Star City Farm

06/03/2024

Bridgers Sale video! He sells April 6th at the Heber Valley Horse Sales in Heber lot #5. Dont miss out on this guy. If you can’t be there that weekend be sure to register to phone bid! He will sale at 11am.

Meet Bridger: Your Ultimate Family-Friendly Companion!
🌟 Registered & Jet Black 🌟
🐴 Bridger, the 12-year-old Quarter Horse gelding, redefines family-friendly equine excellence!
✨ Easy Rider Extraordinaire: Slow and gentle, Bridger is the epitome of beginner-friendly riding, ensuring a seamless experience for riders of all ages.
✨ Trail Companion: Trustworthy on trails, Bridger is your go-to horse for family adventures, welcoming riders with varying skill levels.
✨ Ranch-Ready Reliability: With a solid build, Bridger provides a secure and comfortable ride, making him the perfect partner for ranching and trail escapades.
✨ Kid-Approved 4H Star: Bridger's patient nature mix with his training and expertise in all 4H events it makes him the ideal choice for kids' 4H activities, turning every equestrian experience into a joyous adventure.
🌟 Versatile, Vibrant, and Virtually Perfect!

10/10/2023

PERFECT Gentle Kids Mare Short And Stocky

$10,000.00 PERFECT Gentle Kids Mare Short And Stocky for sale in Spanish Fork, UT on KSL Classifieds. View a wide selection of Horses and other great items on KSL Classifieds.

05/09/2023

Helpful explanation of spot on numbers

"I didn't think riding lessons would cost that much..."
Well. We wish it didn't. But, if you don't own your own horse and you ride a school horse (horse owned by a riding barn), there is a harsh reality behind the expenses.

As the cost of living for everyone increases, our horses are no exception to that. The days of $5 60lb good quality hay bales is over. Grain is no longer $15 per 50lb bag. So how much does it actually cost today (in 2023, in North East America)?

Let's break it down...
Hay $12 per 40lb bale - 1 bale / day = $360 / month (no access to pasture + free choice hay)
Grain - $30 / bag - 1 bag / week = $120 / month
Bedding - $7 / bag - 3 bags / week = $84 / month

(For reference, these numbers used to be $5 / bale, $15 / bag, $5 / bag )

So far, for just basic supplies for your horse we are at $564 (in comparison to 5 years ago it being $270), excluding any labor costs or facility costs....let's keep going.

Your stall fee (mortgage/rental) will run $350 / month on the low end (with an indoor arena). I have seen dry stall fees cost as much as $500 as well.

The following fees would be divided amongst horses on the property...

Insurance $50 / month
Manure removal / arena/facility maintenance $50 / month on the low end
Utilities $75 / month

Without labor, we are at $1,089.00

Let's say your horse gets a total of thirty minutes of care each day (turn in, turn out, stall cleaning, water bucket refills/cleaning). That 30 minutes probably doesn't include blanket changes or any additional services aside from general care.

Good barn help will not get out of bed for anything less than $20 / hour, so totaling per month your horse would cost $300 per month, assuming your horse didn't recieve more than 30 minutes of care each day. If you run your facility plus teach, you can't be in 2 places at once, so some help is necessary, especially if you don't cut corners in your care.

We are now at $1389.00

We have not accounted for vetting, farrier, or supplements. Let's do that now.

Farrier - $250 every 5 weeks (low end) so let's call it $200 every month (my personal farrier charges $275-325 for 4 shoes, but to keep Facebook from resulting in uproar over expensive shoeing costs - I've estimated it low)
Vet - assuming your horse is healthy annually you would spend maybe $700 so let's say $60 per month if divided
Supplements - that tried and true schoolmaster you ride probably needs some joint support, so let's buy a lower end joint supplement at $50 / month

We added an additional $310.

