February 2019

Helmets are mandatory whenever mounted anywhere on the property by all riders of all ages. We encourage you to wear your helmet at all times when working around your horse and encourage the use of other appropriate protective equipment. Any rider under 18 MUST be directly supervised by an adult over 18 for the entire time that they are mounted. 

No smoking or vaping anywhere on Footnote Farm property.

No dogs are allowed on Footnote Farm property for any reason at any time. Please DO NOT leave your dog in your car or in your horses' stall.

Staff only are allowed in hay and shavings bays. There are hazards in these areas therefore ONLY staff allowed. If you have concerns about your stalls' bedding or feeding please bring that to my attention but please refrain from entering off limit areas.

Please pick up after your horse in the arenas, grooming areas, and wash rack. This practice not only makes the space more comfortable it prevents degradation of arena surfaces, keeps the air cleaner when riding especially, and lessens fly and pest problems.

Please respect the privacy of your fellow boarders and farm residents regarding any personal information regarding their person or the horses that you may learn in passing. Likewise, please be mindful of others' privacy when posting or sharing information on social media. Please adhere to strict privacy policies around not entering the personal living space of the Barnes' family home and stables or the Caretaker residence. Help us keep Footnote Farm a positive place where everyone can enjoy their time outside with their horse. Any questions, concerns, comments about management, facilities, or fellow boarders or their horses should come directly to management or staff and will be handled in a professional and confidential manner. 

All visitors to the farm who will be in contact with horses to pet, groom, ride, etc must complete a waiver. Please contact staff or management for this form.

To preserve the quality of the footing absolutely no longing, turnout in any arenas. Also, do not allow your horse to paw and roll if being hand walked in arenas. Please make use of the round pen for longing or short periods of supervised turn out. Grass paddocks are reserved for Full Service and Plus boarders. You are welcome to hand graze along the roadways and on the large grass area across the driveway from the East end of the indoor arena.

Footnote Farm adheres to Equestrian Canada's statement of principles as it relates to the humane treatment of horses. This requires "that horses be treated with kindness, respect, and that they never be subjected to mistreatment."

Yes, you can! We are happy to set safe courses outside. Let us know what you are working on and we can help design a course for you. We recommend you have a friend or trainer assist while you are jumping. Riders under 18 may not jump without an instructor present.

All vehicles must adhere to the strict go as slow as you can policy. Also, please do you part to be a good neighbour and drive courteously on our street and connecting streets.

We want your horse to be safe, comfortable, and have quiet time for this reason we do night check at approximately 8 pm and require lights out at 9 pm and on no earlier that 6 am. If you need an exception for any reason please contact management.

If you select the Full Service or Full Service Plus options we an offer a $50 per month discount on each additional horse.

Yes, and there is no additional "haul in" or "outside trainer" fee charged by us to have your trainer come to you at our facility. We ask that your trainer adhere to our farm rules and require that Coaches are Equine Canada Certified and are up  date and current with Equine Canada & HCBC. Coaches must also carry insurance where we are named as additional insured on your instructor’s policy.

We offer secure, heated tack room facilities and provide lockers in the backroom for the essentials. We can also provide storage for blankets. However, we cannot store show tack trunks and other non essential sundries.

There is very limited space for trailer parking on a first come first served basis for 2 or 3 horse non LQ trailers at $100 per month.

Our primary goal is for you and your equine partner to be healthy and happy. To this end we do require that every horse be exercised or handled in some manner out of it's stabled environment at least 5 days a week. Our facility may be suitable for some retired horses and for some on rehabilitation or limited exercise programs on a case by case basis. Please complete our online application (link above) or otherwise enquire to discuss your horses' needs.

Please complete our online boarding application. Once reviewed and accepted we will ask you to complete a board contract, complete the waiver, and will be required to pay the first and last months' Full Board fee. We require 30 days notice given in writing on the last day of the month prior. Additionally, you may move in and out of the various service options on a monthly basis as your needs warrant.

We are happy to keep you on a wait list with no deposit required and will contact you when a stall becomes available.

