| First Farm Inn | |
| Kentucky's Bed and Breakfast for people and horses | |
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| Riding 101 | Riding Attire | Riding Comments | Traveling with Horses | Meet our Horses |
Sundance is the newest addition to our herd. Gentle and quiet, but friendly, he takes the lowest position in the herd hierarchy. |
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Sage is a Heinz 57 of the horse world. We were told the little grey gelding is 12 years old and part Mustang, but our farrier says he has Thoroughbred hooves. His size of 13.2 hh belies that. He seems to have a variety of untrained gaits alluding to Tennessee Walker heritage. Very kind with beginners who don't hang in his mouth, Sage's round back requires a balanced rider. A very easy going horse, Sage is a very responsive but forgiving horse who has a lot of get-up-and-go. He's a fun ride for a small or medium-sized rider. Sage came from the mountains and doesn't have much education, but as Susan, his owner says, we hope to at least get him a G.E.D.. Another horsey friend is sure he's a Kentucky Mountain Horse with his sneaky smartness, speedy walk and effortless fox trot. |
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Sam is the obnoxious teenager in the herd, never accepting his place in the hierarchy, always pushing or attempting to push the others around. A black and white Tennessee Walker, Sam is a Cadillac in terms of horse gaits. His running walk is effortless and smooth, tho as lazy and stubborn as he is you'd think doing it for 10 strides was like running a marathon. At 15.2 hands and 1,200, Sam was starved so badly when he arrived that we had to feed him yogurt for a week to get his digestive system back in balance. Now 12 years old and well fed for 7 years with us, he still assumes he's near starvation and will snack every chance he gets with a rider who's not paying constant attention. A real personality, Sam will eat anything from banana peels to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches offered in an outstretched hand. More intimidated by men, Sam needs a rider who is assertive enough to make him mind his manners. We ride Sam in a Western saddle. He neck reins well. |
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 Ginger, a registered Appaloosa, is the queen of the herd and a former Western Pleasure show horse. Her sparse mane and short "rat tail" are natural Appaloosa traits. At 13, she's a brown roan with spots, 15.3 hands tall and 1,200 pounds with nice conformation and horsey manners that make her very easy to ride. Trained with a lot of violence before she came to us, she can be easily frightened when out of her own environment or away from her herd. Ginger is the perfect slow and easy going horse for a rider who is timid or nervous. She can be ridden English or Western and has some done some dressage and jumping. Having been with us for 9 years, Ginger has had lots of beginner riders and needs some pushing to get moving. |
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 Bodacious (Bodie) , is a very cute registered Spotted Draft. Though he looks larger, he’s only 16 hands and about 1,400 pounds. At 9, he ought to have more training than he does, but evidently he’s used his size to intimidate previous owners. A big baby, he’s friendly and easy going. His coloring, bright orange spots on white, is called tobiano. His mother was a paint and his sire was a Belgian, from whom he inherited his huge (but cute!) head with a white blaze. A long thick mane and “feathers” on his pasturns make him even cuter! As you can tell, we’re mesmerized by his cuteness! Bode is a lot of fun for riders who aren't intimidated by him. His strides are huge and a bit more comfortable if he is "collected." He knows he's a big boy, but is very willing to do what is asked of him. He's learning dressage. Bode is very sweet and responsive. Anyone who isn't intimidates by his size can ride him. |
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 Idaho Dancer - Buying a horse is always an interesting experience, a question of trust, honesty and how much the horse tells you that corroborates or overrides what his seller is saying. This little guy's previous owner told us he was five years old and his name was Idaho Dancer. She said when he was two, kids were jumping from a trampoline onto his back. She bought him at an auction of half-Arabian horses. He was fat and healthy when we saw him, but his hooves told us he'd experienced malnutrition and little to no hoof care for a year or more. An untreated wound left a scar on his leg. Despite being turned out with no care or attention for a couple years, Idaho responded very well to Tatiana and adapted to the herd quickly. When we finally got his registration papers, we learned that his name is not Idaho Dancer but Iowa Dancer and he came, not from Idaho as we'd been told, but from Wisconsin. In addition, he's seven years old, not five. At 14 hh and 900 lbs., Idaho is a very smart, responsive horse for a small, sensitive rider. He's half Pony of the Americas as indicated by his "snowflakes" or little white blotches intermixed in his light bay coat which is turning to roan this summer. From a distance he looks nearly buckskin with his black mane and tail. Like most of our horses, he loves attention and is very affectionate. |
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 Seven's Tiger is every inch a Thoroughbred as his lip tattoo indicates. Getting him neck and neck with another horse at a canter guarantees a race that doesn't stop until he believes he's won, despite his 29 years. Very sensitive to everything around him, he's always on high alert, caring for his herd, particularly the mares. When first given to us, he bounced around in all directions like a popcorn kernel in hot butter during the entire ride, an exhausting effort for both horse and rider. Astute guests in the counseling profession tuned Jen into his need for constant conversation to get comfortable with his rider. Three months of nearly three hours a day nursing a hoof abscess that wouldn't heal early in Seven's tenure with us built a bond. (That adventure lasted nine months ran us thru four vets and about $1,200 for a give-away horse…) College educated as horses go, Seven has been trained in dressage and jumping. Headstrong and a bit stiff with age, he doesn't always show off his extensive talents. A little bay with a star, Seven's only 15.1 and 1,000 pounds. He's really not as fat as you'd think seeing his pot belly, it's muscle atrophy from age and huge lungs that keep his rocking chair canter going until your arms hurt from holding the reins. While he has no particular health problems, Seven is now retired. |
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 Kismet is a 13-year-old Oldenberg gelding imported from Germany to become a dressage horse. Nearly 17 hands tall, he was likely overfed as a youngster causing the cartilage in his shoulder to grow inappropriately. That's left him with pain in his shoulder if he makes tight turns in one direction. Trained extensively in dressage, Kismet is sweet and friendly and loves attention. Due to behavioral issues under saddle, Kismet is no longer ridable and is available for free as a pasture companion. Please call 513-460-0028. |
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| While we believe that buying a horse is a commitment for a lifetime of care, sometimes a horse just isn't a good fit in a particular situation. We find that guests return to our website for updates and wonder when a photo is removed, so we've decided to fill you in on what we know. We work to find good homes that will fit the horses personalities and issues. In answer to those emails, whatever happened to: | |
Ebony came to us lame from being locked in a stall for six months and wearing built-up
weighted shoes to show as a "Big Lick" horse. He still expected to be hit in the head with a 2x4 yet again. It took two years to convince Ebony that
it was safe to take carrots and apples from our hands. Despite eight years of corrective hoof trimming, walking on legs deformed by his built-up shoes,
he still stumbled and tripped constantly. His ankles showed lumps and discoloration from chains and chemical burns. The lack of pigment on his cannon
bones evidenced flailing chains hitting his legs. That "training" is now outlawed on the Tennessee Walker show circuit, but many still do it.