Your school horse now costs $1,699.00 per month, and there are many more costs associated (like your tack, equipment, tractor, trucks, trailers, etc)

Okay. So how does this school horse pay for himself? Let's say the horse does two 1 hour lessons per day, 5 days a week. That means the horse can produce income 40 hours out of the month. To break EVEN (theoretically, because any horse owner knows the pricing listed above isn't even as comprehensive as it should be) you would need to make sure the horse worked twice a day, 5 days a week, and charge $42.50 per lesson.
Realistically, If you do not overwork your school horse, the horse is probably working 30 hours per month, which would bring us to having to charge $60 per one hour lesson to break even.
But wait....Our instructor hasn't even gotten paid yet! So let's give them $20 per hour, which of course is low. And for reference, that would mean your instructor makes $600 per month.
Now we're at $80 per lesson.

So when you call any facility, and their lesson price is $80 or less, think of this cost break down!
We don't do this for money. We do it because we love to share our passion with the next generation of riders. We wish this weren't the case financially, like the rest of America and how the economy is. We want so badly to have horses be affordable for everyone, but these are the real, true, uncensored costs of owning a horse today. If riding schools don't charge what they need to in order to stay afloat, I fear one day the horse industry will not have school horses, and the only people who will be able to ride are the ones that can afford horse ownership outright, and then pay for lessons on top of that.

*disclaimer* these prices are based on our experience of pricing in the industry. Pricing may vary based on care and diet provided to horse, area of the country, and specific horse requirements. This pricing is assuming the horse is receiving top level but basic care (free choice hay, quality grain, etc). There may be cheaper options available and there may be more expensive options available. I'm sure there will be many comments that say "those are low" or "those prices are high". We are happy to share receipts as these are the legitimate prices we pay!

11/07/2023

Reminder to bring insulated water bottles to class full of ice water. We have water breaks every 15 minutes. Right when you get there, after your done saddling and brushing, half way through your riding portion and again after dismounting. Sunscreen is also a good idea with this bright beautiful sun shining on us!

18/06/2023

We are growing, thanks to our amazing students! We are looking to hire an additional instructor. Are you an experienced horse rider with a passion for sharing your skills with others? We are seeking a riding lesson instructor to join our team at Star City Farm Horse Riding Academy in Spanish Fork. We are a private facility focused solely on lessons. We looking to hire someone part time, 2-3 days a week in the afternoons for 6 hours give or take.
The successful candidate will have a strong background in western riding techniques and be able to teach students of all ages and beginner to intmediate lesson levels.
Responsibilities will include designing and implementing lesson plans, maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for students, be extremely positive and outgoing, and help maintain the health and well-being of the horses used in the program.
If you have a strong work ethic and a love for horses, we encourage you to apply for this exciting opportunity.
Qualified candidates will have a minimum of 3 years of showing or rodeoing, experience in training horses successfully, minimum age of 18 and be able to provide references upon request.
Must be able to commit to a year contract of teaching and be a very self motivated and reliable person. We are not looking for someone wanting a pass through job, but someone who wants to build a career with us and want the opportunity to work more and turn into full time. Email resume to [email protected]

09/06/2023

If you’re ready to enroll in riding lessons message us today we just got a few openings! 🐎🐴

05/06/2023

ITS THAT TIME AGAIN! Star City Farm Annual Summer Party! All current students are invited to come to the barn to eat food and play games. We hope this gives them a chance to meet other students and make friends to play with for the summer! Water games will be played- no horsey attire needed. See you there students!

29/05/2023

Happy Memorial Day, we are so privileged to be able to honor and remember those who have died for our county today. Even all the horses who’s lives have been lost fighting for our freedom. We will see you at lessons today! Our flag work starts this month so that we are able to carry the big flag on our horses for the 4th of July week ❤️💙🤍

