A Shoe Farm?

"The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit, and fire."  Sharon Ralls Lemo

Hanover Shoe Farm. Have you ever heard of a shoe farm before? There must be a hidden meaning which I have been unable to discover from their website. Hanover Shoe Farm is a North American Standardbred horse breeding facility. It traces back to the early 1900s and continues into the present day.

In 2001 Hanover Shoe Farm set the all-time breeder earnings record regardless of breed with $21,372.418 in annual progeny earnings. The historic farm encompasses 2,426 acres and is home to 9 stallions, 336 yearlings and over 500 broodmares.

And they're right here in our own back yard, not Kentucky!

Last year my friend, Kim, told me about the farm. Visitors are welcome to walk around, in and out of the barns where those stallions are housed. In March I asked Kim if she'd like to visit the farm with me and we scheduled a date.

I confess to tweaking this snap as I hated all the mud and dirt! So I put down a little green grass for my enjoyment! Wish I could have gotten the head of the other foal. But one mare was having a good time and the other mare was very dirty!

It was cold. It was windy. It was sunny. Brrrrrrr. What a day! But we went anyhow and enjoyed our time horsing around.

I liked the way this foal was peaking under Mom's neck. A safe place to be!

There were several foals in the fields that we enjoyed watching. There was only one foal in the barns, still a little young to be out romping around.

If I remember, this one was two days old. But Momma was standing by, out of photo range on this snap.

 Meet Well Said, with his name on his "bridle"? (I'm not a horse woman so not sure if that's the correct name for the leather.) Well Said has brought in over two million dollars and his stud fee is $15,000. A very big guy!

We saw this lane when we were leaving, and I just had to get a snap of it. A cozy little barn and house with fields and horses a far.

On my way home I drove pass another horse farm in Winfield, just south of 26 on 94. I've taken snaps there before. There were several mares and foals in the field so I stopped and got some snaps of them.

These guys came over to see me when I stopped the car to get some snaps.



I've past this barn often on my way to New Windsor. I've always like the flowers on the side of it.

So if you ever hear of a shoe farm and wonder what it is, it's just another name for a horse farm! And this one was prestigious!

“Horses make a landscape look beautiful.” Alice Walker