The Bluebird Lane Farm and Facilities
When we bought our 51 acre farm it was vacant land, so we had the pleasure of designing and building everything that is here now – house, barn, outbuildings, pastures, paddocks and fencing, indoor riding arena, the works!
Of course, we joke that means that there is no one else to blame when things don’t run quite as efficiently as one would hope. In all seriousness though, the farm has evolved along with our needs, and we are so happy with the way it has turned out and are grateful to have such a wonderful place to work with horses.
The main aisle, next to the tack room
Everything at the farm is geared to the safety and well-being of the horses.
Our facilities are set up to allow them to express their “inner horse-ness”, while they develop strong bones, joints, feet, and lungs, running and playing with their friends in our large pastures.
Three large dry paddocks provide turnout for those times when the grass is too wet, or we decide they’ve had enough grass for one day.
The wash rack has rubber footing and a large floor drain
Our barn is a tidy six box-stall setup, with a tack room, main floor hay and feed storage, and a heated wash rack.
Two of the box stalls are 12′ X 16′ foaling stalls, and Stefan designed and built a nifty video monitoring system to allow us to monitor our mares from the house at foal watch time.
We have two large 24′ X 32′ south-facing run-in sheds with heated Nelson water-bowls to round out our housing options.
A winter aerial view of the house, barn, and arena
Our young horses and mares in foal (anyone not in a full training regimen) live outdoors 24/7 and are brought into the barn as needed for handling and/or feeding. The Fjordhorses develop a full winter coat that lets them live happily outdoors through our Canadian winters.
Horses in our riding training program have different housing needs through the winter, and they are kept clipped, blanketed, and stabled at night.
Mirrors and large windows provide a well-lit training environment
Our indoor riding arena is 70′ X 140 ‘ (20m X 40m), with mirrors along the short sides, a four foot high light panel on both long sides, and eight sliding vent windows for maximal ventilation.
With the windows open in the summer, being in our arena is just like riding in a pavilion. With good quality dust-free footing underfoot, everything is ideal for concentrated training.
Our indoor arena allows us to train with our Fjordhorses all year round. Not stopping for winter or bad weather means our horses have consistency in their training. They become accustomed to staying concentrated through all sorts of weather, including chilling cold and the sounds of wind, rain, and storms.
Iris says, "This is fun!"
Our property is bordered on two sides by the Grand River Conservation Area, and we overlook Conestogo Lake. The 51 acre lot is rather long and thin, with approximately 600 feet of frontage at the road, widening to 1,000 feet in the area of the buildings and then angling back to 600 feet down by the lake, with a 3,600 foot overall length.
The shape of the property provides big long hay fields to ride in, with lots of forest just over the fence line, plus our own pine bush.
Part of the property is hilly, and we have one big hay field on a hill which drops down to the lake and provides excellent conditioning opportunities for the horses. We enjoy riding outside, developing both fitness and obedience in the wide open spaces, usually with our dog Iris along for the fun!
