Mountain View Stables - MVS

07/07/2024

Bath time for The Giants! 🥰❣️

07/07/2024

My thoughtful husband has surprised me with an early birthday gift! Woohoo! ‼️❣️

06/25/2024

❣️The Saga That is Our Sweet and Handsome Lex❣️

1. Broken Jaw Bone & Subsequent Surgeries 😢($$$$)
* When a yearling (11 months old, actually), he got kicked in the jaw at MVS by a visiting mare. (Should never have happened, but that’s a long story I won’t tell here especially since it happened on someone else’s watch, so to speak.)
* Without x-rays, the initial treatment plan for that injury included antibiotics and anti-inflammatories plus a wait-and-see re: the response and level of healing.
* Once it became clear that the injury was more involved than initially hoped, he was hauled for x-rays then hauled again for TWO surgeries to repair a broken jawbone. 😭
* At almost two years after the surgeries, he still has shrapnel that occasionally works it way out of the spot of injury.

2. Persistent Respiratory Issues ($$$ or $$$$ collectively)
* As a two-year-old (20 month old, actually), he experienced persistent respiratory issues that weren’t responding to multiple and differing strengths of antibiotics. 😢 So, he was hauled to have an endoscopy, during which no additional problems were noted, thankfully! Whew!!! 👏
* The respiratory infection finally cleared up after treatment with an even stronger antibiotic.

3. Shy Testicles 🤣😂🤣 ($$$$)
* Hauled for a vet visit to potentially geld but the “goods” that were previously visible were gone. (Note to self and advice to others: Even if you previously saw the boy’s “goods,” check to make sure they’re still there before hauling him to the vet to be gelded. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣)
* Waited months to see if the goods would reappear/appear. No such luck. 😏
* Officially assumed to be a bilateral cryptorchid. Appointment made for surgery.
* Hauled for the pre-op consult and potential surgery. The vet could neither FEEL (via physical exam) nor SEE (via ultrasound) the undescended testicles, so blood was drawn to be tested to determine if testicular tissue was indeed present. Hauled back home to await results from lab.
* Lab results indicated that the tissue in question was present. Referred to Auburn for laparoscopic surgery to avoid a more invasive abdominal surgery.
* Hauled to Auburn’s Large Animal Teaching Hospital today and dropped off to have surgery either tomorrow or Wednesday. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
* To be continued. 🤔

06/22/2024

June 13, Farm Camp Day #4

06/19/2024

Little Luna engaged in a fight with the pole fencing yesterday, and the horizontal pole won. 😢😔
I’m thankful for our awesome barn manager, Hannah, for getting those legs medicated and wrapped to address the swelling! ❣️

06/13/2024

MVS Farm Camp Day 3!

06/12/2024

2024 MVS Farm Camp Day #2‼️

06/11/2024

2024 MVS Farm Camp Day #1‼️

06/05/2024

We’re so excited about our “Farm Camp” Day Camp next week!! ‼️ And, we have a few more spots open! ‼️ See info below. 🐴🐭🐰🦊🐸🦉🐝🦇🪱🦋🐛🐞🪰🐢🕷🦎🐾🌳🪵🌿🍄🌾🌼🐎🌸🍀🪺🐀🪶🐍🐜🐦🐌🪲🐈‍⬛🦝

Mountain View Stables in Pinson, Alabama will be offering an Outdoor “Farm Camp” on June 10 - 13, Monday - Thursday, from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm.
The theme for the week is “Fun on the Farm.” Activities will include, but will not be limited to, outdoor environmental exploration and education; horse-related activities including safety, grooming, and horseback riding; crafts; music; outdoor & indoor games; and community building. While the camp is onsite at a horse farm, the main focus will be environmental with horse-related activities incorporated into each day. Camp activities will be most appropriate for children ages 9 - 12. However, requests can be made for an age exception, especially for a sibling of a camper. Approval of an age exception request will be at the sole discretion of the camp director and owner of MVS.

The camp fee is $200 per child. For an additional fee, arrangements can be made for early drop-off or late pickup before and after camp hours if parents absolutely need to drop off early or pickup a bit past 3:00 pm.

Campers will need bring a bagged/box lunch each day, but snacks and drinks will be provided throughout each day.

Text 2052596054 for more information.

