Sycamore Run Equestrian Center

I give this place a B plus overall. Given that it's just changed hands, and that the owners are making improvements as they go with the cash they have available, you've got to admire their dedication to making a go of it. The biggest limitation is grass turnout, which is top of their list to fix, but by rotating the horses, turnout is achieved. Stalls are safe, and dry, lots of hay storage, tack area private and secure, fencing is in pretty good repair and lessons are available. All disciplines are represented and respected. more

The below reviews were published by someone who was kicked out of the barn, thank god. Please ignore the rants. more

Horrible stables! Unsafe fencing, small stalls, inadequate ventilation, no bedding on a regular basis. Horses standing in urine/feces for days at a time. Stalls may ""appear clean"" but if you dig down, you will find packed urine. Horses always suffering from thrush and left UNTREATED. Owners horses are thin, overworked or left to stand in stalls all day long. There's no middle ground. Less than 5 acres of inadequate fields for turnout. Usually the stables have anywhere from 15-20 horses. Each horse would require at MINIMUM one half acre. You can do the math. Fields are full of weeds, not grass. Outdoor arena is used as a turnout and it's held together, literally, with ropes and has NO grass in it! Very unsafe barn. I wouldn't house a barn cat there, let alone my horse! Owners are not knowledgeable about horses and have been known to attempt to treat colic by shoving a hose up a horses butt or down their throat with no regards to whether the hose lands in the lungs or not and no vet is ever called for colic or any other condition unless owners feel ""threatened"" by volunteers or other boarders that the humane society will call. Stalls are not ventilated and the boarding agreement states that there will be barn fans in each aisle. I was there 4 months and there were NO fans. Water buckets were slimy and located too high for many horses to reach them comfortably but they stayed full which caused an insect problem. Stalls are full of dung beetles. Stay as far away from this stable as you can. Their claim that the Lippizaner Stallions stayed there IS true, but it's when the barn FIRST opened and the owners had the money to make it look nice and no one knew how bad it could get once the money ran out. more

I guess you could say Im a disgruntled volunteer/worker for barn help at this business but, its for good reason. I responded to an ad on craigslist requesting barn help in trade for riding lessons. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. The stalls did not appear to be cleaned on any routine basis. Some horses would stand in their own puddles of urine and feces 2-3 days at a time requiring me to dig 6inches in to get it all out just to turn around 2-3days later and do it again. They were not maintained during my absense. Many of the horses appear to not only be neglected of a clean stall but, clean water buckets (most of which were broken) or empty most days, in addition they were neglected of any human contact other than to throw grain and hay. They also seem to be neglected of routine vet care. Many of the boarder horses appear to in discomfort/pain and bored. Some of the stalls are too small for the size of horses residing in them. Many of the horses are hot and need hosed down they are swetting so much because there is no venilation fans/windows in the barn. As a volunteer and animal lover I volunteered my efforts to give the horses what they needed. The owner did not take kindly to it and requested in partnership with another volunteer that we not return to the property. This was primarily because a boarder shared information with her that there was concern for many of the horses not being treated properly. In addition I was not compensated for nor given adequet riding lessons as agreed to in trade for hours worked upon entering the facility more

The farm is under new ownership now, and I keep my TB mare there. She loves it! It's clean, safe, and the owners are wonderful with horses and friendly. My mare gets turned out everyday, and the stalls are kept spotless. more

The facilities could use a little cleaning up to do and the stables does not offer many services. It is at a very reasonable price though and is great if you are on a budget and just need to keep you horse somewhere for pleasure riding. more