Spring is here, and everything’s turning green. Take a cue from Mother Nature and add a little green to your farm routine. If you’re running a farm or visiting a boarding stable on the regular, you’re participating in an important conservation effort, whether you knew it or not. Farmland conservation promotes green-space in rapidly developing areas, supporting animal and plant life which would otherwise be threatened by new construction.

So just by participating in the farm lifestyle, you’re making a difference. What’s next? Here are a few ways to add environmentally friendly practices to […]

When we think about designing our dream stable, our minds often go first to the stalls. With good reason — our horses spend a decent percentage of time in their stalls, so we want them to be roomy, safe, and comfortable. Then we think about our tack room, our wash-racks, our amenities — all the extras that make the stable comfortable for us, the humans in the equation. But we might actually spend the most time of all in our stable aisle, getting from place to place, grooming horses, or just plain hanging out and having a chat with friends. It […]

When you’re designing your stable, seemingly hundreds of tiny details become very large decisions. Stall doors are one of those decisions that can affect your daily life at the barn, whether it’s your business or your hobby. Sliding, Dutch, grills, yokes — what’s the best stall door for you?

Sliding doors (as shown in the French Hill Farm project) are popular in barns and often come in prefab stall kits. They take up less space because they don’t intrude on the barn aisle, making it easier to lead or cross-tie horses in the aisle. Because you […]

The footing we provide our horses is one of the most important aspects of a riding arena. The amount of concussion the footing absorbs from the horse’s legs, the quality of its drainage, even its life as the particles are tramped down through daily use, are all variables to consider and all you should evaluate. How do you choose your riding arena’s footing? Here are a few initial items to consider when looking at footing options.

Weather:
The climate will play a big role in choosing your ideal footing. Naturally in wet climates you’ll need […]