Meadow Brook Stables

Meadow Brook Stables We also offer Riding Lessons and Horse Sales. Meadow Brook offers your horse a happy, safe and healthy environment and an enjoyable place for you.

Breeding Quality APHA & AQHA Horses who we have chosen for their willing personalities, excellent conformation, trainability as well as sought after pedigrees – with some color as an added bonus. We promote natural living conditions in order to successfully develop a horse's hooves and body, as well as an environment where your horses nutritional, sociological and physiological needs are all considered.

Day 545:Since it’s been raining SO much lately, today was a bit of a prevention day. Rain brings mud, moisture and a who...
09/20/2026

Day 545:

Since it’s been raining SO much lately, today was a bit of a prevention day.

Rain brings mud, moisture and a whole host of potential problems, so even when there isn’t an obvious issue yet, we like to stay ahead of things.

Today meant giving Easy a thorough grooming to make sure her coat is staying clean and free of built-up dirt and debris. A clean, healthy coat is better able to do its job of providing natural protection and helping repel water. When a horse stays wet and dirty for prolonged periods, the skin can become irritated and more susceptible to problems.

We also made sure her hooves were cleaned out really well. Constant moisture can soften the structures of the hoof and create an environment where bacteria and fungi can thrive. One of the things we’re watching for is thrush, a bacterial infection that commonly affects the frog and its grooves. It can cause a foul smell, black discharge and deterioration of the frog, and if it becomes severe, it can make the horse uncomfortable or even lame. Regular cleaning and keeping the feet as dry and healthy as possible are important parts of prevention.

Her legs also got a good inspection because prolonged wet conditions can contribute to mud fever (also called pastern dermatitis). Despite the name, mud isn’t actually required for it to develop. It’s a skin inflammation affecting the lower legs, often around the pasterns and heels, and prolonged exposure to moisture can damage the skin barrier and allow bacteria to cause infection. It can start as redness, irritation, small scabs or crusts and, in more significant cases, become painful, swollen and oozy.

And while we don’t actually have much mud here because our paddocks are gravel, that doesn’t mean we’re completely out of the woods. There is a LOT of moisture sitting in the grass and ground right now, and when horses are repeatedly exposed to wet conditions day after day, their skin and hooves can still pay the price.

Thankfully, Easy is showing no signs of any of these problems right now.

But prevention is much easier than dealing with a problem once it has developed, so for now we’re just staying diligent: clean coat, clean feet, checking those legs and keeping an eye on anything that looks even slightly abnormal.

Sometimes horse care is less about doing something exciting and more about doing all the little boring things that keep problems from becoming big things.

Today there was a yellow circle in the sky. So obviously I thought this meant WARM.It did not.The yellow circle was a LI...
09/20/2026

Today there was a yellow circle in the sky.

So obviously I thought this meant WARM.

It did not.

The yellow circle was a LIAR.

It was there all day, just sitting up there looking all sunny and important, while down here it was NOT warm enough for swimming. Not even close. And I had already mentally prepared myself for some quality pool time.

But instead of warm air, we had ANGRY AIR.

It kept doing these BIG warning puffs all day long.

You know the kind of puffs Mum makes when me and the other crias are doing something we probably shouldn’t be doing?

PFFFFFT.

Well, the AIR was doing that.

ALL. DAY.

PFFFFFT.

PFFFFFT.

PFFFFFT.

Nonstop.

I don’t know what the air was so angry about. Maybe somebody had been naughty (it wasn’t me, at least I don’t think it was me). Maybe it was mad at the yellow circle for pretending it was summer. Maybe it just woke up on the wrong side of the sky.

But honestly, I understood its frustration.

I was angry too.

Because it wasn’t warm.

And if it isn’t warm, there is no pool.

And if there is no pool, what exactly is the point of having a yellow circle in the sky?!

I would like to formally complain.

Also, I would like the air to stop yelling at me.

And I would like my pool back.

Thank you for your consideration.

09/19/2026

Mr Bean the mashup we didn’t know we needed.

09/19/2026

Gambit was feeling left out. He is either having an Insect-bite hypersensitivity — which can produce lots of tiny crusts/scabs, sometimes with very little obvious swelling. This can look surprisingly similar to rain rot, especially late summer when insects are active. Or multifocal superficial traumatic crusts/abrasions, suspected secondary to thistle exposure. Seriously these horses can’t stay out of trouble for one day.

09/19/2026

Feeding time with the foals always reminds me of “Hungry Hungry Hippos”.

Lini Bean 🩶Photo by Paige Villeneuve
09/19/2026

Lini Bean 🩶

Photo by Paige Villeneuve

Today, we remember Jazz. 🤎One year ago today, we had to say goodbye to one of the sweetest, kindest mares to ever call M...
09/19/2026

Today, we remember Jazz. 🤎

One year ago today, we had to say goodbye to one of the sweetest, kindest mares to ever call Meadow Brook home for a few years.