29/05/2023

Recent studies conducted by the Institute of Heart-Math provide a clue to explain the two-way ′′healing′′ that occurs when we're close to horses.
According to researchers, the heart has an electromagnetic field larger than the brain: a magnetometer can measure the energy field of the heart that radiates from 2.4 meters to 3 meters around the human body.
While this is certainly significant, perhaps more impressive than the electromagnetic field projected by the heart of a horse is five times larger than that of a human being (imagine an electromagnetic sphere around the horse) and it can influence straight into our own heart rate.
Horses are also likely to have what science has identified as a "coherent′′ heart rate (heart rate pattern) that explains why we can feel better when we're close to them. Studies have found a coherent heart pattern or HRV to be a solid measure of well-being and consistent with emotional states of calm and joy-that is, we exhibit such patterns when we feel positive emotions.
A coherent heart pattern is indicative of a system that can recover and adapt to stressful situations very efficiently. Many times, we just need to be in the presence of horses to feel a sense of well-being and peace.
In fact, research shows that people experience many physiological benefits by interacting with horses, including lower blood pressure and heart rate, higher beta-endorphins (neurotransmitters acting as pain suppressors), decreased stress levels, decreased feelings of anger, hostility, tension and anxiety, better social working; and greater feelings of empowerment, confidence, patience and self-efficacy.

By: Alejandro Pascual Puig
CEO en E&C CONSULTING CEO en E&C CONSULTING
The artist is Valerie Eric. The copyright holder is Sarah Barnes, HeartMath certified practitioner. The image was inspired following a riding lesson on heart connection.

24/05/2023

If you haven’t herd of the legend Penny yet listen up! Penny is back at our place to be sold. We owned her for years and but last two years a little 7 year old girl has owned her. She is ready for her next home and we are searching for a forever home! We so badly wish we could keep her but she’s already done years in our lesson program and it wouldn’t be fair to put her back in, she needs her own girl ❤️. She is very well trained with lots of professional training, has all the buttons (so looking for a someone who knows how to ride), phenomenal trail horse-trust her with anyone on trails, would be a perfect 4-h horse, she is not fast- slow like a western pleasure horse, tiny trot and smoothest lope I’ve ever seen on a horse. If you want to be her new owner reach out to us, she won’t last long and we are offering her first to our riders and followers before officially listing her online! She is 9 years old and 14 hands tall. We will be picky about home placement.

01/05/2023

MEDIEVAL MAY! This month we are focusing on Medieval horseback games! We have axe throwing, archery, jousting and sword lancing. Each week this month you’ll get to learn a new one. This will require a lot of strength, balance, coordination, multitasking and communication with your horse. Most require a drop or partial dropping of the reins. It’s a good thing we have been working on neck reining and steering with leg pressures in our previous months to work up to this! But don’t worry if you aren’t quite that far your instructor can lead your horse if needed. We have been so excited to introduce this new unit to you guys and your instructors have done a great job in the prior months preparing you for something that takes this much coordination and trust with your horse! Ps: don’t stress about jousting I promise we won’t be knocking each other off of our horse 😅

24/04/2023

Sometimes while learning something new we get discouraged, frustrated or upset. Learning new things is tricky and can be hard- that’s totally normal. Unfortunately in horse riding it’s easy to be able to blame the horse for something that may be going wrong. “They’re lazy, they’re not listening, they’re being bad, they’re naughty” But let me inform you that we do not accept that here! We do not blame our horse for anything or talk negative about them. It’s an honor and privilege to ride these horses. The horses did not choose this job, and we only say kind things to them while they kindly “put up with us” learning to become true horsemen and horsewomen on their back.

If your questioning your horse maybe stop and think, “who has more training me or this horse?” (Hint:it’s the horse)“Do I think they’d do this if my professional instructor were riding them?” (Hint: 98% of the time the answer is no because the problem isn’t the horse it’s the rider)
If something arises you are having trouble with be sure to say something, that’s why we are here, to help you! When you do say something be sure to frame it in a grateful and positive way about your horse. Try: “I seem to be struggling to keep my horse moving forward, is there something my hands or body are doing to miscommunicate what I want?” “I feel myself kicking maybe more than I should be, is there I better way to show them what I want?” “I’m having trouble showing them what I want clearly, what can I do to communicate to them better?” “My horse seems to think I want him to (insert struggle here), what is my body doing wrong to tell him that?” Riding horses is about team work, it’s a beautiful and delicate dance. You might be the “male/leader” in the dance but it’s an effortless team moving and communicating TOGETHER. As soon as you blame the horse you will loose your horses sense of trust and your own ability to mentally grow because taking accountability for your own mistakes helps you improve where as blaming your horse does not. If you forget our instructor will help remind you “Your horse is a saint and you are just learning, thank them for keeping you safe.”

