ABM Stables LLC

03/27/2025

Lady bug looking adorable with her pig tail forelock 🐞💗

03/22/2025

On what would have been your 26th birthday, I am celebrating all of the love, laughter and memories you left me with sweet Bobby boy 🪽🤍
💕

03/15/2025

Absolutely! 👏🏼

If you have a horse you are called to be horseman. Yet many make excuses for not stepping up…

Everyone wants the companionship, the partnership, the abilities, the feeling, the freedom... that comes with being a horseman.

But horsemanship isn’t a feeling. It’s a responsibility.

A responsibility to put the horse’s needs first. To show up, every day, with the discipline to improve yourself so you can be better for your horse. To lead with clarity. To do what’s right and needed, not just what feels good.

Most people ‘just’ want to have fun with their horse doing what they enjoy. Most don’t want that kind of responsibility. Yet when you have horses, it is your responsibility regardless if you want to or not.

And I do believe horses are here for us to enjoy, yet the fact is, with horses and in life the way we get to enjoy things we want and desire is by first serving others.

Those who actually step up and take responsibility for the role they have taken on… Those are the real horsemen.

As a horseman…
1. The needs of the horse comes first. Always.

Not your wants, desires, goals, or timeline. Not what makes you feel comfortable or cozy. The horse’s needs dictate what needs to be done. You serve the horse first, and when you do the results, your goals, your dreams are able to follow in abundance and quality.

2. You fix yourself before you try to fix the horse.

The horse is NOT a mirror to your soul. Your horse responds to who you are- physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. If there’s a problem, the first place you look is within yourself and then to your horse.

3. You don’t avoid challenges—you welcome them.

Growth and comfort dont live in the same arena or barn. Growth only happens when there’s pressure, challenges, and sometimes even struggle. That doesn’t mean we go out creating more trouble- absolutely not- yet when it arises in the learning process a real horseman does not shy away those challenges with their horse. Instead, they guide them through it building deeper partnerships and skills.

4. Your emotions don’t run the show.

Your horse doesn’t need your frustration. They don’t need your fear, your self-doubt, or your ego. They need leadership. They need presence, clarity, vision, patience, consistency. You stay present on your horses needs and you feel whatever you need to feel after the session.

5. Pressure is not the enemy. Confusion is.

Pressure is part of learning. Nothing creates a more frustrated horse than a human driven by emotion with a lack of decisiveness, consistency and awareness of the horse. A horseman knows it’s not the amount of pressure but rather the timing and significance of the release that makes the biggest difference.

6. Boundaries create confidence.

A horse that knows the boundaries are consistent and supportive feels safe and can fully submit. Leadership means serving them, giving them structure, clarity, and trust.

7. You let the horse think.

Micromanaging creates robotic, neurotic and anxious horses. You present the question, give them the time and ability to make their own decision, let them figure it out then guide and support them as necessary.

8. You learn from every horse.

A true horseman never stops being a student. Every horse has something to teach you—if you’re humble enough to listen. When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

9. The goal is not short term gratification. The goal is setting that horse up for a lifetime of success.

What we do with our horse develops their skills. How we do it develops the partnership. A horse that is forced to perform is not the same as a horse that chooses to.

10. You reflect, you refine, you return.

After every ride, you analyze what worked, what didn’t, and how to improve. You don’t just do more, you do better.

11. You lead by example.

You don’t demand respect, you earn it. You don’t just teach the horse discipline, you live it. Your horse is always responding to who you are. The question is: are you someone worth following?

We are all called to be horsemen but many will never step up because they are too focused on themselves. For those who choose this path to do what is best for the horse, there is no deeper reward.

The world needs more real horsemen.

The world needs more real leaders.

“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”

The same goes for our horses.

-Colton Woods

02/23/2025

Circa 2003, when the arena was being built for the barn. Peep little me in the bottom left corner of the photo 🫶🏼

02/21/2025

I’m one of the girls who wants to always have a clean horse but also understands horses are happy being dirty and playing outside…

I have found the best products, in my opinion, to keep a “clean” horse throughout the cold months when bathing isn’t an option. The following pictures/video is Teddy today, he has not been bathed in months.

Microtek, Marigold, and Avocado mist are my go to products. This is not a sponsored post, I truly love these products!

The microtek is great to keep any skin issues away while my horses are under blankets for a long period of time.

The Marigold keeps their coats sooo shiny, moisturized and soft. Not to mention the smell…. heavenly 🤌🏻

Avocado mist is HANDS DOWN the best detangle spray I’ve found.

