05/25/2026
We are getting more and more followers and people asking about foals, so I feel we need to tell you just a little about us…☕️
At Footloose Farm, we have spent over 13 years in the Gypsy Vanner breed striving to produce quality horses that we are truly proud to put our name behind. Not just pretty horses, but horses with health, minds, structure, versatility, and the ability to excel in so many different directions.
As a veterinarian, I probably overdo health testing and workups compared to most breeders. Our horses are monitored closely, mares are ultrasounded carefully, foals are evaluated constantly, and every horse receives the level of care I would expect as a professional.
But behind the scenes, I think people sometimes forget that this farm is not run by a huge staff or investors or paid trainers handling the daily work. My husband and I do this ourselves while also raising three children and running a busy mixed animal veterinary practice. I am a solo vet in high demand, often spending all day trying to save animals’ lives, handling emergencies, surgeries, appointments, and everything in between. Then at 8 PM, when most people are winding down for the night, we are out in the dark checking mares, fixing fences, handling foals, feeding horses, dragging pastures, or dealing with whatever farm problem decided to happen that day.
And on top of that, we deal with serious health concerns daily for myself and one of our sons. There have been days where we have had to carry heavy things emotionally while still showing up for our animals, our clients, our children, and this farm. Some seasons have been harder than others, and there are moments where exhaustion feels overwhelming. But we keep going because we genuinely love this life, we love these horses, and we love what we have built together as a family.
People often assume breeding horses is some huge profitable business, and I can promise you that is far from reality. If you think breeders like us are getting rich, you are sadly mistaken. It costs an incredible amount just to properly feed and care for horses the way we believe they deserve with quality hay available 24/7, good feed, supplements, routine veterinary care, farrier visits every 6 weeks, dental work, show expenses, training, hauling, reproductive work, AI, embryo transfer, and the endless upkeep that comes with maintaining a farm and show-quality horses.
And some extra icing on that cake, we also handle our own advertising and promotion ourselves. We do not pay people to market our horses or run our social media for us. The pictures, videos, posts, updates, messages, inquiries, and networking are all done by us too, usually late at night after the farm work and clinic work are finally done.
Right now, like so many breeders across the country, we have foals available that have been sitting longer than normal. It is disheartening at times, but it is also the reality of the current horse market.
I also think people sometimes forget what they are purchasing when they buy a foal or yearling. These are babies. They are not finished, dead broke, push-button horses with years of training. Buying a foal is very similar to bringing home a toddler. They require consistency, time, patience, handling, exposure, and training to mature into what they are capable of becoming. That investment of time is NORMAL and expected.
Could we keep every horse until they are older and more trained? Sure. But that would make them significantly more expensive because training, feed, and upkeep are not free. There seems to be this unrealistic expectation at times that a yearling should behave like a seasoned show horse, and that simply is not realistic or fair to the horse.
At the end of the day, we do this because we love it. We love the early mornings, the late nights, the first breaths of newborn foals, the accomplishments in the show ring, and watching horses we created go on to become loved by other families. We are proud of what we have built here….even on the hard days. And we are incredibly thankful to those who continue to support small family breeders like ours, who pour their entire hearts into what they do. 🙏🏻💕
📸: Picture of our 2026 Chief X Faith c**t (Clad) and our 2 year old silver chestnut Immanuel X Aednat filly (Little Red)
