Sunborn Stables Schooling Show Sunday!

Photo by Cindy Bellamy

Want to get out and watch a dressage and jumping schooling show yet be indoors during this last bout of wintry weather? You're in luck! Sunborn Stables in Chisago City is hosting their first show of the year on Sunday March 29th.  

Don't worry!  There's an indoor arena to keep you out of the wind as you watch with a heated viewing area too. 

Here's the showbill for a sample of the classes, which include dressage, jumping, polo prep, and egg & spoon!

Like the property?  It's for sale too! Here are some of the stalls (above) and the water complex (below).

And an aerial shot of the whole property.

24110 Morgan Avenue, Chisago City, MN 55013

Check out this link for more photos and details: 
http://donavin.com/morgan.html

Tack Swap This Weekend!

Looking for barn and stable equipment, equestrian-themed home decor, clothing, or tack?  A tack swap is a great place to find used and inexpensive new items for you, your barn, and your horses. They typically have saddle racks, saddles, bridles, halters, clothing, blankets, grooming supplies and just about everything involving horses!

The annual ORSC tack swap takes place this weekend in Farmington.  Note: there's a new location - Levi Dodge Middle, 4200 208th St. 

Checking in of items to sell goes from 8-10 am.  A line forms out the door then for people waiting to shop, so be sure to get there early!

The sale is open 11 am to 4 pm Saturday and 10 am to 1 pm Sunday. For more details, go http://orsctackswap.com/.

Looking to buy or sell a horse property?  Go to www.mnhorseproperties.com or www.Donavin.com

4650 200th St. a.k.a. Cornerstone Horse Complex

If you’re looking for a state-of-the-art equestrian facility, look no further than Cornerstone Horse Complex in Hastings just 30 minutes south of the Twin Cities!

This property is the complete package – heated large indoor arena, even bigger lighted outdoor arena, 14 paddocks, grass pastures, 50 stalls with room for many more in an separate barn and even a lounge, kitchen, bathrooms with shower stalls, caretaker’s apartment, a conference room, and even an AquaPacer for equine conditioning and rehabilitation!

Check out this aerial video!

Enjoy riding year-round in the spacious heated indoor arena (80’ x 225’) which has amazing sand & limestone footing.  I’ve ridden there and I’ve never seen a nicer surface to ride on!  It’s not dusty, it’s not too deep or too hard, and the horses have an extra spring in their step on it.  It also has mirrors, fans for summer heat, and a large tiered viewing area for spectators.   There’s also a lighted outdoor arena (150’ x 300’) and a riding trail around the property.

  

The 50 heated stalls are also quite lovely and all have rubber mats and automatic waterers.  There are 14 x 14 stalls in two aisles off the original veterinary area and lounge.  These are concrete block and allow for quarantine of new or sick horses. 

The 10 x 10 stalls also have rubber matting wall-to-wall and automatic waterers. These stalls allow for horses to touch noses with their neighbors. The rubber matting provides for a safe and comfortable surface to walk horses on.

The complex hosts 3 heated tack rooms to store saddles, bridles, blankets and more.  Here’s one of them.

There’s even a heated lounge and kitchen, bathrooms for men and women with shower stalls, a caretaker’s apartment, and this luxurious conference room!

There’s a large wash stall with hot & cold water and infrared heat.  And don’t forget the AquaPacer – designed to help horses rehabilitating from injuries and conditioning.  For more on the AquaPacer, go here.

Overall, this is the most prestigious equestrian complex in the south metro area and it sells with the equipment to operate it! Enjoy peace of mind with security cameras and electronic security gate, too.  For more details, go to http://donavin.com/cornerstone.html

Not in your budget or not what you're looking for? Find other horse properties for sale at http://mnhorseproperties.com/ or www.donavin.com

Mud Management

Every horse person who lives in Minnesota knows that with the arrival of spring comes the thaw and mud season. We’ve been lucky this year that snow accumulations were relatively low this winter and we had a dry first couple of weeks of warmer temperatures.  This allowed the ground to dry out remarkably quickly thus far.  Although the forecast today calls for 3-6 inches of snow with more rain predicted for the week to come, the fact that the ground has dried out already probably means that the usual boot-sucking mud won’t happen this year.  Not that any of us miss mud that comes up to your knees and pulls your boots right off! 