17/04/2023

We have a few adult class openings right now! Reach out to enroll. We promise you’ll love it, friends, a work out and learning a new things all while commuting with a 1200lb animal that’s very therapeutic!

02/04/2023

STUDENTS: Reminder no lessons at all this coming week for SPRING BREAK! We hope everyone enjoyed their Easter lesson last week and has a great break. See you in a week!

27/03/2023

The 2023 Diamond Fork Riding Club Winter Series Queen Contest
Applications can be found here: https://www.diamondforkridingclub.com/buckaroo-queen-contest/

14/03/2023

Horse shopping after 10+ years of riding one horse and a 2+ year hiatus???
🛑✋ WHOA

I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve seen the same situation play out …  an adult amateur woman spends years if not decades, riding their heart horse. It’s magical and they go places and do all the things. In the horse’s old age, they slow down a little bit, but the owner still sees themselve as a rider and a horse person.
Eventually, their lifetime horse passes away. Maybe they take a break from horses for a little bit. Or maybe the last couple years of that horse’s life it wasn’t rideable. 
They are a little rusty, but decide to get back into it- it’s time to buy another horse.
It RARELY goes well!!!!!!!
It doesn’t seem to matter how nice the horse is that they buy- it’s not their old horse that they rode for a decade. The reality hits that they don’t actually know how to ride “horses”- they knew how to ride “horse “. Singular.
Their confidence gets rocked hard. They make stupid mistakes. They make their new horse nervous and things go poorly. But they wanted this, so it’s hard to admit they made a mistake. They cowgirl up and try to make it work…. and get hurt.

If you find yourself in the first half of this story, DO NOT go buy a new horse…. Go take lessons. Ride some school horses for a good year. Lease one. Ride as many different ones as you can. Ride the lazy ones, the spicy ones, the plugs and the performers. Whatever horse you buy next is going to probably be greener than the 20 year old you lost, so you should prepare yourself. Boost your skill and confidence level before searching for your next heart horse. The wait is worth it, and skill you build will be a gift for your next horse.

09/03/2023

Just a reminder on our “handle with care” PARENTS: please feel free to reach out and let us know to “handle with care”. Horses are extremely therapeutic and can help heal in ways you can’t imagine. If your child needs a lesson that’s less about the actual lesson and more about the connection with the horse and friends so they have support, that’s okay. We are here to help you raise strong, brave and kind children so sometimes pushing them to learn a new thing that day when they’ve had a hard time at home might not be what’s best for them. Maybe that lesson for them will look more like bonding with their horse and having fun giving them a safe place to just enjoy and relax. We are here for you and we are here for your children! Shoot is a text anytime you need and we will be sure they are met with extra support and softness that day ❤️ We love our students and want to help them succeed in life not just in their lesson. Horse riding lessons are about so much more than just learning how to ride, although we are pretty good at teaching that as well 🥰

07/03/2023

“When do we learn to gallop?” Is a question we sometimes get asked by students. Unfortunately there is a huge misconception on galloping. It isn’t a gate that is ever typically taught as it isn’t a gate that 99% of riders will ever do. Many beginner students think gallop is a lope (or canter for English terminology) but faster. It’s not. It’s a completely different speed, a four beat gate. Also most arenas can not safety accommodate a gallop, you’d have to learn on a race track where the horse has the room to safely get up into a gallop and safely come back down from a gallop. And unless you are going to be a jockey on a race track (or occasionally in big pen barrel races on the way home) it isn’t something that’s ever going to happen in your horse career. So no, we do not ever teach a gallop, for safety and practicality. Once advanced enough and you own your own horse we do teach you to two point at a high speed lope (we call them speedy laps) if you’re training for barrel racing.

