Our Care

Our horses are family

We take care of them first..

We're proud to give our horses consistent care every day. From regular bodywork and hoof care to tailored nutrition and easygoing movement, every part of their routine is designed to keep them comfortable and content.

Daily details and lots of love (from YOU ❤) round it all out, supporting them in both body and mind. Every horse here is part of our family, and we're devoted to their individual wellbeing. ❤ So when we say "no", it's definitely NOT to spoil anyone's fun! 😉 It just means we're looking out for our herd.

Mind ✦ Body ✦ Comfort ✦ Purpose

Read more below about the care we provide our gentle giant family! ☺︎

Consistent Care - Every. Single. Day.

Horses need more than just love to feel their best..although wouldn't it be nice if that's all they needed 😉. They need dietary structure, someone willing to manage their conditions every day and show up again tomorrow.

What does this look like?

Daily meds and supplements measured by hand
Many of our horses rely on medication and supplements to be fed daily, sometimes multiple times a day.
Tailored nutrition plans
Managing chronic conditions often require specific diets, like low-sugar feeds for Cushing’s horses or added nutritional support for muscle and nerve health for EPM and Lyme diseases.
Senior feeding assistance
Some older horses no longer have the teeth they need to properly grind hay or forage, so they rely on soaked feedings multiple times a day to help maintain their overall health.
Real time nutrition adjustments
Changes in posture, appetite, or attitude can often tell us more than a single test result. Our plans stay flexible so we can respond to what the horse is communicating in real time. Chronic care is won in the details.

We keep notes on how each horse is doing, especially after bodywork, changes in diet, changes in workload, or changes in behavior. Small changes tell big stories.

Long-term success, not quick results 🐢 progress is meant to be steady.

It can take time to come back and that’s okay! Especially with older horses and horses with PPID, diet changes should be slow and gradual as to not shock their systems. ❤︎

Easy-going rides are a beautiful thing

Just like people, horses do better when they engage in activities within their abilities. For many horses, gentle riding can support healthy mobility and emotional wellbeing when it’s done thoughtfully and respectfully.

Why we believe gentle work matters 💪

Think about how your own body feels when you sit still for too long. Joints get stiff, muscles tighten, and everything feels harder to start moving..

For horses that are comfortable and appropriate for riding, gentle walk-only movement can be one part of an active lifestyle. We pay attention to how each horse moves and feels, and adjust their workload or give them time off when their needs change. The horse in front of us determines the plan.

How we keep it kind ❤︎

Walk-only rides and low-stress expectations

Our rides are intentionally easy-going. No pressure or demands for performance. Just a nice little walk in the woods with happy riders like you!

Small and private groups

Smaller groups keep everything quieter and more predictable, which is easier on the horses. With fewer voices and less movement around them, they can stay settled and present on the trail.

Careful rotation and built-in rest days

Keeping our spaces small and times limited helps us manage each horse’s schedule thoughtfully. Rest is planned just as intentionally as movement.

Thoughtful rider matching

Rider size/balance and experience are matched to the right horse. We also cap the weights of each horse much lower than what many would consider within their abilities. Why ask horses to always carry the maximum weight? 🤷‍♀️ We are VERY picky about this for horses of all sizes! (yes, even the drafts)

When the heart feels safe, the body can do better

How YOU help with their care

Horses are deeply social animals who truly thrive on positive connection, which means a happy visit from you becomes a part of that care! We love watching horses open up and feel safe when they connect. ♥️

Energy is information

How do you think a human and horse communicate without any spoken language? With our energies!! The heart produces an electrical signal that horses can sense as far as 25ft away. Horses are incredibly sensitive to subtle changes in our tension, intention, and emotional state. We can often tell the mood/energy of riders just by how our horse communicate to us on the ground. 😉 One of the reasons why horse therapy is so effective!

Connection is paired with training

Connection is not just affection, it is safety too. We do groundwork and natural horsemanship so horses have clear boundaries and a predictable system. If a horse gets pushy or unsafe, we pause and reset. That structure helps protect the sweet moments, so the horse stays confident and the rider stays safe.

No Hoof, No Horse - We work from the Ground Up!

Farrier Care
If you have ever tried on a pair of shoes that made you walk like you were stepping on a secret pebble, then you already understand something important about hooves and why they need to be regularly maintained. (We keep our herd trimmed every 4-6 weeks, year round)

Our barefoot specialist knows our herd and trims with the whole horse in mind, shaping each hoof to support that horse’s movement and help improve specific walking habits over time. We watch for uneven wear and address the cause, not just the symptom.

A hoof can be a little storybook, if you know how to read it..

Although.. it feels like reading hieroglyphics each time we pick up the hoof haha. Sometimes the stories can be as simple as a sore muscle or stiffness that comes and goes with the weather. Other times, the story is more complicated and are beneath the surface that require more study.

