About Us

Sheila Farstad riding her favorite mount, *Dove's Easter Bunny

Sheila Farstad riding *Dove's Easter Bunny.
February 2009

Sheila & Rick Farstad are active breeders who are determined to proof their breeding stock as all around, versatile and willing mounts. They only way to do this, is climb aboard themselves! Dove produced lovely offspring for the Farstad's with the last being *Howard. She is now retired and will continue to be used as Sheila's main riding horse.

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Rick & Sheila's Goal with their horses, farm and breeding program:

Sheila & Rick Farstad are past breeders who are determined to prove their breeding stock as all around, versatile and willing mounts. The only way to do this, is climb aboard themselves!

We care deeply for our horses and do our utmost to provide great all around care. Below are some of the basics in care and buyer agreements.

We love these horses because of their pleasant temperaments, their ease of handling, their desire to please and their love of people.....curlies are the social butterflies of the horse world.

We plan to offer our amazing horses and facility to anybody who feels the need for healing or just to spend time with them over the fence, grooming, sitting on them or going for a ride. We are open to hear what dream you have. We understand that not all people are as blessed as we are and cannot own these magnificent animals. Maybe you don't have the means or the land or the time for full-time horse ownership but would love to spend time with horses. We would love to help that happen for you. Give us a call and we can arrange a meeting between you and your new best friend. We offer "Get to Know Me" sessions on a regular basis and would love for you to join us. Just give us a call to make sure that we are going to be around. We also offer "working holidays" where you can come and join us for an hour, a day, or a week and join us in our day to day chores/activities. You can help fence, train, groom, tend injuries (if there are any), move horses, take pictures, or enjoy the Land of the Living Skies on horseback. Its our own version of Equine Therapy!

Please inquire! Also offered: Art Therapy and individual Art Mentoring, Quantum Touch/Reiki for both humans and animals, and Equine Massage.

We do allergy testing with our horses....if you want to see if Curly Horses are hypoallergic for you all that we ask is that you bring your medication and an open mind. If you have other allergies please let us know as we have other animals and non-curly horses around the farm and please call and give us 2 days notice so that we can give the horse a bath and make sure we do not handle them with halters and brushes that have been used on the non-curly horses.

Care Specifics:

Feed:

We make every effort to provide our horses with good quality feed, suppliments and fresh water. In winter, all horses are fed alfalfa/grass bales, free choice mineral and salt and in the summer they are provided with plenty of fresh grass (pastures are rotated for optimum performance), free choice mineral and salt. Working horses, broodmares and youngstock receive supplimental feed in a pelleted form to perform/grow to their potential.

Vaccinations:

We vaccinate yearly for Eastern & Western Encephalomyelitis, Tetanus Toxoid, and West Nile Virus.

Farrier:

Farrier work is performed on a regular basis on all our horses. If there are any concerns, we work closely with our Farrier to address them.

Worming:

All our horses are on a quarterly worming rotation, alternating with Ivermectin

Environment:

Paddocks and pens are cleaned out twice yearly. Pastures are fenced with an electric smooth top wire and two strands of barbed wire. Some paddocks are five feet high using welded page wire and wood, others are welded tubing. The horses environment is check regularly for hazards and potential threats are dealt with promptly.

Training:

Ground Manners:

Our goal is for our horse to be halter trained and easy to handle in all preceivable circumstances. We handle our horses on a daily basis and expose them to having their feet handled, sacked out, loaded, tied, bathed, walking on different surfaces, walking through things over their heads, staying calm away from their herd, trust issues, and other polite things as they occur to us.....it is a circular experience for both the horses and handlers......we teach them.....they teach us.

Saddle Training:

We believe that young minds have to mature as well as bodies, so we do not saddle train until our horses are three. We PLAY with them before that so saddle training is a technicality. We provide the basics of head down for haltering/bridling, giving to the bit (direct pressure), understanding leg pressure, shy in place, face fear, and a lot of practice with trail riding! We expose our horses to both English and Western tack. Our goal is to have SAFE horses that are prepared to face what life throws at them. As a special service to our customers, we offer additional training with a professional certified un-affilliated trainer/coach (upon availability).....please inquire if this is something that you would be interested in (this trainer is in extreme high demand so please give as much notice as possible). This trainer has also provided us with assessment of our horses on the behalf of potential buyers to see if they are suitable......In our opinion this is a smart consumer practice and we encourage our buyers to consider it.....the fee is nominal (please check for current fees).

Breeding:

We are no longer breeding our horses but when we did it was our belief that our mares needed a year off between breedings to assure that they were in the best possible health and shape to provide a healthy environment for their growing foals.

Purchasing:

We have a standard purchase agreement that is signed by both parties and addresses any concerns of an individual basis per sale.

Pre-purchase exam:

Purchaser is encouraged to arrange and perform a pre-purchase exam of our horses.

Deposit:

We require a $500 non-refundable deposit in good faith to hold horses.

Agreed Upon Prices:

Prices are in effect as long as negotiated between seller and buyer on an individual basis as we understand that each person has different circumstances to deal with. We are more than agreeable to discuss options with you.

Purchase Agreement: We use a standard purchase agreement with adjustments for each sale depending on the buyers needs. Standard to all agreements is the agreement that the horse will never be sold by auction or through a broker.