Hidden Creek Stables

03/11/2023

Mountain Mane-iacs 4H Club | Bonfire

Mountain Mane-iacs 4H Club | Bonfire

Grab your limited edition Mountain Mane-iacs 4H Club merchandise before the campaign closes. Featuring Black Premium Unisex Tees, professionally printed in the USA.

02/21/2023

🌷Spring is almost here and daylight savings time changes in 3 weeks!! Now is the time to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. What better way to do that than with a horse?

We have expanded our hours and are ready for new students.

We would love to have you meet our horses!🦄

12/10/2022

It Matters Who You Horse Show With - The Plaid Horse Magazine

This right here. Find your happy no matter what it takes.

BY CHLOE HARDGRAVE I was tired. I wanted to go home. I was covered in sweat and tears from the round before. My horse had pushed me past the point of a bad show round. I wanted to give up.  Now, this was not a one time thing. This was an every day, every lesson […]

08/30/2022

Some client horses have sold and we have stalls opening up October first!!
~12x12 matted stalls
~outdoor arena with jumps
~ individual to herd turnout
~tack room
~heated bathroom and kitchen
~trails onsite
~ great atmosphere with friends to ride with

Contact us to schedule a visit. You won’t be sorry!!

07/03/2022

A little rain never hurt anyone. Song and Fiona made huge improvements from their last show. Fergie and Kat had awesome rides with all of the pieces coming together. On to Pine Spur next weekend!!!

06/15/2022

Keeping your horse cool and comfortable during this heat is imperative! Here’s a list of just a few of our favorite resources:

https://extension.umn.edu/horse-care-and-management/caring-horses-during-hot-weather

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/heat_stress_in_horses

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/caring_for_horses_in_hot_weather

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/help_your_horse_handle_the_heat_this_summer

https://thehorse.com/117663/10-hot-weather-horse-care-tips/

06/04/2022

Happy pony Happy life. 🥰

05/18/2022

Spent the morning with this guy ♥️♥️.

05/15/2022

Watching the Bonnie Blue National Horse show.

Message us to join the fun.

05/09/2022

Come join us!!
Now accepting new boarders, training horses, and lesson students of all ages!!

05/07/2022

Now offering driving lessons!!

Message us today about reserving your driving lesson.

05/03/2022

04/30/2022

Last call for ladies night!! Today is the last day to register.

Hiddencreekstablesva.com

04/24/2022

Parents Night Out

Cancelled

Come join us for an epic evening. Parents can enjoy a night without kids. Kids can have an evening enjoying horses and friends!

Parents need some time to themselves every once in a while. Allow Hidden Creek Stables to help you out. During Parents Night Out the kids will be loving on horses, decorating t-shirts, making cookies to feed to the horses, and playing capture the flag. Pizza is included!! **Lesson students please si...

04/18/2022

We've expanded our lesson times!

04/17/2022

03/16/2022

Convenient to Cave Spring and Floyd, Hidden Creek Stables welcomes you to join us for a fun-filled week.

Register here>>
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSen1Tp6sX6KhMEI-s4cG_WQ_QulZtAxHjrvi0UtIduam5m4WA/viewform?usp=sf_link

03/13/2022

It's not too late to sign up for lessons this year!!
We are full during the week but still have a few Saturday lesson times available.

Please message or call to set up your lesson time.

03/03/2022

It’s almost spring!!
We are now scheduling riding lessons. We have limited availability but strive to have the best program we can!! Anyone interested in setting up farm tours or lessons please get with me ASAP as spots are filling up quickly!!

03/03/2022

Finally got our little Lucy going under saddle. Our assistant trainer Fiona has been working hard to get her pony going!!

02/28/2022

Play time.

Happy Horses Happy Life 🐎

02/27/2022

Rare opportunity one stall board and one field board available immediately and another stall will be coming available April 1st!!
12x12 matted stalls, outdoor arena, round pen. Large turnout fields. Trails. Heated/ AC tack room, bathroom and kitchen area.
Hay and grain twice daily. Blanket changes as needed. Stalls cleaned daily. Over 20 acres of pasture!! 4H group for the kids and lease options available.
Training, lessons & board available.
Please PM or call/text 540-206-4166 with questions.

02/10/2022

Rare opportunity one stall board and one field board available!!!
12x12 matted stalls, outdoor arena, round pen. Large turnout fields. Trails. Heated/ AC tack room, bathroom and kitchen area.
Training, lessons & board available.
Please PM or call/text 540-206-4166 with questions.

12/23/2021

Christmas Eve Eve ride.