A few other tips I follow in the wet/muddy months to keep my horses looking their best, until I can bathe them again-
✨ alternating blankets often to keep them clean and horses feeling comfortable
✨keeping tails in a tail bag, bi-weekly tail washing and detangle weekly
✨always following the three steps of brushing~ curry, stiff brush, soft brush to finish and detangling manes/tails from bottom to top

Once you get a routine down with these products, you will notice the difference in cleanliness and health of your horse’s coats and not feel so anxious to bathe as soon as it’s warm again ☀️

02/14/2025

Happy Valentine’s Day! Give your horse a kiss today 😘🥰💗

02/11/2025

A Little Two Deluxe
March 22, 1999-February 11, 2025

My sweet Bobby. Today we laid you to rest right beside my Alibi girl. Letting go of two horses within two years feels so wrong but I know you are both running free together in Heaven. I hate this part of owning animals but it’s the price I pay for having you in my life, and for that I am eternally grateful.

You will forever be the showmanship king. You sparked my love of showmanship and helped me grow exponentially in that class. I always knew you were better at showmanship than I would ever be. There were so many times where you did everything perfect even though I made mistakes. It truly was your favorite class and so it became mine. You set the standard exceptionally high, no horse I have will ever measure up to your skill in hand.

The barn will never feel the same without your sweet presence. I will miss you racing up to greet me at the pasture gate. I wish that I could have found a way to keep you here longer, I truly did try everything I could and I hope that you know that. I have found peace knowing you will no longer be in pain, no matter how much it hurts.

Until we meet again, my boy. Give Alibi a kiss for me- I know how much you have missed her. ❤️‍🩹🪽

01/27/2025

What no one tells you about owning a horse boarding facility….

•It’s loving someone else’s animal so much it hurts at times.
•It’s noticing and addressing the slightest change in a horse’s behavior, eating, or drinking habits.
•It’s staying up all night to monitor someone else’s horse when they aren’t feeling well.
•It’s an overwhelming feeling of guilt when a horse gets hurt or sick; even though there was nothing you could have done differently to prevent it.
•It’s facility overhead. There’s ALWAYS something that needs fixed or updated.
•It’s having a camera roll full of cute, silly pictures of horses you don’t own.
•It’s eating Taco Bell 3 nights in a row because it’s the only place still open when you finish chores at 11pm and you’re starving.
•It’s unplugging/plugging in water tank heaters several times throughout the day/night to try and keep the electric bill from quadrupling.
•It’s an overwhelming feeling of anguish for weeks on end when you have to tell boarders that the cost of board must go up.
•It’s working on every holiday, birthday, anniversary, and sick day.
•It’s a constant feeling of guilt for not spending enough time with your own animals.
•It’s wondering if you pay your wonderful help enough, even though they make more per hour than you do most days.
•It’s getting to know horses even better than their owners do, in some ways.
•It’s rearranging family, work, and personal commitments to take care of horses.
•It’s dreaming about that bathroom remodel you’ve always wanted, but getting new fencing installed instead.

Boarding horses is so much more than feeding, watering, and cleaning stalls. It isn’t for the faint of heart and it surely isn’t for anyone looking to get rich. It takes a village of people with a special place in their hearts for equines. To anyone that can relate, just know that you ARE APPRECIATED! 🐴❤️

01/14/2025

Operating a horse boarding facility is not for the faint of heart, hell the horse industry in general isn’t for the faint of heart. Horse boarding is often a thankless job, one that requires all of you every single day. Boarding horses is most definitely not a “get rich” job. You have to know your WHY and remind yourself frequently why you do what you do.

My ‘why’ is for the love of the horse. It brings me great pride knowing that horses in my barn know love, care and will always be a top priority. I truly enjoy knowing every different type of horse that comes into my barn and learning to be a better horseman because of them. I do what I do for the horses.

If you’re lucky, like me, you will get to meet some pretty great people along the way. They will appreciate you and see you for all that you do, and they share the love of the horse that you have. But don’t make people your ‘why’. People will let you down and won’t always see you for all that you are. Don’t get hung up on these kinds of people. Remind yourself of your why and keep moving forward. Not everyone will always see the work that horses require from people. The time, money, heartbreak that comes with loving a horse… but that is okay. What you put into a horse in love and care will always pay you back tenfold. So today (and always) remind yourself why you do what you do and remember that it all started for the love of the horse.