Jazz came to us in 2021, and over the years she became such a special part of our farm. She was the kind of mare who would willingly do just about anything you asked of her. She was gentle, patient, and trusting — although she did have one very firm opinion: she absolutely refused to put her foot in a bucket when she had ice balls stuck to her hoof. Some things, apparently, were simply non-negotiable.

We were incredibly lucky to watch Jazz be a mother three times. We got to see her raise three beautiful foals and experience all those little moments that make breeding and raising horses so incredibly special. She was a wonderful mother, and watching her with her babies is something we will always treasure.

Last year, we discovered that Jazz had a keratoma in her hoof. A keratoma is a benign growth that develops inside the hoof, usually originating from the tissues that produce the hoof wall. As it grows, it can put pressure on the structures inside the hoof and cause significant pain, lameness, and sometimes recurrent hoof problems. While surgical removal can sometimes be an option, Jazz’s situation had progressed to the point where we had to consider not only what was technically possible, but what would be fair to her and what kind of future she could realistically have.

Making the decision to let her go was incredibly difficult.

There is never an easy way to say goodbye to a horse who has been part of your everyday life for years. You feed them, care for them, watch them grow old, watch them have babies, and build countless little memories without ever realizing just how much of your heart they have quietly taken with them.

Her owner didn’t want Jazz’s final chapter to be defined by pain.

So, as heartbreaking as it was, she made the decision to let her go peacefully and with dignity rather than ask her to endure a future where her comfort could no longer be guaranteed.

We still think about her every day.

There are horses who leave hoofprints in the dirt, and there are horses who leave hoofprints on your heart. Jazz certainly left hers on ours.

But there is something comforting in knowing that she isn’t alone.

Jazz has now been joined by her best friend, Flint, and I like to imagine that somewhere beyond the fields we can see, the two of them are together again — running side by side, free from pain, doing what horses are meant to do.

No sore feet. No limitations.

Just two old friends, running through the fields together once again. 🤎🩶

We miss you, Jazz. And we always will.

Day 544:My grand plan to take Easy out for a little trail walk today was thwarted by the rain… again. I’m already gettin...
09/19/2026

Day 544:

My grand plan to take Easy out for a little trail walk today was thwarted by the rain… again.

I’m already getting pretty sick of the rain, and it’s only September. And apparently, we have several months of this ahead of us, with a warmer-than-normal winter being predicted. I really don’t like the cold, but I also really, REALLY don’t like the mud.

Why can’t it just be sunny and warm all the time, with just enough rain to keep the grass growing and give us some good hay crops? Is that honestly too much to ask?

It was so soggy this morning that Easy, Rio, Lulu and all the kids collectively decided they were NOT leaving the shelter. They had clearly reached an agreement that breakfast should be served in bed, and who am I to argue with that? So breakfast was delivered right to the shelter.

Thankfully, the rain eventually cleared off later in the day, but by then I had work to get done and didn’t have the time to take Easy out like I had planned. I did manage to give her a really good grooming earlier while the sky was falling, though, and we spent some quiet, undemanding time together at the end of the day.

I do think Easy is starting to feel like she’d enjoy getting back into a bit of a work routine. She’s curious, she’s interested in what’s going on, and I think she’s ready for a little more purpose in her days.

But between the weather and the fact that she’s currently doing her best impression of a trying to be draft sized, we’re going to take it easy.

She’s bum-high again, and when young horses go through these growth spurts, their bodies are constantly changing and adjusting as bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments catch up with each other. There’s no prize for rushing them through it. Sometimes the smartest thing you can do with a young horse is simply give their body the time it needs to grow.

So for now, Easy can have some grooming, some attention, some trail adventures when Mother Nature cooperates, and plenty of time to just be a horse.

We’ll get back to work when the weather, her body and our schedule all decide to cooperate. Apparently, I’m asking for too much if I want all three at once.

Today the weather was VERY confusing. The yellow circle was there. Then it wasn’t. Then it was again. Then it wasn’t AGA...
09/19/2026

Today the weather was VERY confusing.

The yellow circle was there.

Then it wasn’t.

Then it was again.

Then it wasn’t AGAIN… but this time there was sky water.

Then the yellow circle came back like nothing happened.

Then it disappeared AGAIN and MORE SKY WATER happened.

Then finally… THE YELLOW CIRCLE STAYED.

I don’t know who is in charge of this whole weather operation, but I have some concerns.

You can’t just keep turning the sky water on and off and making the yellow circle appear and disappear whenever you feel like it. Some of us have IMPORTANT ALPACA BUSINESS to conduct.

I had to keep changing my plans. First I was going to stand dramatically in the sunshine. Then I was going to avoid the sky water. Then I was going to stand in the sunshine again. Then I had to reconsider because apparently the sky was leaking. Then the yellow circle came back, so obviously I had to look fabulous again. This is no way to run a weather department.

Whoever is running this operation needs to be sent back for additional training.

Sincerely,
Mr. Garbanzo Bean Sprout

Some of the kids tonight.
09/18/2026

Some of the kids tonight.

Address

200 Stevens Road
Stewiacke, NS
B0N2J0

Telephone

+19029866999

Website

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