12/22/2021

It’s not to late to get a last minute gift. Only a few holiday packages left!!

Looking for last-minute Christmas gifts? Give the gift of a lifetime!
Hidden Creek Stables is offering last-minute gift packages.

Message us for more details.

12/17/2021

Looking for last-minute Christmas gifts? Give the gift of a lifetime!
Hidden Creek Stables is offering last-minute gift packages.

Message us for more details.

11/26/2021

Looking for an experience instead of more stuff laying around your house? Horse back riding lessons are the perfect gift!! This weekend only purchase a lesson package and get a lesson free!!!
Message us for details!!!

10/27/2021

Just a few spots left in our Halloween camp!!
Activities include dinner, pumpkin decorating, trick-or-treating with ponies, and a costume contest. Parents can enjoy an evening out!!

https://hiddencreekstablesva.com/lessons/ola/services/halloween-camp

09/27/2021

Join us for a spooky good time. We will have costume contest, candy scavenger hunts, and pumpkin decorating. Pizza for dinner and plenty of candy!!!!

08/22/2021

Hidden Creek Stables Boarding~ Training~ Lessons

Hidden Creek Stables in Copper Hill is now offering day camps on holidays the kids are out of school. We will be holding our first day camp on Labor Day from 9-2.

Have your child come spend the day learning about horses. We will play games, learn to take care of the horses, and ride (weather permitting). Kids should pack a lunch but snacks and drinks will be provided. Mask Required for indoor activities.

Camps are open to all riding abilities. No previous riding experience is necessary, beginners are welcome and encouraged.

Book online at HiddenCreekStablesVA.com

Horse boarding, training, and lessons

08/19/2021

08/06/2021

Interested in signing up for lessons or visiting our facility? Check out our updated website where you can now do both of those things!! Check the online appointments section and schedule today!!

05/18/2021

Things have been moving along with our projects. Stalls going in now and the arena will start soon!

As for our horses, we are still waiting for DNA results on the saddlebreds. Unfortunately, our hackney pony came back without a match. Hopefully any day now we will get our saddlebred results back.

Everyone is gaining weight nicely and coming along. We have now ridden the ones who have gotten to an appropriate weight and are working on ground manners with everyone. It looks like everyone is going to be able to be used for lessons in our very exciting future. For now rest, rehab, and food are what these guys need. They have the resting part down as you can see.

04/20/2021

Well today is the day. Sending off four DNA samples to hopefully find out who Doug, Kevin, Franklin, and Lucy are.

03/17/2021

03/09/2021

What is the longest a horse can safely go without food?

More and more I see horses and ponies stood for long periods of time with no hay or haylage. Usually under the guise of a “weight control diet”. So how long can a horse be without food before damage is done? And what damage is done?

For those with a short attention span, I’ll give you the answer to begin with - 4 hours, maximum.

Why?

Horses are grazers. They are designed to eat constantly. They have no way of storing their acids and digestive enzymes, they’ve never needed to. They have no gall bladder to store bile and their stomachs release acid constantly, whether or not there is food in the stomach and intestines.

A horses stomach only holds approximately 8-15 litres. Depending on the substance eaten, it takes on average 4-6 hours for the stomach to completely empty. After this, the acids and enzymes start to digest the inside of the horses stomach and then the intestines. This causes both gastric and intestinal ulceration. It has been estimated that 25-50% of foals and 60-90% of adult horses suffer from ulceration. But I won’t go into detail about this, there is a lot of information around about ulcers.

So is that it? Are ulcers the only concern?

No, having an empty stomach is a stress situation for a horse. The longer they are starved, the more they release stress hormones, cortisol predominantly. Cortisol blocks insulin and causes a constantly high blood glucose level. This stimulates the body to release even more insulin, and in turn this causes fat tissue to be deposited and leptin resistance. Over time this causes insulin resistance (Equine Metabolic Syndrome). All of these mechanisms are well known risk factors for laminitis and are caused by short term starvation (starting roughly 3-4 hours after the stomach empties). Starving a laminitic is literally the worst thing you can do. Over longer periods, this also starts to affect muscle and can cause weakness, and a lack of stamina so performance horses also need a constant supply of hay/haylage to function optimally.

Let’s not forget horses are living, breathing and feeling animals. We talk about this stress reaction like it’s just internal but the horse is well aware of this stress. Door kicking, box walking, barging and many other stable vices and poor behaviour can be explained by a very stressed horse due to food deprivation (we all have that Hangry friend to explain this reaction). Next time you shout or hit a horse that dives for their net, remember their body is genuinely telling them they are going to starve to death. They know no different.

