the green spot blog

There are a few things that can be heard at the barn on any given day. These include calling the horses in, Prince meowing at you becuase he wants his food, or Puzzles, the donkey braying at you because you clearly forgot to give him the rest of the hay bale. Something else you can often hear at the barn is something that sounds like this...”No, you’re okay. It’s just a tarp, it won’t eat you, I promise. You can walk past it, it’s okay.” If you’ve ever worked with horses before, you very quickly realized that they can be scared of the strangest things. From a squirrel jumping in the trees, to a tarp blowing in the wind, the yoga ball in the catch pen, and even their own shadow following them. While we see all of those things and know that they are not scary, when a horse sees them they think that they are a scary monster that will jump out and eat them. It takes a lot of encouragement and patience from th...

That's quite the headline, hey? Or should I say hay? Because really, it's Delilah the horse, that's pregnant - not one of us humans. ;) Some of you knew that it was a possibility and close to the end of summer it was confirmed - Delilah was, indeed, pregnant. Calamity Jane was only about 1.5ft tall! Expecting is always a fun thing around here. I've been working here long enough to remember Smoke, Sasha, Elmer, and Calamity Jane (our miniature horse) were a few that were born here. Having a foal here is SOOO exciting. They have so much energy and love bouncing around. It really adds something to the atmosphere down at the barn. Delilah's foal is due April 20th and we're taking good care of her until then. The reason that we tell you this now is probably the next most exciting thing. WE'RE HAVING A FOAL NAMING CONTEST!!! Say what?!? Ruby's foal, Elmer! Foals are awesome! Yes - we're (probably) letting you, our loving world of Eve...

For many of you who have come to camp with guest groups or as a camper in summer, you've no doubt come on a trail ride. As you've probably experienced you walk down to the barn on a bright sunny day (or maybe rainy, or snowy depending on when you come), sit through a very informative pre-ride, grab a helmet (gotta protect those noggins, am I right?), wait eagerly as horses get assigned, finally get to mount your horse, and then you're off! What you may not know is all of the behind the scenes action that goes on before you even get to the barn and after you leave. We would love to invite you to walk through a day in the life of a wrangler! The day usually starts with the ever unpleasant ringing of your alarm in the wee hours of the morning (sometimes as early as 6am...geh), rolling out of bed and then out the door to walk down to the barn – this often requires walking through...

This fall the Evergreen Barn has been as busy as ever! Not only are we loving and caring for our main herd consisting of 36 saddle horses, but we are also training our Clydesdale team to pull a wagon for hay rides! On an average day in our slower season (starting in November), we as a barn crew are working together to exercise the trail ponies, complete any medical care needed, and work on any barn maintanc(y) things that need getting done. This fall, however, is special because on top of all that other necessary work we love, the barn is allotting a fair amount of time to training our team of Clydesdale. Don't worry though, we still make sure we have time for the saddle horses so that they get adequate exercise and more than enough love. Let us introduce you to our big girls. On the left side of the wagon we drive Irish, and on the right there is April. These two are a mother daughter team that we have been blessed with by donation. Left side is Irish - Right s...