I think we’d all agree the horses have come through winter extremely well and now look even better coming into their summer coat. Of course, with such abundant spring grass growth most horses are in danger of getting over fat and we have several on founder watch… Including Laurence’s pony, Leroy.
Please talk to us if you have any concerns.
The grass is always good at Stonehurst!
Laurence is putting a mob of cattle through each horse paddock to clean up weeds. He will also lightly graze down your saved feed as it will soon look like a hay paddock if not managed well. As you know there is an added benefit because cattle ‘vacum clean up’ any worm eggs – a win-win situation!
On the subject of those little critters… Just a reminder to ensure everybody has completed the spring wormer. Laurence will attend to the last few horses this week for owners who have asked him to do this.
And there’s always shelter too!
You will have noticed some new shelter trees at Stonehurst Farm.
- We have planted Oak, Maple, Ash and Ecualypt trees for overhead and shade type shelter.
- We have planted Broadleaf, Ake-Ake and giant flax for low bushy wind break shelter.
We will water these by hand throughout the summer. Feel free to pour a bucket or two of water on the ones in your paddock if you think they look thirsty.
We’ve ordered the same amount to plant next year so talk to me if you want more trees in your paddock.
Facilities
We are considering some improvements and upgrades to the facilities at Stonehurst Farm in the near future.
We may remove the bark from the 30m round arena and replace it with sand.
The soil arena is not usable when wet but will work up again as soon as it drys out.
We would like to add some new jumps in the jump paddock. Some of you have suggested some basic cross-country jumps might be fun. These could possibly be incorporated down in the farm trees near the river.
BUT, before we do anything we would love your comments or feedback on these options and ideas. We consider Stonehurst Farm as much your home, as ours, and we want to know what facilities you would use the most!
One month of grazing FREE…
When an existing client at Stonehurst introduces a new grazing client to keep their horse here (long term), we will give both horses one month of free grazing! Limited availability!
Cattle Clinics
Will be back soon! 4th December with the Western Riding Club and then from mid January we will run them every second Sunday. These days will be advertised on our website. So keep checking back!
Coming Up… Clinics with Justin Cooney. We are looking at float loading, starting horses and horsemanship. We would love some feedback on what you would like us to organise for you.
