Boarding - Sweet Meadow Stable

Boarding At Sweet Meadow Stable

Amenities

* Huge 160 x 200 sand riding arena with full set of jumps.

* 60' round pen with sand footing.

* Large 100 x 100 paddocks all with run-in sheds.

* Hay and grain feeders off the ground.

* Beautiful 6 stall barn with 12 x 12 stalls, cement isleway, tile floor tack room, hot/cold washroom, 10 sets of crossties and dutch doors for extra ventilation.

* Large stoned parking lot, free trailer parking.

* Miles of trails, huge pond next door with a trails cut all the way around it.

* On the property lessons, monthly horse shows and clinics.

* Living quarters on the property.

First, Sweet Meadow is a natural care facility. This is important to know before choosing your boarding stable. While we offer many options to your boarding needs, we follow the natural care methods pretty closely.

(However, as one of our boarders you can opt as a horseowner to do what you see fit for your horse boarded here or pay us to do it. For a fee we will follow any requested traditional care as needed.)

Second, most stables are traditional care. This means horses are stalled, blanketed, clipped and shod.

Here we do not do any of those things. Why?

Sweet Meadow is considered a "performance stable" however, a blue ribbon will not take importance over swapping our horses health, for the sake of traditional show practices, which include: shoes, blankets, clipping and stalling.

With over 25 years of equine knowledge, Shelley did not come up with the "natural care idea" overnight. It was the research, life expeirence's, trial and error and most of all understanding what horses need, instead of what people want. The answer was simple.

Horses do not "need" hot/cold winter blankets, a cozy but urine soaked stall every morning, barns filled with bacteria and molds, horseshoes that deform their hooves, people letting them graze on sugar packed fields. It dosen't sound nice, and truth is, it's not. Humans feel the "need" to take care of an animal who has been around since the beginning of time. It's a fact that it's us humans dabbling into their care that causes millions of health related problems each year.

Think about it, you drive by and notice, old Betsy blanketed up on a 32 degree day. You probally think to yourself, "good to see that horse is warm." Truth is Betsy is probally boiling up under that blanket, then sweating causing a chill or she has rubbed her fur completely down to skin due to blanket rub. They are not doing Betsy a favor. A little research pays off. Did you know that horses insulate themselves naturally by raising the hairs erect thus causing a insulating layer next to their skin? How does Betsy keep warm then when her hair is flattend down with a blanket? Or is she boiling because the sun is beating down on her, causing her to sweat while mom and dad are at work? She rolls and rolls but the blanket is not coming off. We want to keep her warm since mother nature does not know best right? Or do you want that short attractive hair coat for show purposes and are willing to over look the horses health for that shot at the blue ribbon? See www.thenaturalhoof.co.nz/covers.html for more info on this topic.

How about that cozy stall overnight? That surely can't be bad right? Would you stand in your own urine and feces all night? How about lay in it? Drink it even? Well if you want your horse stalled in that cozy little stall that's only some of your worries. How about, being cold due to a lack of constant movement? Your feet contracting because you can't walk your 15 miles per day? Getting stuck upside down until somebody finds you? Or worse yet, a barn fire. Let's not be blind here... these things do happen. See www.thenaturalhoof.com, www.naturalhorsetalk.com, www.naturalhorsecare.net. These are just a few website's speaking up on this touchy topic.

Another touchy topic? HORSESHOES. If you don't know, Shelley is a well known authority on the horse's hoof! There use to be a day when you could not get Shelley to stop talking about the horrible effects of horseshoes. After being asked to write articles on the subject, speak at expo's state wide, hold trimming clinics, debate with farriers on the subject, obviously she's full of explainations on why NOT to shoe a horse. So on that note, check out the links below, (otherwise we would be here all day!)