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Showing posts from 2025

Can A Straight Horse Boarding Business Make Money?

The marketplace for horse boarding services has changed in the post-Covid era. A lot. The rising costs that are hitting the farming community in general are no joke. Willowview Hill Farm, Stamford NY   The other day I had a call from a lady who sounded very 'sound', with good horse knowledge that was looking for a straight boarding option for a couple of pleasure-riding horses. Nothing wrong with that. Or with the fact she wanted a boarding space with good standards of horse care and a well-run facility. Trouble is, can she afford it. Are the prices for horse board that people may be used to paying even last year or the year before, realistic in today's marketplace? At our dressage yard at Willowview Hill Farm, pictured above, we have a small barn and an indoor arena, access to 26 miles of trails, and plenty of turn-out, and organic home-produced hay for feeding our performance horses. We offer dressage training services, with boarding only being available for horses in tra...

The Dutchess Of Chadwick - Horses and High Society

It was inevitable that the avid reader and writer that I was as a horse crazy child, would eventually become an author and release a book that includes some horsey fiction. The Dutchess of Chadwick - Literary romance set in the Gilded Age While many of my wonderful dressage and eventing/showjumping clientele know me as their trainer/clinician/coach, and my horsey endeavors reached the climax of international level Grand Prix competition and breeding high caliber performance horses, the realm of writing fiction has always been on the books. I am thrilled to announce my first published work under my own name, The Dutchess of Chadwick. has arrived. While as many of you know I am a professional content writer and have written under pseudonym and ghostwritten for several celebrity clients, this is my debut novel and it is a very exciting time indeed. Beth and Gary Lerner - the 1st to buy!   People talk a lot about bucket lists, and I suppose for me this is certainly one of them. A red-...

The Indoor Arena - Needed?

Working horses long hours The reality of living year around in the North-East USA is that snow and cold weather are coming to visit. This year has been particularly difficult for working the horses in our care, as the temperatures have been wickedly cold and snow has been on the ground for many days since November 15th - before winter season was even supposed to begin.  This coyote in our side field, is also perplexed by winter. On the hunt for something to eat...   For folks that are setting up a horse facility, the indoor arena is not something to overlook when mapping out needed structures. It will earn its keep (given you maintain it well and properly utilize it). We have conducted many lessons, training sessions, and clinics under its roof, among other things. As equestrian professionals that offer dressage training services 365 days of the year, hubbie and I are well-used to schooling horses all day and sometimes into the evening hours if necessary.  The very first ...