Sundance Horse Ranch

02/01/2026

My best boarders have always known this!!!!

Before you get into horses or decide you want to keep them at home instead of boarding, especially in winter, take these things into consideration:

Winter is not cozy barn vibes and hot cocoa. Winter is survival mode

• Water freezes. Constantly. Buckets, troughs, hoses, automatic waterers. You will be breaking ice multiple times a day or running heaters that can fail, short out, or spike your electric bill.

• You are hauling water. In the dark. In the cold. Sometimes multiple times a day. Snow, ice, mud, all of it.

• Mud season is real. And it is relentless. Everything is wet, slick, heavy, and filthy. Your boots, your clothes, your horses.

• Hay usage skyrockets. Horses eat more to stay warm. That means higher feed costs and more frequent hay deliveries, which can be delayed by weather.

• Your pasture is basically unusable. You are feeding hay full time, managing sacrifice areas, and trying not to destroy your land.

• Blanketing is not optional for many horses. That means on, off, change weights, fix straps, deal with ripped blankets, soaked blankets, and frozen buckles.

• Ice is dangerous. For you and your horses. One bad slip can mean a hospital visit or months of rehab for a horse.

• Vet and farrier access can be limited. Weather delays happen. Emergencies do not care about forecasts.

• You still have to go out there. Every day. Sick, tired, holidays, snowstorms, freezing rain. There is no calling out. In fact, even if you hire people, they will probly call out, leaving it to you anyway in bad weather.

• Your equipment suffers. Frozen gates, snapped hoses, dead batteries, tractors that will not start, heaters that quit at 2 am.

• Your time commitment doubles. What takes 20 minutes in summer can take over an hour in winter.

• Your costs increase while your enjoyment often decreases. Less riding, more maintenance, more stress.

None of this is to scare you. It’s to make sure you are informed.

Horses at home can be amazing. They can also be exhausting, expensive, and unforgiving in winter if you are not prepared.

If you are thinking about it, plan for worst-case scenarios, not best-case Pinterest versions.

Winter does not care how much you love horses.

This is shared with respect for the work, not frustration with it.
Jaks Stables

01/30/2026

horse of the year???

01/26/2026

we made it!!!
God Bless heated water buckets

01/26/2026

Heated water buckets, grass hay and round bales, my life is complete!!!

12/25/2025

🐴 For those who go to the barn to heal....to think….

There’s a reason the barn feels different when your heart is heavy.
A reason the air seems softer,
the sounds quieter,
the world a little easier to breathe in.

Horses don’t ask what’s wrong.
They don’t expect you to explain
or justify or pretend you’re fine.

They just feel you.
They read the things you don’t say,
the weight you carry,
the storm you’re trying to hide.

Somehow, they know.

And in their gentle, wordless way,
they offer you the kind of healing
people struggle to give.

The kind that doesn’t require talking.
Because horses don’t heal you
with answers,
they heal you with presence.

Sometimes healing looks like
brushing out a mane
until your thoughts untangle with it.
Sometimes healing looks like
burying your face in a warm neck
and letting the tears fall because
you’ve been trying to hold it together
for too long.

And sometimes healing is just
standing in the quiet,
with a horse beside you,
while the pieces inside you
slowly settle into place again.

For anyone going through something heavy right now…
for anyone who slips away to the barn
just to feel like themselves again…
you’re not weak.
You’re human.

And if you’re staring at an empty stall or an un used dog bed, a cat food dish covered with dust. You are not alone. They are with you. They are in the silent tears running down your cheeks, the last light of sunset through the trees and the memories you hold in your heart, through both sobs and smiles.

This Christmas I’m missing a few extra special horses, one in particular, that I didn’t even own on paper, but he owns part of my heart forever, even from heaven.

Healing will always visit me…in the barn. Especially at Christmas.

11/13/2025

this

"No one has ever asked me the question “Now, why do you enjoy horses so much?” But if they did, I wouldn’t be able to come up with an acceptable answer. I don’t totally understand it myself. The facts are, horses are expensive, large, risky, high maintenance, consuming and often a lot of drama. It’s not always a ball of fun. It can be stressful. It’s a humbling and constant learning process. I could counter that with their beauty, grace, fun, friendship and intelligence, but really none of those qualities define why I am drawn to the horse. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a reason to get out of bed in the morning, take a walk around the property in a blizzard, and get up at 3 a.m. to see if there are new baby colts. I’ve seen callused old men light up when they talk about cowboying on their favorite gelding years ago. I’ve seen toddlers bubble over with joy when they reach their chubby hands out and pet a friendly Shetland. What a gift the horse is to all of us, from the greenest of riders to the most experienced horsemen there are. " — Kelli Neubert