Long Meadow Farm, Foster RI

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Long Meadow Farm, Foster RI A small private farm dedicated to the basics of Horsemanship; from care, to riding, to Liberty.

It's taken awhile for me to be able to make this post. Truth be told, I just couldn't say the words out loud. Mooney is ...
10/13/2026

It's taken awhile for me to be able to make this post. Truth be told, I just couldn't say the words out loud. Mooney is gone. I had to let her go several weeks ago knowing it was the kindest thing to do after she developed cancer. Mooney and her sister Star have been part of the farm for close to fifteen years. We called them the twins and joked that there was an evil one and a sweet one. Mooney was the sweet one. She had a heart murmur from birth that could have shortened her life but it didn't. Kids could tote her around anywhere in any contorted position where Star wasn't always on board for such demeaning treatment and let more than a few people know they had wronged her with a yowl and a scratch. The real problem was telling them apart. The kids were warned and, " Is this the nice one or the mean one ?" was the standard question everyone one learned to ask before laying hands on them. I believe animals feel more deeply than we know. They build relationships with each other and whether it is love as we know it or something else is irrelevant. For me the twins were proof of this. Throughout their lives they were inseparable with only an occasional spat or two. Towards the end it was necessary to confine Mooney more and more so they were apart quite a bit but I believe they still knew nothing was final and they were still in each other's lives. It was only when Mooney was gone completely that Star's behavior changed. She knew things were different. She knew this wasn't temporary, that Mooney wasn't in a crate or just in the house. Star knew she was gone. For weeks she would follow myself or the kids around, sticking close and crying often. Stella, one of the youngest kids on the farm one day said to me , " Erin Star reminds me of the book," Are You My Mother?, only she is asking us "Are You My Sister?" Star has quieted a bit, her grieving or searching is lessening but I doubt she has forgotten her sister. If Mooney were to return I'm sure she would recognize her immediately and rush to greet her. If there's a heaven for cats Mooney is there and that reunion may happen one day, if Star can learn to stop yowling and scratching people that is. Sleep well little kitten.

Horses will be horses. An itchy shoulder and a random screw in the wrong combination add up to a few stitches. Some futu...
10/13/2026

Horses will be horses. An itchy shoulder and a random screw in the wrong combination add up to a few stitches. Some future horsewomen , veterinarians, doctors, or possibly scientists in the making were here to lend Dr. Amanda a hand. Thanks once again to Bayberry Equine for their wonderful work.

P**p- I obsess on horse p**p. I'm sort of a connoisseur of it. What color , what texture, how much, it's all that sort o...
10/11/2026

P**p- I obsess on horse p**p. I'm sort of a connoisseur of it. What color , what texture, how much, it's all that sort of stuff. I even take pictures of it. This odd character trait may be what contributes to horse people often being considered "crazy". Just put two horse people together and while not the stuff of polite conversation the topic will eventually come up. The fact is we are not crazy. We care for an animal that has approximately one hundred feet of intestines, a terrible bio mechanical design by any standards and colic is the deadly result when things go wrong . Often the first warning sign that the system is in trouble can be the p**p or lack of it. My own children at a young age were taught to watch and analyze p**p while doing chores. It wasn't good enough to just blindly scoop it into the wheel barrow each day. All the students here are also taught to watch the p**p. Like a little army of future horseman they report in any suspicious deviations in p**p to me ....so on second thought maybe we horse people are "crazy"

When the weather is the worst, who arrives at the barn to lend a hand? It's the ladies! Gail and Johanna certainly aren'...
09/27/2026

When the weather is the worst, who arrives at the barn to lend a hand? It's the ladies! Gail and Johanna certainly aren't fair weather horse lovers and I can't thank them enough.

09/21/2026

Liberty gives the illusion of a magical bond between horse and human. The finished product looks like a dance between horse and human. Truth be told that bond isn't magical. It is built over time through careful work that builds one skill upon another, one cue upon another. Whip skills, footwork, and fluid energy are just part of the process. Kate and Ava turn practice into the dance that will become the basis of that look of magic .

09/21/2026

This past summer we had a special four legged camper -Miss Cadence. While the kids learned what it takes to start a pony Cadence learned what it means to be a horse.

09/12/2026

Small kid small animal-it's a simple formula that leads to independence and solid horsemanship skills-bigger isn't always better

The hidden costs when owning a horse farm: A friend of mine uses the term "soft costs" a lot when I complain about what ...
09/12/2026

The hidden costs when owning a horse farm: A friend of mine uses the term "soft costs" a lot when I complain about what things in the farm cost. I have come to believe she is talking about those hidden expenses you don't expect or the ones you sort of just don't think about until you have to, or the ones you just take for granted. Maybe you plan for disasters maybe you don't but either way the unexpected may happen whether you have horses or not. The difference is when you own and board horses your disasters along with those not so "soft" costs will exponentially increase. This is simply because you must have more of everything -more land, more buildings , more taxes, more machines, more gasoline, more lights, more electricity, more water, more mowing, more landscaping, more plowing the list is endless. This year it was our well -it failed. Seventeen horses twenty gallons each, every twenty four hours. That was a lot of hauling, lifting, begging, and borrowing. We were told the well needed to be fracked. Fracking we did. When the water was restored it revealed a broken waterline underground near the barn that acted a bit like old faithful due to the new water pressure. No doubt the leak( which was not detectable underground previously) was what caused the well to fail. This brought about a whole new host of those nasty soft costs. In came the rental machine, the new hydrant, assorted piping, gravel, sand, hours of free labor from the very capable husband, and finally a new high tech shut off valve so Alexa can shut off the water to the barn when not in use , just incase. So when you start to feel aggrieved at the prices you may pay for board or lessons think about all the things you don't have to pay for or worse still, worry about. Some days I think "maybe I should just board my horses somewhere,and then the alarm goes off and I wake up.

Summer always seems to start slowly. When the days finally get warm and school ends it feels like we have tons of time s...
09/12/2026

Summer always seems to start slowly. When the days finally get warm and school ends it feels like we have tons of time stretching out in front of us. Camp starts the same way. There are hours of preparation, scheduling and arranging for help. It all seems so daunting and slow going in the beginning. Will it work? Will the horses be solid citizens? Will we manage the heat? But then it flows. It picks up momentum and then in a blink it's all over and summer is done. Here are few shots from our last week and our final hurrah - riding under the lights , learning to ride ba****ck, camping out, a farmer's breakfast, chores and Liberty in our PJs . It may be over but hopefully the memories will last forever.

The next generation: It's said horses are isolating and in many ways that is true. When others go on vacation you remain...
09/11/2026

The next generation: It's said horses are isolating and in many ways that is true. When others go on vacation you remain behind to "feed the horses". At family gatherings you leave early to "feed the horses". You miss monumental events like weddings, graduations, and even funerals when there's an emergency at the barn. But horses also connect people in amazing ways. Last weekend baby Penelope came to meet her older equine brother Bucky.We met Bucky's owners as boarders years ago . We attended their wedding as a family even bringing Bucky along to be part of the wedding party. Bucky has brought untold joy to dozens of children here. His small size and amiable personality has made him an invaluable teacher of basic horsemanship as well as leadership to the very smallest students. Shortly, he will have the most important job of all, teaching Penelope and we just can't wait to be part of this second generation.

Address

43 Winsor Road
Foster, RI
02825

Telephone

+14015782043

Website

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