Happy Hills Acres

09/01/2024

Well, I thought I was going to have a breeding pair of axolotls. Turns out Kirby, the pink one, is all boy and Enormous Richard, is also a boy…no eggs with these two. Gonna have to find a female now.

08/18/2024

Pulled up to the pasture and found these freeloaders.

08/18/2024

I probably have the most patient and willing horse on the planet. She toughed out a nearly 18 mile ride without a single complaint. Loaded herself into the trailer to go home and unloaded herself once we got there lol. She was done with me.

08/13/2024

On today’s episode of what did Nichole bring home…

Just kidding, they just wanted to hang out with the horses today.

08/11/2024

Ah ha!! I’ve discovered the culprit of flattened obstacles! I present the obstacle destroying pasture dog!

07/30/2024

Lined up and ready to go…somewhere…without me…

This is how you know your horses are well trained. Self-loading babies when there’s 10 acres of green grass and they wanna go for a ride instead.

06/23/2024

Took my girl on our first ride in two months. Between ridiculous working hours and major surgery, we are back on track. It was real hot outside so we took the ponies down to the river to play. I think it’s safe to say that likes the water. (shhh! Don’t tell my surgeon I went for a ride!)

06/16/2024

Put out a Z obstacle and a tire drag today! Cannot wait to play!

06/15/2024

It’s coming along nicely! Two new obstacles in the pasture!

06/14/2024

aka LittleMan finished up his refresher training and headed home today with his family. They were happy to see him but we were sad to let him go. He didn’t want to leave his pasture buddies but I assure you that Old Man is glad to have his head honcho status back! 😂

06/13/2024

06/12/2024

Dual lessons today with a little game of follow the leader and independent riding in the shade! and

06/02/2024

I bought new fly masks and fly boots for the horses and Tango decided to help me unpack the bag.

05/27/2024

Since I’ve been cooped up in the house recovering from surgery I learned how to work with UV resin. Of course I had to make a skull first!

I’m going to do something pretty with the horse hair from all of my lost boys.

05/20/2024

Happy Hills trail rides will be closed starting today until the end of June for major surgery! We will be back to our regularly scheduled fun as soon as the medical professionals and surgeons will allow!

05/12/2024

Katie’s first ride on went absolutely perfect. this one.

05/12/2024

Happy Mother’s Day to all of our favorite moms!

05/12/2024

Huge congratulations to Katie and her very first purchased horse !

I ain’t no expert but I think she’s gonna need a bigger saddle…

05/01/2024

Little man Apache, 3rd horse down, stood his ground against ’s attempts to push him off his feed. Boy, that short little dude packs a double barrel punch and is fast as lightning! Guess my old man is losing his place as the boss!

04/30/2024

Apache is in for 30 days of obstacle and refresher training after being pastured for a few months. Pretty easy going dude, not spooky, lazy, willing to do pretty much anything you ask (except move faster than a walk 😂) he’s gonna be a champ!

04/28/2024

Got this beauty in for 30 days of refresher and obstacle training. He’s willing and brave!

04/28/2024

decided he didn’t wanna be caught today so he got a little roundpen workout. Then he was willing to be caught! We worked on some obstacles then invited Brooklyn down from Triple R Farms to get him started on being “Brooklyn broke.”

04/23/2024

Yesterday between rain storms and vet visits we built our “horse wash” obstacle.

04/22/2024

We said our goodbyes this morning to this amazing horse. My beautiful Whiskers.

04/21/2024

Tonight, say a small prayer for Happy Hills, for tomorrow we say goodbye to our trusty friend.

I have made the decision to put my main man down. He has a strangulating lipoma causing his colic episodes as well as the sudden and severe weight loss. While his pain is intermittent, I cannot bear to allow him suffering of any extent. I don’t want to try and put him through a major surgery to remove the tumor and if it has caused tissue death, with his age, he may not even make it through a surgery.

This was a difficult decision as I always want what’s best for my animals. This is the hardest part of horse ownership, making the hard decisions, living with the “what if” or “did I do enough” and “maybe he could’ve survived a surgery” type thoughts.

He brought happiness and joy to many out on the trail but especially to me. I’ll never forget our adventures, dear boy. Run free and happy over that rainbow bridge.

04/21/2024

It takes patience and proper guidance to get the horse to trust you. It takes communication and willingness to learn to trust the horse. We are always learning and striving for excellence in everything we do as a team.

If you can’t control your horse on the ground there isn’t a chance in hell you’ll control him from the saddle.

04/14/2024

The ponies were curious about the very first obstacle placed in the pasture today!

03/29/2024

So I’ve been putting off brushing this matted, twisted, tangled, mess of ’s mane for well over a year now. I figured I’d just have to cut it all off before I could get a brush through it again.

I’ve always despised detangler sprays because they turn my hands black, sucks the moisture right out of them, makes their hair look greasy and lifeless, and still taking hours to comb through all the hair. I had purchased some conditioner and detangler creams from the Southern Equine Expo with low expectations of it actually working well and not destroying my hands.

I put a little conditioner and a little bit of the detangler creams in a spray bottle, added some water, and sprayed it lightly all over his mane and tail. Within 35 minutes I had the tangles worked out and could seamlessly run a brush through both his mane and tail. His hair is shiny and full, my hands are ridiculously soft, and they aren’t covered in black grease! The best part? I didn’t have to load him up to take him home for a bath!

03/27/2024

Race pony vs river

03/24/2024

Beautiful day for a trail ride with some of the best behaved horses in town.