever to build reputation and seconds to destroy it. Remember horses are Dangerous, always use your best judgment and air on the side of caution when working with horses and students. Their lives, your own life can change in an instant.

16. Get paid up front. Keep good records.People don't go to the grocery store and ask for food they will pay for next week. Good business practices keep everyone honest and sets boundaries for clients.

18. Normalize passing on price increases. Service industries , especially ones like ours always "feel guilty " when raising prices, you are not there to subsidize someone else's horse habit, prices have been going up on costs , so should your fees.

19. The buck stops with you. Your employees mistakes fall back to your responsibility. Always verify and check on important care aspects of daily activities.

20. Make time for family and rest. Too may of us get burnt out from the stress of expectations in this industry. In the end , boarders, students come and go, your family is who you will have left.

- written by Rhea Distefano

10/06/2023

Haha 😂. Horses have such a rough life!! 😂😂

That sounds very great 🤩
credits: Pinterest

09/20/2023

So true! Especially this year, as they are so horrible because of all this rain!

09/15/2023

My boy! He’s enjoying an after ride snack ❤️

09/07/2023

True.

08/30/2023

Gydja rolling after a bath today. Horses always will humble us.. haha 😂

08/05/2023

The mare herd enjoying their normal morning of grazing, waiting till they get to go out on the real grass ❤️. (Which is soon ☺️). Ps, for anyone that is wondering, that’s a horsefly trap by the rock. 😊

08/04/2023

Brimi ❤️

07/02/2023

Horses doing what horses do best! 😂

06/09/2023

I was scared today.

I was scared to get on, scared to walk out the yard because I had a bad ride the day before. One bad ride, and it made me scared.

I didn’t know why. I’ve had 1000 bad rides. I’ve had 1000 falls. I’ve broken bones and bruised my pride on countless occasions, but today I was scared.

Why? Because confidence is fragile. It takes months and years to build and seconds to lose and yet we are so careless with it.

When we get on a horse, we wear a hat to protect our head. We wear body protectors, gloves, boots...

We pay so much attention to protecting ourselves physically, we forget that our minds are not invincible, and our confidence certainly is not.

Your bank of confidence needs regular deposits, not just from others... but from you. Self confidence is the most valuable currency in life.

When you go to get on, and you hesitate, you falter and you start to ask yourself “can I do this?”, chances are, your account is almost empty.

Every time you laugh and say “oh no, I’m no good” or “so and so is 10x better than me”, you make a withdrawal from that account, and before you know it, your account is empty and you’re scared to get on.

But every time you say “I’m really pleased with how that went” or “I think I rode that really well”, your balance increases.

We need to learn to give ourselves a break, pat ourselves on the back and allow ourselves to feel proud of where we are - after all, most of the time we’ve worked bloody hard to get there!

Recognising your strengths is just as important as recognising your weaknesses. Never allow yourself or anyone else to empty that account.

Confidence is valuable, don’t bankrupt yourself.

05/17/2023

Ready for the big freeze tonight !

05/10/2023

Awe! Happy Birthday to our Skjomi from Boulder Ridge!! 10 yrs old today!

05/01/2023