Heartsong Stables

11/11/2023

This is a PSA for every boarder:

If a barn worker or a groom mentions a behavior your horse is exhibiting that’s scaring them, or putting people at risk, believe them.

More importantly: fix the problem.

These people are up earlier than us, and out later than us to take care of our pets. They’re here on weekends and holidays. They’re here when they’re sick.

They are paid little, and recognized even less.

They’re on the front lines during snow storms, sick care, and just flat never ending stall cleaning.

If you hear from a groom, or a farrier, or another boarder about your horse making already long days even longer, please take ownership of the problem.

A complaint doesn’t mean they hate your horse. It doesn’t mean they want you to leave or are going to bad mouth you. It means they need help.

At the end of the day, your horse is your responsibility. Listen to the grooms around them, and if something needs to be trained or a scenario changed, do it!

Take time to ask what is going on. Don’t be the one doing the talking. Listen!

What could you do with your horse to make things better? Something that seems trivial to you could be setting their day back 20 minutes. Multiply that by 20 other horses… You get the picture.

So if you hear comments about something you could change for the better, try your best to do it.

We would be nowhere without these people in our lives to care for our horses. Don’t take them for granted. 🩷

09/05/2023

“Manners”

You can tell much about the level of someone’s basic horsemanship by the way their horses lead.

A horse should stay next to you, not pull you or be dragged by you. A horse should respect your space, and not crowd against you, maybe step on your feet.

This is known as “having manners.” A horse that won’t lead is like a dog that jumps up onto furniture, it hasn’t been taught right from wrong.

I recently read something by a well respected western clinician. He said, “People want their horses to love them so much that they think they are being mean if they create boundaries.”

Horses weigh half a ton. They can easily hurt a puny human if they lack manners and boundaries, Heck, they can easily hurt us if they DO have manners.

People who treat horses as though they were some sort of fuzzy pets can create animals that can do a lot of damage. Creating boundaries doesn’t mean whipping and beating, but it does require that when you say “no” you mean “no.”

Standing at the mounting block, standing for the farrier, picking up its hooves, letting itself get bridled, so many basics that make the difference between a mannerly horse and one that shoves you around.

As the clinician said, “letting a horse walk all over you won’t make him love you more.”

09/01/2023

06/19/2022

04/17/2022

It was a beautiful weekend for riding and for me to work a young horse.

04/02/2022

Not a joke...

Have you ever wondered why you can have a 15 acre field and part of it is chewed down to nubs and the other part has grass a hand high, But your horse is constantly grazing in the chewed down part?

Grass 6 inches and taller has less sugars than grass under 6 inches.

For every inch drop below 6 inches, the fructan (sugar) content rises.

Grass under 6 inches is stressed like it's a Monday morning with a project deadline. It uses sugar to repair itself.

Stop mowing your fields short.

Stop grazing your chubbys on chewed down grass. (this is why grazing muzzles are so touted...they keep the horse from being able to get much short grass)

(We aren't saying let your fields be 3 feet tall, by the way. The optimal thing to do is keep them 6-8 inches tall and graze them in small areas there)

02/21/2022

Mag flakes!

02/21/2022

02/21/2022

It’s arena leveling and mag flakes day. The sand is so packed and hilled up near the outside we’re using the box blade to break it up and level it along with the rake.

01/29/2022

Almost done! Pictures will be going up. I also need to add a few comfy chairs and a bookshelf.

01/25/2022

Since I had a calamity day today we took advantage and got more work done in the tack room!

01/23/2022

We’ve been working on the tack room renovation for a few weeks. Heading into the home stretch! Before and work in progress pics included.

01/15/2022

Working on the tack room!

01/01/2022

Happy New Year from Heartsong Stables! New year, new skills for Rhiannon.

11/24/2021

We’ve been busy adding some new gates and fencing and fixing the old.

11/22/2021

It’s mud season! Indoor recess made possible by having a big indoor arena. 😁👍

11/14/2021

Hi! Welcome to Heartsong Stables! This has been a lifelong dream for us and to realize it is amazing!