Not just a boarding stable; it’s our


BROKEN SPOKE STABLE

Welcome to our web page, we’re glad you found your way to our site. Life is busy so I don’t want to waste your time with a bunch of fluff. There are many boarding stables in and around our area so I’d like to highlight where I feel we excel and why you may want to consider us for all your boarding, training, and lessons.

There is no substitute for experience!! When you’ve been around horses and worked with them for years you notice things that even the average horse owner may miss. That subtle, first sign of colic or tying up at the beginning of exercise. Maybe it’s even as simple as a horse that rolled but didn’t shake off the dust when they stood back up.

I could list a slue of serious conditions that if caught early, can divert a mild health situation from becoming life threatening. You can’t learn how to be observant; it’s a rare gift in this industry which honestly at times can be a curse. It could be Christmas Eve, pouring down the snow and you’re dressed to go to church when you notice a horse standing out along the fence alone while their pasture buddies are all inside the run in shed. Your eyes dart from pasture to pasture, not another single horse is standing out.

You look at your family and ask for 5 minutes so you can throw on a pair of boots, grab a flashlight and go check the situation. You call, she doesn’t move. You climb through the electric fence and make your way to her, she stands there as if she were just waiting for you. A quick glance with the flashlight and you spot blood in the snow. Upon further investigation you see a 5 inch gash right above the coronet band that is going to need stitches. Your family knows the plans for the evening no longer include you. You watch them drive down the road while you call the vet and run to change your clothes.

If I were still boarding my horses I would look for someone who has the knowledge and compassion to care for them the way that we do here at Broken Spoke. This isn’t a hobby for us, it’s what we do. The hours are long, the sacrifice often goes unnoticed but the reward is priceless. Simply put, we know how to care for horses and we can prove it. We have many over the age of 30 that are thriving and enjoying retirement to the fullest. We also know when it’s time to make the difficult decision to let them go and we will be by your side through the entire process if you need us to be.

If you are looking to take some riding lessons for yourself or your children then you need look no further. We’ve instructed over a thousand clients how to ride and that alone should speak volumes about our program considering we don’t do much advertising. Our lesson horses are amazing, they teach you how to actually ride and not just be a passenger. You won’t find a more creative teaching atmosphere at any other barn, I can guarantee that!!

We work hard at instilling confidence while teaching proper riding techniques plus we just have fun during the process!! We instruct each student as the individual they are. Not every person learns the same way so obviously the way we teach one student may not work for another. If I were taking riding lessons again, I’d truly want to find an instructor like the ones we have at Broken Spoke. Don’t take our word for it, ask for our reference list! It’s long but includes students ranging from age 4 to age 77 and anywhere in between.

If you googled our stable in search of a place to have your horse trained then you are certainly in luck. When we began training horse’s years ago I told my then young assistant that if she hung in there with me and worked super hard then we would eventually prove that women can be just as successful at training horses as what men can be. It wasn’t easy breaking into a man’s world here in Garrett County. Those who were training at the time were good, very good. I have the highest respect for each and every one of them. Our goal as women trainers wasn’t to compete with the men but to provide an avenue for the woman client who needed a more hands on experience instead of just taking your horse to the trainer and then 90 days later going and picking him up and taking him home with very little instruction on how to get your horse to do what your trainer could do.

Ladies, we will walk you through every step of the training process. We don’t hide anything from you. Heck, what good would that do you? We actually want you to succeed with your horse and not keep having to bring him back to us every spring for another “tune-up.” Our slogan is: We are women training horses for women but low and behold we’ve slowly started getting phone calls from men inquiring about our training. So now we’re just women training horses and it’s been a blast.

By now, if you’ve read this far, you’re waiting for me to say that if I had a horse needing trained then I’d look for a place just like what we do here at Broken Spoke. You bet I would, because the way we advance through the process just works for the horse. We can even market your horse if that’s something you need done. We’ve learned a few things about buying and selling horses over the years and you can benefit from our trial and errors. We’ve trained over 70 horses in the past few years and worked with countless clients who’ve brought their horse here just to take a few lessons to help them over a training hump.

The above is just a quick overview of what we do here. Check out the rest of our website for more info or better yet, give me a call. I’m never too busy to answer questions. If I’m in the middle of a lesson or working a horse you will have to leave a message but I will get back to you by the end of the day. This is a hard industry and many have come into our area and tried their hand at stable owning. Having a lovely facility doesn’t mean you have experience, knowledge, or a true gift with horses; it simply means you have a lovely facility. Just the weather alone here in Garrett County can be our biggest challenge and many of these folks come here and then a few years later they close their doors and leave.

I was born and raised here, know agriculture, grew my business slowly and my roots go deep in this amazing community. To top it off, I’m surrounded by a group of dedicated women who are on my staff and are in this with me for the long haul.

So enjoy our website, there’s a lot of info on each page. Or better yet, stop by our facility anytime for a visit, well maybe not in the middle of the night…….we do need to sleep every now and then. We look forward to meeting you!