Spartan Equine

01/01/2026

12/30/2025

2025🐍 ➡️ 2026🐎

12/27/2025

On Tuesday I unexpectedly had to say goodbye to the best farm dog, co-pilot, horse show dog, assistant trainer, and all around best boy, Wally 💔 there wasn't a barn he accompanied me to nor a show he attended that he didn't make friends at, he was truly a special & kind soul who loved all other farm animals, particularly the lambs next door or anytime there were chicks or ducklings that needed attending (but he was also an expert at flushing out ground hogs & rats). He also had a special a way of helping settle the young horses, he wouldn't hesitate to befriend them by allowing them to sniff & "groom" him. I trusted his intuition when it came to people & horses - he knew a good one and he also knew the ones who weren't to be trusted. Wally put more miles on the road with me than I care to count, spent more time patiently hanging out in barns while I worked, watched more lessons & training sessions than most assistant trainers ever will, got up at the crack of dawn with me every day no matter the weather, and spent all 14 years of his life loyaly by my side ❤️

My sweet perfect boy, you did good. Now go find Joey and wait with him, I'll see you both again some day 🌈🪽

Wally 8.21.11 ~ 12.23.25

12/15/2025

Still finding ways to get the work in even though winter came on hard & fast this year ❄️🐎👑

12/15/2025

💗🙌

That life choice was the best one ever (thanks mom) 💖

12/05/2025

December coming in hot with this winter weather bu****it 😒 how many day until spring?

11/28/2025

💖🎄💖🎄💖 Taylor really knocked it out of the park with these photos! They're so fun and not your standard holiday wreath around the neck style!

11/26/2025

I love texting Taylor Hersom and saying "hey so I have an idea for some photos..." and then she just blows me away with the final result 🤩

All the love to King for being the absolute best model during these photos, not many horses (let alone a 3 year old), would tolerate being wrapped up in over 16ft of LED Christmas lights and plugged in while being held with nothing but a baling twine "halter" 💖

And of course, Wally had to be in on the action too! Mr Camera Ready hit his poses like the old pro he is and made it easy to get a photo that Taylor could edit so he & King are standing together in one (because if you know how Wally is about my training horses, King is actually *his* baby horse) 💝

🐴 Prom King RWF
🐶 Wally
🎄 photos by Lasting Moments Media

11/22/2025

This morning we said goodbye to sweet Riley at the ripe old age of 33 years & 8 months old (because at his age, he deserves to have the months counted too). Over the past year we've slowly watched him look more tired, spend more time self isolating, and at times act far grumpier of an old man than he's ever shown towards the other horses. So we made the hard decision for him; to let him go while his body was still holding decent weight despite having hardly any teeth left making it impossible to eat hay, and his creaky arthritic joints hadn't quite given out just yet, and while his vision was mostly gone in one eye but was still just a little shadowy in the other, and to an outsider he may have looked like a healthy elderly horse but we knew any decline would quickly become the end for him, especially when facing a New England winter with a stubborn Haflinger who insisted on living outside. As caretakers of our animals sometimes the greatest kindness we can give them is a death with dignity before their body is failing, before something traumatic & painful happens, and while they're still having good days ❤️‍🩹

RIP Riley 3/31/1992 - 11/22/25, thank you for kindly tolerating babysitting my youngsters these past five years, even the rowdy obnoxious ones.🕊

What does it really mean to "let them go on a good day?"

It means it will be your hardest day. It won't matter if you've never done it before, or if you're gifted a dozen good days, each good day is always the hardest one.

It means they won't know what the fuss is about, why they're getting so many treats and extra belly scratches and hugs.

It means you will second guess your decision right up to the very last moment, the very last breath. You'll second guess yourself afterwards.

They'll knicker at you when you arrive, just like any other day.

The weather, perfect. They are content. They look sound today. They are breathing well, eating well, they get up easily enough from a nap in the sun....the list goes on. Whatever issue they struggle with, today they aren't.

Today you euthanize them.

This is what going on a good day means: sending them out while they are happy, while they are healthy, while they are eating well, walking well, etc. You make the choice to do it before an emergency takes the choice away from you, before your horse has to experience any more trauma or pain.

Their last memory will be filled with love.

It'll rip your heart out every time.

We can see the patterns and the increasing trends. We can predict it a little. We can obsess over the past and worry about the future.

Fortunately, horses, all animals, live in the moment. They don't worry about those things. They aren't worried about winter. They aren't worried about July, or allergies, or progressive diseases like Cushings or DSLD. They don't think about the close calls they've had before, and they certainly aren't thinking about the close calls that are destined to come, as their body continues to age and break down. They just are. They are happy and healthy, or fearful and in pain, on that day, in that moment.

It is the most difficult, most loving gift we are blessed to be able to give.

And that first ice storm will come, that first deep snow, that first heat wave....and you will find a little relief, no longer doubting the choice you made.

They were happy, and safe, and loved. That is all that matters.

It is never easy. ~ Kelly Meister, author

11/18/2025

A reminder that setting boundaries with clients isn't you "being unfriendly" or "showing a lack of empathy" or "being petty"; it's you safeguarding your emotional & physical space and ensuring you are treated with the respect you deserve. When someone stoops to namecalling and threatening/bullying you because you're holding strong to your boundaries, stay the course with kind but assertive language. Unfortunately accountability and common sense are rare these days and people love to cause drama where it could have been avoided with a little communication.

11/13/2025

My personal horse 💛 2022 ASB gelding by RWC Joe Fabulous and out Prom Theme (out of the spectacular fine harness mare, CH The Homecoming Queen), bred by Royal Winds Farm