Despite our best intentions, unfortunately, things can go wrong. Please bring concerns or questions immediately to our attention via text, email, FB Messenger, or call and we will do our best to make things right and follow up with you personally as soon as possible.

We will administer first aid and contact your veterinarian and yourself. If we cannot reach your vet or you we will contact our Farm's veterinarian and ask that you have an account with them for emergency services. With your regular vet and our emergency attending veterinarian we recommend declaring up to what dollar amount is the maximum that you authorize treating in advance.

On occasion things need to be closed for repairs or for weather. We will communicate general updates on our Footnote Farm FaceBook page and on communication boards in the barn. Any urgent updates related to yourself, your property, or horse and we will communicate via text, phone, or email. 

We will email you a monthly statement and can accept cheque or etransfer. A late fee of 10% will apply for payments 5 days late. 25% late fee will apply after 15 days late. If payments are late for 3 successive months we will be forced to give notice. 

Our regular hours are considered M-F 8-4. My family and I love to live on the farm as does our resident care taker. We do a walk through of the farm and horses around night fall or 8 pm at the latest. We highly recommend all riding and horse exercising be done by this time so that any problem with the horse can be noticed and addressed in a timely fashion. We do request all lights be out and the barn quiet by 9 unless by special appointment. 

We have measures in place to ensure the safety of horse and property as best as we can; however, we do recommend that you seek the advise from your insurance broker for your own coverage needs.

We have made a large investment in 3 large generators for the farm. These not only keep the lights and water heaters on but also keep the well pumping to ensure our equine friends are never without water. We have battery operated security lights mounted in the indoor which will come on instantaneously should the power go out 

As many as your horse needs! To manage our stabled friends as well as we can to reduce boredom and the risk of gastric ulcers we try to keep feed in front of our horses as much as possible. We feed in Nag Bag hay nets and will work with you to feed your horse to optimal condition. Typically, the average healthy horse will eat 2% of her body weight a day to maintain weight or 1.5% or less with a veterinarian's support for weight loss. If your horse needs a fair number of kgs of hay per day they may only need their hay bag replenished 2 times while horses that get less feed may need more feedings to meet our goal of busy mouths. We will feed grain and supplements 2 times a day.

About 75% if our stall waste is composted. Some goes to community gardens and much is reused here on the farm to replenish the organic material on our pastures that house our mares and foals. The majority of the stall waste that cannot be composted is wet shavings which is removed and taken to a landfill.

Having a background in Behavioural Psychology I can assist with barn management and handling challenges. Mia Sheldon is on hand and a phone call away to help with riding training needs. If it is sport specific help you seek just let us know what you need and we will help you find it from trail to dressage.

The best way to reach me is via text at 778-822-3276, call the same number, FB messenger, or email footnotefarm@gmail.com

If it is an emergency please call my cell.

If you need an answer today but it can wait a few hours for a response please text.

If it is non urgent an email or FB message is a great option.

Yes - as an open barn where horses come and go they have a relatively high risk of exposure to viruses. We require all horses to have a minimum of Flu, Rhino, Tetanus, and West Nile once a year. If the horse is showing s/he may benefit from biannual Flu/Rhino. In the case of contagious outbreaks we may require additional vaccines only as recommended by our local veterinarians. Alternatively, you may submit a titer for your horse and in the rare case your horse has allergies or another life threatening condition caused or exacerbated by a vaccine they may have a waiver provided by a veterinarian. 

In good faith we allow outside trainers to ride or provide lessons. You are welcome to lease your horse (provided the rider completes a waiver and abides by all farm rules) and you may have a friend offer to help for pleasure but we do not allow other paid subcontracting for your horse's care.

Yes, we can feed horse supplements that are top dressed in addition to or instead of our grain options. We ask that you adhere to the medication policy ie that medications must be administered by staff and prescribed by a veterinarian. In other words, medication should not be premixed in with feed supplements. Bring a 1-2 week supply of supplements to the barn and give these to staff to store and record for you.