But surely they spend the night asleep so they wouldn’t eat anyway?

Not true. Horses only need 20mins REM sleep every 24 hours (jealous? I am!). They may spend a further hour or so dozing but up to 22-23 hours a day are spent eating. So if you leave your horse a net at 5pm and it’s gone by 8pm, then by 12am their stomach is empty. By 4am they are entering starvation mode. By their next feed at 8am, they are extremely stressed, physically and mentally.

Now I know the cob owners are reading this mortified. I can almost hear you shouting at your screen “if I feed my horse ad lib hay he won’t fit out the stable door in a week!!”

I will say that a horse with a constant supply of hay/haylage will eat far less then the same horse that is intermittently starved. They don’t eat in a frenzy, reducing the chance of colic from both ulcers and over eating. Cobs included.

However I’m not suggesting you sit your cob in front of a bale of haylage and say have at it! There is a difference between ad lib and a constant supply. There is much we can do to reduce calorie intake and control weight whilst feeding a constant supply.

The easiest is small holes nets. There are many. Trickle nets, greedy feeders, nibbleze, trawler nets etc. My personal favourite is the Shires Soft Mesh 1”. They don’t cost the Earth, they are easy to fill and they don’t have knots so are much gentler to the teeth. Now often I suggest these types of nets to owners and the owner tells me “Oh no, *** won’t eat out of those” 🙄 this is nonsense. If he was left it, he would. Remember, you can give a normal net and one of these for them to nibble at after. Better than leaving them with nothing at all.

A few other tricks, hang the net from the ceiling/rafters, it’s harder to eat out of a net that swings. Soak the hay, a minimum of 4 hours to be effective. Mix with straw but be sure to introduce the straw slowly and make sure it’s top quality and a palatable type eg Barley or Oat, otherwise they won’t eat it.

Don’t forget exercise. The best way to get weight off a horse is exercise. Enough exercise and they can eat what they want!

And lay off the bucket feed and treats! Horses on a diet require a vit/min supplement in the form of a balancer but that’s it. The odd slice of carrot or swede won’t do any harm but no licks, treats, treacle, molasses, cereal based rubbish. Even if it says low sugar or the marvellously misleading “No added sugar”! Your horse would rather have a constant supply of hay, I promise.

Written by Vikki Fowler BVetMed BAEDT MRCVS

A few edits for the critics-

Firstly, feeding a constant supply does not mean ad lib feeding. It means use some ingenuity and spread the recommended amount of daily forage so the horse is never stood with out food for more than 4 hours. I am not promoting obesity, quite the opposite, feeding like this reduces obesity and IR. This can be done whilst feeding your horse twice a day as most horse owners do. Just think outside the box for your own situation.

Secondly I am in the UK and this post is UK specific, use some common sense when reading. Yes in warmer climates, soaking hay for 4 hours is dangerous and studies show 1 hour is plenty in hot weather but in the UK’s arctic climate, a minimum of 4 hours is required. Equally the UK feed exclusively grass hay. I can not comment on other types.

Thirdly, yes every horse/pony and situation is different, but this is a law of nature and all horses have this anatomy and metabolism. How you achieve this constant supply is individual, the need for it is not.

Fourthly, the use of hay nets in the UK is very very high. I’d estimate 95% of horses I see are fed this way and very very few have incisor wear or neck/back issues as a result. Yes, feeding from the ground is ideal, but a constant supply, I feel trumps this. Again with ingenuity both can be safely achieved.

Finally, straw can be fed to horses safely, introduced very slowly, with fresh water always available, plus a palatable and digestible type of straw which will depend on your area. Again many horses in the UK are bedded on straw and most of them eat it. This is not a new concept to us.

Final finally 🤦‍♀️ and I feel I must add this due to the sheer number of people contacting me to ask, feed your horses during transport!!! I am astonished this is not normal in other countries! Again in the UK, we give our horses hay nets to transport. We don’t go 10 mins up the road without a haynet and a spare in case they finish! Considering we are a tiny island and we rarely transport even 4 hours, we never transport without hay available. I have never seen an episode of choke due to travelling with hay available. If you are concerned, use a slow feeder net so they can’t take too much in at once.

If you get to the end of this post and your first thought is “I can’t do this with my horse/pony, they’d be morbidly obese”, you haven’t read the advice in this post thoroughly.

03/08/2021

Hidden Creek Stables

Got the website for the new farm going yesterday. Looking to open May 1st for stall board.

Hiddencreekstablesva.com

Horse boarding, training, and lessons