Hooves and Paws

11/03/2023

It's a beautiful morning! Have a great Friday everyone!

07/24/2023

We have 2 stalls available, contact Beth at 5708984547.

05/19/2023

Last call for our beginners weekend camp in June. The dates are June 17th & 18th from 10-3. Call 5708984547 to reserve your spot!

04/26/2023

Dont forget to contact April to join us for this fun event. No horse necessary for the first session!!

04/24/2023

Looking for riding lesson instructor, please call 5708984547.

03/29/2023

Come and join us for a super fun day with April!!

03/12/2023

This.... we love them all, but we are 2 people and they deserve more

Full Board Isn't Full Service

A friend asked me to write this a while ago..and I have been thinking on it for several months. So here is a go.

Full board Isn't full board. The average boarding farm with anywhere from 5 to 40 boarders is so much work. Just the daily grind of getting up, feeding, haying, checking water takes up a significant amount of time. Stalls, another massive chunk, then repeat pm feed.

Then you want the boarding farm to do blankets ( something I refuse to do. I worked for a QH trainer in the 90s and spent hrs every morning and night reblanketing all the horses under lights ...cured me ) , meds, you want night check. You want their weight and physical appearance monitored through their blankets.

Now all the extras : tackroom swept, aisle perfect, walls hosed down, no rodents, cobwebs , working washrack with drain that never clogs...

Then perfectly manacured fields , mowed, fertilized, weedwacking. Fences repairs etc....

Board or bored...when your horse is in the stall more for inclement weather , you need to get there to exercise it and prevent colic ( motion is lotion for guts and joints ! ). Full board doesnt cover checking every single inch of the horse ( though most of us do take a quick look, i have trained myself to look at all 4 legs both side every day ) for bumps, bruises, shoes with sprung heels , mysterious fungus that appears on its flank. Owners need to be present, take responsibility for their own horse, make coming out to groom that retired horse on a schedule....and always always be accessible for emergencies.

When you see something needs done, just do it instead of complaining about it. We have all seen the posts about the costs of boarding and basically, if you are paying less than $1000/ month, someone is subsidizing your board. So pick up a rake, a broom, be present. Run a hose, scrub the tub. Triple check your horse. Check on the horse whose owner is ill ( with their permission ) . Leave things better than they were.
Many barns have a person or 2 that randomly helps with some stalls....I guarantee you the barn owner appreciates that person. I used to have a students father who would clean many stalls while his daughter rode. I know I'll never forget him.

Holidays....most barns have 1 of 2 ways of thinking. 1. Don't come out at all. 2. If you do come out, plan to help with feeding, haying, watering turnout and stalls. I can speak from personal experience...I havent had a holiday off since pre 2001 except for 1 Christmas, an exceptional student did all the work as my gift. I'll never forget that act of kindness. Nurses get double time for major holidays ( and still get to take off a day for Christmas , heck even the local convenience store pays double or time and half on major holidays) , barn owners get nothing, most of the time not even a thank you... I recall a colleague who boarded horses ( and of course taught lessons, trained horses, sold horses and ran shows because boarding doesnt pay the bills ) saying one day she realized her life was like the movie Ground Hog Day....and that she has done the same thing every morning every night for decades. Her farm went up for sale and she now boards her own horses.

Education. Do you know what horses diseases are, understand deworming, know what ailments to watch out for. When should the vet be called ? Can you wrap legs properly, handle an abscess, recognize fungus, spot a colic ? If not, pick up a book, watch some videos. Horse ownership means you love horses and you want to know everything about them.

Anyway...full care isn't day care you drop your "kid " off too and never pick them up from again. Be present. Your horse will appreciate the attention and the barn owner will feel relief that you are watching out for your horse.

3/27/23 update. 212,000 views. 1400 shares. And I have gotten a few nasty comments. I cannot understand the nastiness . Bringing awareness is a good thing. If it doesnt apply to you , then move on. Every barn has boundaries. Apparently some people are mad that I wont do blankets...not sure why, as none of them board with me ! Boundaries are made out of clarity and self respect. Every barn , I hope , has rules and boundaries ! Best wishes to all . Horses are my first and longest love.

( This post was made to bring awareness. At least in my area, boarding barns are becoming fewer to non existent. If we want them to stay, we must change . I have seen mostly positivity come from this...i particularly loved the person who shared it and wrote " I go a bit the other way . I try to help in some way every day that I am at the barn "
I , of course, want all the horses in my care to have good, healthy lives too. I would like to think we all do. )

03/09/2023

***SOLD***
1999 Cotner Horse Trailer FOR SALE!
New Tires including the spare. Very well taken care of and clean (as far as dents and rust) inside and out. Floor is in GREAT shape. Please contact Beth at 570-898-4547

02/15/2023

02/06/2023

We will be offering weekend camps on the following dates:
April 22nd and 23rd
June 17th and 18th
Please call 5708984547

01/02/2023

ISO part-time help, weekends are a must, and time during the work week will vary depending on weather. Please call 5708984547 OR come see us!!

12/28/2022

Beautiful sky tonight!!! 🤩❤️😍

12/15/2022

We will be closed today, stay safe everyone!

12/05/2022

We have a few openings in our lesson program English or Western. Please contact us at 5708984547 if interested!

11/22/2022

10/12/2022

😁😁😁

10/12/2022

Would you look at that BUTT!!! 🤩🤩❤️

10/12/2022

We are so proud of what we have accomplished with our love and care... this is what around one year with us looks like. LOOKING GOOD SAMMY 🤩

10/05/2022

Beautiful night!!!

10/03/2022

We have 2 12x12 stalls with automatic waters to offer. Full board includes daily cleaning and turnout, Tribute feed, indoor and outdoor arenas, wash stall, tack room, laundry room, trails, and hay bins in each pasture. Our barn a heated full kitchen with lounge area and bathroom. Please message us with any questions or interest.

09/27/2022

Beautiful

09/24/2022

We have 2 stalls available for full care. Call 5708984547

09/24/2022

We have a few spots open for english and western riding lessons. Call 5708984547

08/20/2022

Good Morning!!!

08/15/2022

08/08/2022

We are VERY excited to welcome Lon Pyers to our teaching team!!!

08/08/2022

We are VERY excited to welcome Amber Benjamin to our teaching team!

08/01/2022

We are excited to announce that we are holding a Vaulting Clinic September 10th starting at 5 p.m. The clinic cost is $60 and is a 2 hour clinic that actively involves all participants. We will have 1 horse, and 1 vaulting barrel. The entire group will be split in several groups. Each group will be either doing exercises on the barrel or on the horse. Participants will need to wear soft sole shoes, leggings and loose fitting clothes.
We have 10 spots to fill so call us at 5708984547 to reserve your spot.

07/26/2022

ISO: Enthusiastic Western Riding Instructor for our rapidly growing lesson program. Please PM or call us if interested 😁

07/14/2022

200x200 outdoor arena almost complete!

07/12/2022

Potter is settling into his new role as a lesson horse just fine 😁❤️

07/01/2022

We have a few spots open for Pony camp July 11th through the 15th. Anyone is interested please contact me. Thank you

06/30/2022

Sultan! Such a SWEET boy, we are lucky to have him join our lesson program. Chloe is definitely enjoying him! ❤️❤️

06/27/2022

So MANY positive changes around here in the the last month and a half.... we are so happy and excited for more to come!

06/27/2022

So... this is getting done little by little! We need to cut the posts to size, levele the dirt, put up the railing, get the footing and our 150'x200' outdoor arena will be complete!!!!

06/27/2022

Can't wait to see it finished!! 🤩

06/27/2022

SO EXCITING!!!