It does beg the question: what can horse property owners do to prevent mud in their horse pastures?  Here are some tips:

1)      Don’t over-crowd horse paddocks/pastures.  When over-crowding happens, horses eat away all of the grass and without the roots to stabilize the ground and soak up excess moisture, the ground is susceptible to erosion. Horses are ½ ton animals and all that weight plunges right through soft ground.  They do prefer to stand in drier areas if available to them. 

2)      Put gravel or sand at high-traffic areas like by the gate, water trough, shelter, and hay feeder.  Horses often stand at the gate when they think it’s time to come in for grain or to go in for the night.  They also may spend hours standing at the hay feeder or in the shelter and they’ll have to get to the water.  Placing sand or gravel in these areas helps them to drain off excess water. 

3)      Remove manure as often as possible. Did you know that each horse contributes 50 lbs of manure a day? Organic matter contributes to mud – not to mention the ick factor when you have to plunge through the slop to catch your horse!  If you can’t pick up manure every few days in your paddocks, at least arrange to have your paddocks scraped by a Bobcat once the ground dries in the spring and as needed over the summer/fall. 

4)      Prepare a sacrifice area.  If possible, protect your grass areas from your horses when conditions are soft and wet by keeping horses in other paddocks during that time.  Often these areas are called sacrifice areas because they are expected to be a bit muddier due to being a smaller area in order to keep horses off of the grass pasture. 

5)      Assist run-off system to send water away from your horses’ feet. Install a channel in the ground or angle the ground to direct water away from high-traffic zones. Make sure your buildings, gutters, and drain pipes direct water to low-traffic zones and if possible to vegetation areas. You could even install a rain garden with horse-safe wildflowers, shrubs, or small trees to catch water.

Mud doesn’t have to plague horse owners every spring!  Take steps today to make your horse property mud free!

Interested in buying or selling your horse property in the Twin Cities metro area?  Contact Donvain at www.donavin.com

12861 Shannon Pkwy, Rosemount, MN

Want to have horses at home but live in the suburbs?

Then this property is for you!  

I've had the privilege of visiting this lovely home and can't stop raving about its amenities! It is located in a Rosemount neighborhood minutes from Lebanon Hills Regional Park, the Minnesota Zoo, and Valleywood Golf Course. Take a 5-minute trip to the grocery store, go for a half-day hike in the wilderness, or enjoy a short commute to work from this horse property on this beautiful stretch of Shannon Parkway.

Here's the best part for those long cold Minnesota winters: the 3-stall barn is fully-insulated and heated and is attached to the garage!  No more bundling up to check on the horses before heading to bed on a sub-zero night!  Just don slippers and walk through the garage (with room for 3+ cars!) and out to the barn to check that the horses have hay and are enjoying their automatic waterers. The convenient tack room is even heated/air conditioned (it's the door on the left).

The stalls are fully-matted and this stall is double-sized for foaling or the comfort of an extra large horse. Additionally, these two have two-part doors so you can allow your horses access to the paddock if you prefer to, or open the tops of the doors for a nice summer breeze.  

Still not enough room in the garage for your vehicles or farm equipment?  Then you'll appreciate this tool shed across from the barn with room for two more cars or trucks or loads of other equipment.

This is the fenced backyard and the view of the house from one of the horse pastures.  Yes, there are two separate pastures, both with lush grass and safe fencing. The fencing is Vinyl Centaur planking/rail with hot wire and treated wood posts to prevent rotting and shifting.   There's also a 20 x 60 meter outdoor riding arena on level ground which is very well-designed to drain off excess water.  It has a rubber/sand footing which offers springy comfort to your horses and is easy to care for.

Enjoy this view from the expansive screened porch! The pastures are out ahead and to the left, the barn is the wall on the right, with the paddock just beyond it and the outdoor riding arena past that.

Just imagine spending those warm summer evenings watching your horses graze contentedly from this comfortable porch...

or picture eating your breakfast from this table and seeing them frolicking around in the cool air with fall colors on the trees behind....

or in the wintertime, you can keep an eye on your horses while you're curled up by the fire in this cozy den.

  It has an open floor plan with large widows and is high-quality construction throughout.

...with a huge kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

There's so much to love about this horse property and home!

Check out the video and the virtual tour!

For more information on this property, go to http://donavin.com/