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Monday 8am - 8pm Tuesday 8am - 8pm Wednesday 8am - 8pm Thursday 8am - 8pm Friday 8am - 8pm Saturday 8am - 7pm Sunday 8am - 7pm

Brook Ledge Farm

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Thomaston, ME
Brook Ledge Farm

Brook Ledge Farm is a boarding facility conveniently located in Midcoast Maine. Beautiful pastures,
(7)

09/23/2024

Barn break up

I had a boarder tell me as she was packing her things to move to another barn- “This feels like a break up…” She couldn’t have hit the nail more on the head!
I remember listening to a song once a long time ago after a break up. It was “Don’t think I don’t think about it” by Darius Rucker. That song instantly popped into my head after she said that.
I’ve spent more sleepless nights thinking about techniques for problem horses, how to address a boarder, what a horses diet should consist of, where a horse could’ve lost that shoe that we’ve still never found, Why Sally can only get on the trailer if Moe goes on first. Laying in bed at night watching Training videos. Watching myself teach a lesson or watching a ride I videotaped of myself riding a training horse. Taking notes the entire video… Going through my phone photos to make more storage and seeing videos and photos of others and their horses, thinking- where are they now? We had so much fun! I really liked that horse. How could he go like that for June but Molly had such a hard time with him? The little things you think we didn’t notice. The observations we took of you and your horse while you were with us. The holidays, the birthdays, the storms we got to spend with your horse. Caring for them as our own.
My point being- Don’t think we don’t think about it. The good, the bad. However you’ve left a barn. If you say, “good riddance” or “I really hope we can stay close” we’re thinking about you and your horse. Your trainer, barn manager or owner really does think about you. More than we’d like to admit. If we don’t check in after you’ve moved… please, don’t be offended. Many times it’s hard to communicate after. The space and emotions we’ve kept for you and your horse will always feel like a loss. Because at the end of the day; we wouldn’t be doing the ‘horse thing’ if we didn’t care.

07/08/2024

A HUGE, ‘Thank you’ to Abby Laukka Hardy! We ran through a few Dressage tests. We even had some non-Dressage riders ride through Dressage tests. They may have converted! Abby helped us to understand her scoring after each test. A great afternoon had by all! Can’t wait for the r next one

06/07/2024

Sun burn…

I have conversations often with equine colleagues in regards to previous barn owners, managers, staff and trainers that we have worked under or with in previous lifetimes. Often they are a conversation in how we got our a** handed to us!! It is often followed with a chuckle. As it was more often than not a hard knock lesson within the equine industry. Which we thank them for.

These equine professionals have put their time in hustling, sweating and trying to learn the trade for next to nothing in return but experience and knowledge. These hours and LITERAL blood, sweat and tears from barn managers and trainers are completely thankless… Once you become a ‘professional’ the theory is that you gain clients that trust you with all of their needs as well as their horses.

A client as a boarder or a student needs to trust in their barn manager or trainers theories, in knowledge and in experience. You come to us for a safe haven for your horse. A place where you expect the farm to understand your horses quirks, make a diet for them, help with guidance as far as farrier, vet, etc. A place where you can be yourself, can treat the farm and staff as a therapist, a library, a friend. You come to us to ask for HELP!!

How often is it that a trainer or barn manager is met with resistance? Disrespect of facility, of time? Very few of us in the equine industry are able to pay our bills and ‘make money’. As staff, owners barn managers, trainers, grooms… Clients ask us to invest more and more into THEM but not us… Thankless is the lesser of any word I can find. Don’t ask for help day in and day out and meet us with complaints or pushback. Don’t BEG us for help then deny it and ask why no one will help you… We not only have to meet your horses needs but yours also. At OUR facility… where in our ‘free time’ we mow fields, tend fence, fix broken things that your horse or you have broken… If you are unwilling to understand our theories or have the time to watch our training in action, find somewhere else to go. Don’t complain! After all this is OUR facility. Boarders and clients will come and go. This is where we have to chosen to make our safe haven. Where we lay our own horses and our head to sleep at night.

Why are some trainers, staff, barn owners, barn managers sometimes short in their answers. Sometimes seem like their way is the only way? Because you as a clients can choose any facility. You can leave whenever you don’t like something. We cannot. Disrespect is made to our facility, our time, our knowledge and we have to suck it up and take it.

Thank you for the hard knocks from previous equine professionals. I thank you for the lessons learned. I thank you for your time. I thank you for your facility. I thank you for being a hard a**. I thank you for standing tall and telling clients to take a hike when needed. I thank you for the thankless job you do. I thank you for sharing your passion with me. I will meet you with respect as you tried so very hard to show me respect.

05/08/2024

Spring is springing! Grass is getting greener and trails are drying up!

04/19/2024

Can you tell we’re happy to be outside?!!