04/17/2024

Dropped by ONLY to pickup a saddle I previously left for repair. Walked out with the saddle PLUS eight other pieces of tack! 🤷🏻‍♀️ Stopping by a tack store IS risky business! 🤣
(Of course, I want at least one of everything made and sold by Valley Head Saddlery, so leaving with only eight unexpected items is pretty good. Hahaha!)

04/14/2024

Serenity at MVS’s Meditation Point! 🌼🦋🌻🍀🌲🐝🌎🐛🌳🦎🦉🍄🐜🦗🐌🦠🦞🪻🪱🪲🕷️🐿️🕸️🌿🍃💧🌱🐢🐞🌸

04/08/2024

For Hilary Williamson! 🤣😂🤣
Thanks for sharing, Lisa Townes Goodwin!! 👏🥰

04/08/2024

I LOVE our barn manager’s sense of humor in reply to my autocorrect mishap. 🤣🥰😂🥰

04/07/2024

Caught it blooming this year!
Andersonglossum virginianum (Wild Comfrey. Also called Blue Houndstongue)

04/04/2024

Sweet Betsy Trillium (Trillium cuneatum)! Just one of the many native plants popping up on property at MVS!

03/20/2024

It started as a bridle path trim… 🤣😂🤣

03/20/2024

Lex and Jupiter giving the stink eye after witnessing the hard keepers coming in for their second feeding of the day. They simply cannot understand why they are not invited to the party. 🤷🏻‍♀️😊🤣

03/20/2024

My all-natural, handsome Mocha and I enjoyed a leisurely ride today.❣️ He is such a good boy! 🥰

03/13/2024

03/07/2024

SAVE THE DATE! We set the 2024 Fall Festival date this past November! ❣️👏 Yesterday, when adding church-related events to my calendar during a church planning meeting, I saw the festival on my calendar and thought it was a good time to start reminding folks to save the date for this MVS-related event! 🥰❣️🚜🐴🐎🧑‍🌾👩‍🌾👨‍🌾 We hope you’ll save the date and join us for the fun!🤞🏼

02/03/2024

A little ride time today at MVS!

01/21/2024

Caring for livestock in freezing temps is certainly not for the faint of heart! 🙏🏼👏❣️‼️❄️🩵

Here’s to the owners who are outside every couple of hours to monitor their horses’ health in these frigid temps.

Here’s to the owners who are checking waterers for ice. Here’s to the owners who are freezing their fingers to hang up their hose, or bringing hoses inside their house to keep from freezing.

Here’s to the owners switching blankets, double blanketing, or cleaning out shelters for their unblanketed horses. Here’s to the owners who are worried if their horse is staying warm enough with or without their blanket.

Here’s to the owners who are throwing countless flakes of loose hay out while making sure the round bale feeders don’t go empty.

Here’s to the owners praying that equipment starts, and hydraulics work smoothly. Here’s to the owners who figure it out when the equipment fails you.

Here’s to the messy mud room, filled with winter bibs, charged heated vests, boot dryers plugged in, and headlamps charged. Here’s to the countless pairs of gloves you have to swap out each time you venture outside.

Here’s to the rigorous training schedules, riding lessons, and busy barn coming to a halt. Here’s to putting the health of the animal’s first.

Here’s to the part of horse management that isn’t so glamorous. Thank you for all you are doing for the safety and wellbeing of your horses during this time.

Here’s to all of us ❄️🩵

01/04/2024

Do ya think it was cold at the farm yesterday morning? 🥶

01/02/2024

I took a momentary break from barn chores to check a text message, and this is what happened. 😂🤦🏻‍♀️❣️😽

12/21/2023

Our new kid on the block, Jury, is an expressive sweetheart!

12/19/2023

A pack horse librarian delivering books in rural Kentucky in 1938. During the Great Depression, the Pack Horse Library Project was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program in which the librarians, who were often called "book women" or "book ladies," delivered books to remote parts of Appalachia.

To share their inspiring stories with kids, we recommend "That Book Woman" for ages 4 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/that-book-woman) and "Down Cut Shin Creek: The Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky" for ages 8 and up (https://amzn.to/3N8WAtf) 🙂

For adult readers, there are also several excellent historical fiction novels about these determined librarians: "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek" (https://amzn.to/47ZbdHz), its sequel "The Book Woman's Daughter" (https://amzn.to/3RqH6Cn), and "The Giver of Stars" (https://amzn.to/4a0Ym9A)

11/25/2023

😂🤣

11/23/2023

❣️