Catching these details matter, as it shows what the body has been trying to manage in "secret". We can't help what we don't know!

Farrier and nutrition

Hoof quality starts in the feed tub and farrier helps us spot possible nutrition gaps that can show up in hoof over time. For horses with metabolic concerns, founder history, or thrush risk, nutrition can be the difference between constantly chasing symptoms vs. building long-term resilience.

Did you know you can read a hoof like the rings of a tree?

Tree rings can show what kind of year a tree had. Thicker rings in strong growth years, tighter rings when conditions were rough (weather, drought, stress). Hooves leave similar clues too 🔍

Ideally, a hoof wall should be even, but sometimes grooves or “rings” show up on the wall. Those grooves can help us connect the dots between:

When something changed for that horse to cause stress
What their body might have been responding to (sickness, laminitis, etc)
Do we need to take a look below the surface (x-ray exam)
How we adjust care moving forward (trim plan, comfort support, workload, nutrition conversations, etc.)

Shoe Alternatives

Traditional shoes can decrease the natural flexibility of the hoof and prevent the frog from fully contacting the ground, which is needed for proper blood flow. If a horse needs extra support, instead of using metal shoes, we will use shoe alternatives like ScootBoots or Cavallo Boots.

They are a soft boot that protect the horses' feet while also allowing the hoof to expand and frog to make contact with the ground to pump blood back into the horses leg. This circulation is important in keeping hooves, muscles and tendons healthy!

Restore their Bodies

Horses are gracious enough to allow us to ride them, the least we can do is take care of their bodies in return.

Our horses follow a routine body care plan through massage and chiropractic support, plus the stretches and therapy homework we do between visits.

We partner with professionals and we take their guidance seriously. Our massage therapist (True Balance Equine Therapies) and chiropractor (Naturally in Balance Chiropractic) come out monthly to treat our horses. When they give us “homework,” we follow through between appointments so the horse can keep building balance and healthier movement over time.

What our homework looks like

Guided stretches tailored to what that horse needs. We like to call this "horse yoga" 🧘‍♀️
Red light therapy and support such as PEMF when appropriate
In hand movement and gentle strengthening like pole work, obstacles, and backing up (horse squats)
Workload and tack adjustments when a horse tells us something is not comfortable
Rest days and rotations that respect recovery and prevent overdoing it

Interested in helping? 🙂

We’re always looking for volunteers to help with these gentle exercises, especially during our slower seasons.

Visit our Volunteer page to learn more! ⬇️

Volunteering

Why we do the “homework”

Muscles, fascia, and joints respond best to consistent, corrected movement. Bodywork appointments soften tight patterns and improve how a horse uses their body, but doing our "homework" is what helps those changes stick.

That is why we pair hands on care with smart strengthening and plenty of recovery in between. We keep it thoughtful, case by case, and let the horse’s response lead the plan.

Vets are Partners in Long-Term Comfort

We work closely with our vet to keep our high-needs horses supported with the right medications, monitoring, and decision-making.

Staying UTD is not optional

Vaccinations & Prevention

Seasonal vaccines based on risk, lifestyle, and age. Plus parasite strategy guided by veterinary best practices (not guesswork).

Annual Exams & Wellness Checks

A full-body look at how the horse is doing overall: weight, body condition, movement, heart/lung sounds, skin/coat changes, and any subtle shifts that might signal “something’s brewing.”

Dental Care

Teeth matter more than most people realize. A horse can’t tell you “my mouth hurts,” but they will show it in weight loss, slow eating, dropping feed, fussiness, or changes in attitude. Regular dental checks keep nutrition working the way it should.

Emergency Care

If a horse shows signs of severe colic, choke, sudden lameness, or injury, we respond quickly, involve our vet, and make decisions based on urgency.

How we dig a little deeper

Sometimes we need to investigate further before we can plan. Our vets help us see what's going on underneath the surface.

Depending on the horse, this can include:

Bloodwork and metabolic testing
X-rays for joints, feet, or old injuries
Evaluations for conditions like PPID (Cushing’s), Lyme, EPM, and more
Treatment plans that evolve over time as we learn what helps that specific horse most.

Quality of Life (QOL) — the kindest responsibility 🌈

One of the hardest parts of working with chronically ill or geriatric horses is knowing when “more treatment” isn’t the kindest path anymore. We do our best to notice early changes and seek expert guidance, always aiming for what is kindest for the horse in front of us.

That’s why we do regular quality of life check-ins, including annual exams and additional evaluations when a horse’s comfort changes. We look at things like pain levels, appetite, mobility, brightness, and willingness. Maintaining a log helps us and our experts make clearer, kinder decisions without relying on one single “bad day.” Comfort first, dignity always ❤︎

Our Care

Our horses are family

We take care of them first..

Mind ✦ Body ✦ Comfort ✦ Purpose

Easy-going rides are a beautiful thing

Stay Connected 🐴