04/18/2024

Well deserved sunny days! ☀️

04/16/2024

Monday was a beautiful day for lessons OUTSIDE!

04/14/2024

Get out of the arenas…

As often as possible. Walking, riding, driving, lunging. Ask your barn manager and trainer where you can safely take your horse. Your horse should always respect what you ask of them regardless of the environment. If they never see it how can they understand what to do?

Practice walking, stopping, backing and turning.

04/10/2024

First tracks in the outdoor 2024!

04/09/2024

One pole a day keeps the vet away!

Set your horse and yourself up for success by starting with one and slowly add more over weeks time. Walking is just as beneficial as any other gait. You’ll find your horse is more aware of where each leg lands and when. We find it helps with top line muscles, spookiness and rider confidence as well!

03/28/2024

The lunge lesson!

My favorite to teach and my favorite to ride myself. Find yourself a school master, bombproof big horse that allows you find yourself. Riding is hard enough. When you subtract all the ‘stuff’ and are able to find your own balance and rhythm; it’s magical!

Lunging isn’t to get the bucks out of your horse… Please, help yourself and your trainer by teaching your horse to lunge so you can be lunged on them. It’s awesome to find yourself on the school horse. It’s even more awesome to find yourself on your horse.

03/14/2024

Good morning!

02/01/2024

A little late for New Years… but I wanted to talk about goals. Riding goals, lunging goals, walking goals, grooming goals- it may be anything personal or horse related. It’s a great idea to think and set goals. Full knowing it’s ok to NOT meet them. But they give you a great idea of what you may want to strive for.
Myself, Erin (Barn Manager and trainer) personally had some seriously huge goals for myself in 2023 and for my ‘adopted kids’ (Jan’s horses).
One was to earn my Bronze medal all in one summer using 2 horses. Well, some things got funky on the way…
BUT ‘Wonder Pony’ (pictured here) helped me earn a 67% and a 65.92% at 1st level and a 62.42% at 2nd level. Helping me get halfway to my Bronze Medal in one summer.
My goal of 300 rides fell short at only 267
My goal for 200 hand walk miles fell short at only 113.50miles
I surprised myself by lunging 180 times and teaching 243 lessons in 365 days.
If any of you have seen the ‘meme’ about horses that has a photo of a bike rider on straight line (what you expect your year with horses to be like) followed by the bike ride that drives over mountains and valleys, water and falls, basically comes out of the year broken and beaten (what your year with horses is actually like) knows horse reality.
2023 personal horse goals dropped me to my knees, broke my heart and showed me how I could shine all at the same time. I spent countless nights crying in the slums and crying tears of joy.
At the end of the year I realized how blessed I was and how hard I worked in one year at our beautiful, very small, pleasure barn. My goals weren’t all matched but keeping track of what I did do was really fun! I realized how creative I could be with my horse exercise programs. I read more horse books, watched instruction videos, participated in online courses, listened to every type of horse podcast and started following more horse related everything than I ever have before.
Though goals have ups and downs, it’s import to see yourself in different lights.
Set goals for yourself this year! Silly, simple goals- any goal is a great goal. You’ll surprise yourself as to what you can achieve!! And most importantly have fun with your horse. Through it all, I sure did have a lot of fun in 2023!

01/02/2024

Retirement may mean ‘out of work’. However, in order to stay out of trouble and respectful to handlers a horse needs to keep its mind active. For some that may mean hand walks or ride walks to new places. For others it may mean liberty or ground work. Find what suits your horses mind to stay young. After years of daily work under saddle or harness, it is a hard shift to complete retirement and be untouched. Within retirement your horse will still need to be seen by the vet and farrier. Help them by helping your horse stay meantlly available to be safe and respectful.

12/30/2023

Trying to steal your older brothers clothing… it’s just a little large through the shoulders 😂

12/28/2023

Some times I think the hardest part of horse training is knowing when to push and when to step back. When things get sticky in training ask the horse, “what can you do for me?” I think you’ll find less is more. Can you trust me to keep it simple? Can you walk, can you trot, can you canter? Contact, impulsion, throughness all comes over time. A long long time… A long time of asking the same simple questions each workout. If those get answered ‘correctly’ consistently- then add just one more question each ride. You’re teaching your horse each time you take them out- like it or not. It’s ok to ‘backtrack’ and start again to keep it simple and comprehensive.

12/20/2023

A beautiful day after a crazy storm. Lessons with the indoor arena doors open!

Address

26 Woodledge Lane
Thomaston, ME
04861

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 8pm
Tuesday	8am - 8pm
Wednesday	8am - 8pm
Thursday	8am - 8pm
Friday	8am - 8pm
Saturday	8am - 7pm
Sunday	8am - 7pm

Telephone

+12075427307

Website

http://www.brookledgefarm.com/

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