Melissa has been riding and showing horses for over 27 years. Throughout her years of horse involvement she has boarded horses at facilities catering to horses that are in training and showing, and she has also cared for her horses at home.

We have been boarding and caring for retired horses together for several years. This is not a side business for us, nor are we filling an empty pasture in a facility that mainly caters to horses in training. We spend our days caring for the retired horses that reside with us on our farm. We take their care very seriously and through the years have earned a reputation as one of the most widely known and respected horse retirement farms in North America.

Our Retired Horse Boarding Philosophy

We believe that the most stress free world for animals is one that mimics their natural environment as closely as possible. Horses were not meant to spend 23 hours a day in stalls. In the wild, horses roam free, and bond together with their herd... that is what they do here too! Even our horses who are stall boarded are still provided with ample turnout in compatible groups.

Many of the retirees here did not enjoy turnout in their "former" lives. They would pace or run the fence begging to be taken back to their stalls. Thanks to our large, well maintained pastures and our ability to choose between several turnout groups, all of the horses retired with us learn to love turnout. We have a lot of experience in transitioning horses not only to turnout, but transitioning them to turnout with other horses. Interestingly, the horses that used to hate turnout the most end up becoming the horses that dislike being in the barn the most - much to their owners' surprise!

Horses are grazing animals and were meant to live primarily on forage. Here in middle Tennessee, we are blessed with a mild climate, fertile soils, and abundant rainfall that ensures good grass for most of the year. Our horses can comfortably live outdoors all year round with minimal blanketing, and they are supplemented with high quality free choice hay during the winter.

To complement our pastures and hay, we feed the horses with high quality feeds from Triple Crown Feeds. With high levels of energy from fat and low levels from rapidly digestible starch, readily available minerals, and high quality all plant protein ingredients, it is specially designed to meet the energy, mineral and protein needs of our retired equine friends.

We believe that to be the best at what you do you must surround yourself with excellence. We maintain a close working relationship with Tennessee Equine Hospital and two outstanding farriers. We also have working relationships with nutrition and research professionals at the University of Kentucky, the University of Tennessee, and Middle Tennessee State University. If we don’t know the answer to your question, rest assured we will find out.