The Facilities

My husband and I have a farm 5 miles South of Northfield.

We offer boarding, training and lessons.

Regular full care stall board is $220 per month which includes hay twice daily, Assurance ration balancer, daily turnout weather permitting, shavings and stalls cleaned daily, tack storage area and liberal use of our outdoor round pen and arena as well as training equipment.

Training is on a per contract basis and has limited availability.

Lessons are $15 per hour.

Arena fees for non-boarders are $5 per hour.

All participants must sign liability release waivers.

In addition to the equine facilities, we also have a lounge area with outhouse, TV, and horse education materials.

Leasing a Pony

Our pony leasing procedure:

Parents can contact us to lease a pony for their child / children. We will first determine the family's needs based on the age, height, weight and experience of the children. This will all play a factor in determining if we have a pony available that will suit them.

The next step is setting an appointment to meet the family at our facility and go over the monthly contract specifics and barn rules. At this time the contracts and waivers are signed and a schedule is set for lessons.

The fee charged will be covering the feed required for the pony they are leasing.

Other fees usually incurred in keeping a horse or pony would include board, farrier every 6-8 weeks, veterinary care both routine and emergency, yearly vaccinations, monthly de-worming, and the purchase of various equipment such as buckets, brushes and tack. None of these fees will be passed on to the leasee aside from equipment replacement or repair due to damages beyond normal wear.

Weekly lessons for one child are included in the lease fee as well. Normal lesson rates would be $15 per child per hour, and additional lessons for the same child or other children in the family will be available at the normal rate.

Each pony will only be leased to one family at a time. There will not be double leasing or sharing of a pony unless multiple families request to make this arrangement. The term of the lease will be monthly, so that if a child quickly looses interest or the family needs to opt out of the lease they may do so with short term notice.

Leasing fee for one pony: $45.00 per month.

Scholarships may be available, and it is also an option to donate money toward a scholarship.

What to do with all these ponies?

My husband and I have 6 full size horses for our own for riding. We have 5 boys, 3 of which are old enough to be more interested in girls and cars than horses. The fourth has about outgrown the pony stage and rides a full size Appaloosa mare. The fifth is almost two and will begin riding one of our soon to be six ponies this spring. The other five will need a job.



So, what shall we do with ponies who were purchased for children who so desperately wanted them and then lost interest, thus abandoning said ponies? The answer certainly isn't to sell the ponies to new families so that they will go through the same scenario. After all, even if the children never outgrow their love of horses they will surely outgrow the ponies in size.



So here lies the solution: we will lease the ponies out.



Not to make a profit, just to pay for their feed. In this manner, we can assure that the ponies are receiving the best care possible. That they are up to date with their farrier and veterinary care - things often overlooked by the novice pony owner. That they are receiving proper nutrition and are not subject to founder, colic or developing insulin resistance - common problems seen in the ponies of novice and not so novice owners. Many owners of full size horses aren't even aware of the extra caution needed in the care of a pony.



Included in the lease will be weekly lessons for the pony-crazed kids in pony care, safe handling, riding and driving.

How They All Came to Be

The phone rang.... "Hello?" I answered. The voice on the other end replied, "Would you like two ponies? This lady I work with has two little ponies she got for her kids but they really didn't know anything about horses and now she just wants to get rid of them. I know you have horses, so, do you want them?"

And now there is to be six.

I started out with one pony for my son 7 years ago, added of course to my personal herd of full size horses. Miss Daisy Mae came from a similar situation. I found her advertised in a paper and was in the market at the time. I called the number and the father on the other line relayed the same story. He and his wife had purchased the little pony for their three small children since they had recently moved to the 'country' and had an acre of pasture. Neither the mother nor the father had any horse experience and had no idea what they were getting into. They just thought the kids would like a pony. And at first, they did. But it was soon apparent that the little pony was nothing like the family black lab. She didn't come when called, she would run away when they tried to catch her. She stepped on feet, knocked the kids over and to be ridden.... well, that just wasn't an option.

So, Miss Daisy Mae came to live with me. She learned manners very quickly. To stand quietly for brushing, bathing and tacking up. To ground drive nicely and pull a cart, and to accept a rider. She really is a sweetheart.

Fast forward 7 years and I have joined an on-line chat group. Through connections and conversations, I am offered three ponies from a hardship situation. A fellow is breeding them and selling them to families with kids. These three were returned because the parents had a lack of knowledge and the interest of the children waned. Rosie, Tulip and Lily came home to meet Daisy. I expect to be picking up Bo and Luke Duke as soon as I have made accomodations for them.

It happens all the time.

Kids want ponies. Parents want their children to be happy. Ponies can often be purchased inexpensively due to this exact revolving situation. It doesn't take long for the children to loose interest when they aren't offered an education, and sometimes when instruction is included, the thrill of having a pony still phases out. The end result is the same, parents taking care of an unwanted pony that they know little about until they end up giving the pony away.

That's where I keep coming in. I am picking up the pieces to give these little guys a home. Not just any home, but a good one where their nutritional, farrier and vetting needs are met. A home where they are wanted.