10/18/2026
Two years ago, we closed on our very own Hundred and Twenty Acre Wood. 🍯
We had big dreams, a whole lot of ambition, and absolutely NO IDEA just how much work we were getting ourselves into…Or how much it was all going to COST!🤪💸 Oh and how much knee, hip, back, skull, toe, eyebrow…. WHOLE BODY… pain we’d acquire.
If there’s one thing Andy and I are particularly terrible at, it’s stopping long enough to appreciate what we’ve accomplished. We’re so busy looking ahead at the next twenty projects that we rarely take the time to look back at the hundred we’ve already finished.
And the truth is, sometimes we need to remind ourselves just how far we’ve come.
So, in honor of two years of this crazy adventure, here’s a little recap of what we’ve been up to!
🔨 TWO YEARS OF BUILDING, FIXING & IMPROVING:
🐴 Transformed a junk-filled, neglected barn into our beautiful indoor riding arena.
🐴 Completely cleaned out, renovated, and built out the interior of our original three-stall barn.
🐴 Demolished the deteriorating addition on our old dairy barn and transformed the former cow stalls into 8 spacious horse stalls!
🐴 Built a brand-new 36’ x 104’ hay storage building.
🐴 Constructed our 120’ x 200’ outdoor riding arena.
🐴 Built 13 run-in sheds throughout the property.
🐴 Fenced and cross-fenced 43 additional acres of pasture.
🐴 Cut, cleared, and established trails throughout the farm.
🐴 Saved our old dairy barn from collapsing and are now 75% finished residing it! (A project I’ve been talking about since the day we moved in!)
🐴 Brush hogged, cleared, and reclaimed acres upon acres of overgrown, neglected pastureland that hadn’t seen proper maintenance in YEARS.
And somewhere in the middle of all that, we apparently decided we weren’t quite busy enough…
👶 SO WE MADE A WHOLE HUMAN!
We got pregnant, welcomed our beautiful daughter Winona into the world, and somehow managed to keep this crazy farm dream moving forward through pregnancy, postpartum, and all the chaos that comes with having a baby.
And in true farm-kid fashion, she celebrated the occasion by absolutely NOMMING on her very first steak last night. 🥩
But when I think about everything we’ve accomplished over the past two years, the things that mean the most to me aren’t necessarily the buildings, fences, or improvements.
💙 We’ve rescued and rehabilitated numerous horses, giving them second chances and the opportunity for better lives.
🏆 We hosted our very FIRST horse show, and it was an absolutely incredible success! Seeing so many people come together to enjoy something we’d worked so hard to create was a pretty special feeling.
🐎 We found an incredible partner in Stephanie Rodman of SR Performance Horse’s , who has become such an important part of our farm, our program, and everything we’re working toward.
❤️ We’ve met some truly wonderful people, made lifelong friendships, and built a barn family that means more to us than we could ever put into words.
And boy, oh boy, HAVE WE LEARNED SOME LESSONS.
Some wonderful lessons. Some incredibly expensive lessons. And some lessons we would’ve been perfectly content going our entire lives without learning. 😂
We’ve learned a lot about farming, horses, construction, business, and people. We’ve learned just how much we’re capable of when giving up isn’t an option.
We’ve certainly learned that grit isn’t just the dirt that gets in your teeth…
We’ve laughed until we’ve cried, and we’ve cried until we couldn’t anymore.
We’ve experienced moments where our hearts were so full of pride we thought they might burst, and moments where our hearts were completely broken.
We’ve been exhausted. We’ve been overwhelmed. We’ve been frustrated beyond belief. We’ve questioned our sanity more times than I could possibly count. (I’m sure plenty of others have questioned it too.)
And we’ve been so broke it ain’t even funny. 🤪💸
There have been days where everything seemed to fall perfectly into place, and days where absolutely NOTHING went according to plan.
And while Andy and I have poured an unbelievable amount of blood, sweat, tears, money, and some rather questionable words into this farm, we certainly haven’t done it alone.
To our boarders, friends, family, customers, neighbors, and the incredible community that has supported us along the way: THANK YOU. ❤️
Thank you for believing in our crazy dreams. For lending a hand when we needed one. For showing up to our events, supporting us, trusting us with your horses, and cheering us on as we figure this whole thing out.
Whether you’ve been here since day one or have only recently become part of our farm family, please know how much your support means to us.
We still have SO MUCH we want to accomplish. Our to-do list somehow manages to get longer every single time we cross something off, and I’m fairly certain we’ll never actually run out of projects. 😂
But two years ago, we looked at this neglected old farm and saw what it could be.
Today, we’re finally starting to see that vision come to life.
And much like Winnie the Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood, we’ve learned that the greatest adventures aren’t necessarily about where you’re going, but the friends you make and the memories you create along the way. 🐻 (Though where we’re going is pretty cool too.)
Here’s to another year of adventures in our very own Hundred and Twenty Acre Wood. And knowing us, probably another hundred and twenty projects we have absolutely no business starting. 🤪
With love (and definitely a little sawdust in our hair),
The Kelly Family & Burnt Feather Farms 🐴❤️
P.S the dish washer we bought the day we closed still isn’t installed, but hey the horses have beautiful stalls. Taking bets on if it’ll be installed by year 3! 🤪