02/03/2023

How long have you been riding? Great read!

If you’re a beginner remember being good at something takes hundreds and hundreds, thousands really, of hours. Horse riding is no exception, actually if anything I would tell you it’s harder and more complex than any other sport or hobby. You will be communicating with a 1200lb animal all while trying to learn how to properly ride. So don’t give up or get discouraged, just ride more! Realize you will need hundreds of hours not a few dozen rides.

02/03/2023

Miss. Abbie and Havanna racing home from barrels this weekend. They did so great for their first official run together! The best days are spent with horses and great friends ❤️. This week in lessons we are practicing figure 8s. Figure 8s are a great thing to learn for preparing a horse and rider for barrels or reining patterns. It’s also a perfect way to work on being able to maneuver your horse in a round circle, and practice simple and flying changes. Or if you aren’t quite to that level figure 8s are great for practicing changing your diagonals too! Feel free to any questions you have below about figure 8s!

21/02/2023

11/02/2023

We are gearing up for the week of valentines lesson over here and can’t wait to show you what we have planned! Lots of educational games, fun and how to properly care for our horses so they pick us to be their Valentine ❤️ Being a good partner for your horse requires much more than just riding! Bonding and caring for your horse are a big part in order to have successful ridding sessions. We call this “undemanding time” the time we spend with this to give back and fill their love tank vs making them do things for our pleasure. Looking forward to next week!

07/02/2023

We have a few openings for Friday day classes! All you stay at home parents- sneak away and do something for yourself while your kids are at school ❤️ meet friends, work out and learn new skills. We also have classes for homeschool students! Message us now before they fill up.

06/02/2023

🏇🏼🏇🏼🏇🏼🏇🏼
Things your riding instructor wants you to know:

1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.

2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…

3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..

4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.

5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...

6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.

7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground d with horses than you do in the saddle.

9. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.

8. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.

- courtesy Kimberly Reynolds

Anya Groenewald

02/02/2023

🚨Helmet Check!🚨 Students this is a reminder to come to class with your helmet on your head when you walk in the door. If students aren’t ready to ride when they get here that means taking away time from the class to stop and find your helmet and put it on and most time have the teacher stop and help adjust it. Parents please look at the following chart and send students in with the helmet correctly fitted and buckled on their head. The little buckle (number 2) is very important in keeping the helmet in the right position- it keeps the helmet level on their head so it doesn’t fall forward into their eyes or backwards and choke them so be sure to have that directly below and in front of their ear lopes for best fit. Thanks so much for helping us out with this to ensure classes run as smooth as possible! Feel free to message us if you have any questions about it ❤️

02/02/2023

A very EXCITING time here at Star City Farm! I’d like to introduce you to Mrs. Kylee Lamb. She will be joining our team as an instructor for our Wednesday and Friday classes. Kylee is an amazing instructor with so much knowledge and training behind her. She completed in 4-H for 8 years doing all events including showmanship, trail, equitation, ba****ck (where she placed 1st in the state), western pleasure, and more. Kylee has very successfully competed in barrels, breakaway, poles, reining cowhorse, goat tying, queening and cow cutting in Jr. and High School Rodeo. She’s also recently been working under high level professional trainers helping them train horses. We were lucky enough to convince her to come join our team. We are so excited to have her and couldn’t be more proud of her long list of accomplishments in the horse world. If you get her as your instructor be prepared to be blown away by her wealth of knowledge and don’t be afraid to ask all about her experience in so many amazing events!

02/02/2023

Our 2023 Calendar 📆 for riding lessons. No lessons will be held: Spring Break April 2-8th, Fourth of July, Halloween Classes 6pm and later, Thanksgiving Break November 22-25, Winter Break Dec 24-Jan 3rd.

02/02/2023

6 more weeks of winter the groundhog says 🥶❄️ keep wearing your thick socks, thermals/long John’s under your clothes, and bring mittens. Our indoor arena stays above freezing all the time but it’s still nice to be prepared and shed layers if needed. Stay warm out there friends!