Tatiana was four when Ebony came to us and became her jungle gym. She rode him alone at 5 when her feet didn't reach below the saddle blanket. After years of being isolated and not understanding herd hierarchy, Ebony's huge grain consumption need partnered him with old Don Diego. They became great friends in their last few years. Don's death brought Ebony flashbacks to his previous home and his fears returned. At at least 25, with the terrible 2007 drought, he began losing weight mid-summer. Despite constant dental care, he wouldn't eat enough to keep his weight up. To prevent further suffering as the drought worsened and his arthritis exacerbated, Ebony was euthanized in July. We hope learning about how horribly little Ebony was treated and meeting him taught many about the viciousness humans can inflict on horses, intentionally and not. Please do not remain silent if you attend Tennessee Walker, Saddlebred, or any other shows and see horses being abused. If you see horses being starved or abused, report it to your local animal shelter, your state veterinarian or 911. Follow up the next day and make sure action was taken. Animals cannot speak for themselves. Please have the courage to speak for them. |
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Shadow Evidently bone from the tiny v-shaped break in Shadow's sesmoid (small bone in the back of her hind ankle) migrated into her muscle, reducing the chances she'll ever be ridable again. Our beautiful grey mare, the personification of Merrylegs, has moved to Cleveland to be a pasture companion for another mare. She may even have a baby or two under the supervision of a former jockey and his wife who are long-time horse lovers and owners. She'd been with us since she was a month old, tho we met her the day she was born jet black with a white star on her forehead. As a yearling she began to grey and each year became lighter. It was a fluke accident that evidently happened when she was goofing around in the field in April 2007. She was on stall rest with Ebony as a babysitter, but she still reinjured it. | |
 Sweet old Don Diego our little bay Arab, died Dec. 10, 2005, at 33. He'd had a long and happy life, but was blind, deaf and very arthritic. He was one of the happiest horses we've ever met, always eager for any kind of attention. Poor old Ebony, who likely had never had a friend before Don, mourned him terribly, guarded his body until we could get it taken away, stopped eating for weeks, and still isn't the same. |
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 Ginger's Coriander, who was born at First Farm Inn at 5 A.M., Sunday May 5, 2002 so guests could watch her stand for the first time. She moved away in April 2006. After four years of constant handling, supplements and training, she still had an odd unpredictable streak that made her unsafe for guest riders. A month at "reform school" and two years under Jen hadn't helped, so we found an experienced rider who wanted a good trail horse and moved her away from her mom. Cori immediately took over as the queen of the herd and gave up her old tricks from all we've heard. We traded her for big Bode who had gotten rather full of himself and was pushing his weight around in his old barn. |
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 Stormy, a big bay Tennessee Walking Horse we had for years, was lots of fun to ride with great gaits and plenty of go, but headstrong, hard-mouthed and barn sour. He was an expert at removing and hiding his grazing muzzles so he could eat unlimited quantities and risk making himself sick. While he was a fun horse for a strong rider, he took a very big rider on a fast spin back to the barn and convinced Jen he wasn't safe for guests to ride. He's now living in Eastern Kentucky where he is climbing mountains for a woman who had breast cancer and was told she should only ride a Walker. We traded him for Bella. |
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 Bella, the sweet little 14.2 hh strawberry roan Appaloosa-Quarter Horse, who had come to us with a back swayed from a too-heavy rider and shoes nailed sideways on hooves that were incorrectly trimmed, was never accepted by the First Farm Inn herd. Chiropractic, lots of back strengthening exercises, shoe removal and corrective trimming, brought her back to looking like a 12 -year-old mare. With winter coming and her being the outcast who was forced to stand outside the barn, we found her a home with an experienced rider a bit up in years who was looking for a small, quiet trail horse. When Bella joined the new herd with a strawberry roan pony and two elderly descendants of Secretariat, she became the queen! |
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| If you are interested in offering a home to a horse, especially one who isn't perfect, please let us know. We are constantly offered horses, many of whom have health problems or behavioral "issues." We attempt to place as many as we can in caring, reliable, safe homes. They're great lawn ornaments! There are also many services that place unwanted Thoroughbreds or abused horses. |
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Phone toll free from Cinci area: 859 586 0199 Please call between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. E.S.T. Email: info@firstfarminn.com 2510 Stevens Road Idlewild, KY 41080 |
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