"Out to Pasture" -- the Medina Gazette
 

"Moonlight Farms Caters to the Older Crowd" -- The Horse Magazine

 

This article appeared in The Horse Magazine, March 2005 issue

What It Takes to Run Rescue, Rehibilitation and Retirmement Facilities:
One Farms Experience -- "Moonlight Farms Caters to the Older Crowd"
Written by: Carolyn Heinze

When Melissa Sas and her husband purchased a farm in Medina, Ohio, 1998, she was seeking a pasture buddy for her horse. A friend donated her retired mount, and a business was born.

"This business kind of started by accident," Sas recalls. "I had other people call to see if I could board their horses. I was just planning on having two, and I have eight now, and we have a waiting list."

Sas has embraced her role as facility owner wholeheartedly. "It’s something I really enjoy," she says. "It gives them a chance to live our their lives and be well cared for. And it seems that people who don’t have their own farms are really looking for something like this."

For retired horses, Sas finds that the more time spent on pasture, the better. "Most of our horses are out on pasture, which is the best thing for them because they are the happiest to be there," she says. "They all have stalls that they come into at night, but for their older joints and bones, it is more comfortable for them (outside)."

Sas has used her experience with traditional boarding facilities to shape the way she operates her own. "When we bought this place, my horse was having a lot of problems with arthritis," she recalls. "He was put out to pasture here for a few hours a day, and his arthritis has improved greatly. It has made a world of difference for him. Basically, the horses here live the life of leisure - they are out to pasture all day and they are spoiled and pampered. We handle them exactly the way the owner wants. With a lot of boarding facilities that doesn’t seem to be the case, but here it is."

The horses at Moonlight Farms are between 20 and 25 years old. Many of their owners live far away and rely on Sas to provide them with regular updates. "They will come out a few times at first to see that their horse is comfortable and well cared for, and that he has probably gotten a little chubby," says Sas. "I send pictures out a couple of times a year for them. The majority of our owners have purchased a new horse or are busy with their careers, so this is just one thing that they don’t have to worry about because they know that their horse is happy and well-cared for."

Sas points out that one of the biggest challenges associated with operating a retirement facility is the amount of time and commitment that is required out of the facility owners. "We tried to take a vacation once and it was really hard, because it’s difficult to find someone to take your place," she says. "You really need someone to look out for them all the time, because things can happen."

Sas advises those interested in opening their own facilities to start gradually. "Start out slow and small, and make sure that this is what you want to do and that you are committed enough and have enough time to do it," she says. "You can’t just throw an old horse out to pasture and think that it will be fine. You must make sure that this what you want to do."

For a retirement facility to truly work, Sas believes that it should house retirees only. "I know that some of the other retirement facilities will do boarding, and showing as well, and there is a lot of coming and going with trailers in and out," she says. "I think it’s kind of nice (at a retirement-only farm) if they don’t have to worry about what’s going on, or what’s happening in the next barn or the next stall. I think they like being in a retirement home."

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Located in the far southwest corner of Medina, the rolling hills and green meadows are home for several lucky horses who will reside there till their time on earth is over.  Moonlight Farm is a retirement farms for horses whose owners want them to live out their lives comfortable, safe and happy.  The farm is operated by Steve and Melissa Sas, whose love of horses is evident in the way they care for those they board.

Melissa says she has loved horses all her life but didn't get her first one until she was 20.  She learned about their care through riding and horsemanship lessons and still has many knowledgeable friends to consult if something unusual happens.

The business of Moonlight Farms happened by accident, says Melissa.  After moving to Medina with her own horse, a friend who was relocating gave her a horse she could no longer care for, to be a pasture buddy.  By word of mouth, others asked if she would board their show horses that were getting too old to compete, and the couple decided to establish a retirement home for horses.

They currently have five horses and are considering adding to the barn to make room for seven.  That would be their maximum.  A concern is overcrowding and not having enough pasture grass for spring, summer and fall.  Of their 10+ acres, six contain four fenced grassy pastures.  The grazing time is rotated from pasture to pasture to keep the grass green and growing.  An additional fenced sacrifice turnout is used when its rainy so they don't tear up the grass.  Mares and geldings are kept in separate pastures to keep the peace and new horses are introduced slowly to the herd until they learn the pecking order.

The barn sits on the highest point of their land for good drainage, is bright and airy and exceptionally clean.  Each stall has a window and the ceilings are high so is they rear up, they won't hit their heads.  Thick rubber mats line the stall floors beneath, with sweet smelling wood shavings almost 2 feet thick.  They get a lot of shavings in their stalls explains Melissa, to make lying down more comfortable to their older bones and joints.

They have a routine.  They go outside in the morning and only want to go back to the barn in the evening when they know theyâre going to get grain.  "They go out pretty much everyday," Melissa said.  "They'd rather stand in the rain than stand in their stalls.  When it's really bad weather and they just can't go out, they stand and pout at their windows."  One of the pastures has a shelter for them to get our of the weather and they have thick waterproof blankets for cold or wet weather.  "They have it made, and the Amish people probably roll their eyes when they drive by and see how pampered these horses are."

In the winter, they have clean, dry blankets and warm water to drink;  bucket heaters keep their water from freezing.  Summer care includes mesh fly masks, fly spray and deep, clean troughs of fresh water in each pasture.

They're fed an easy-to-digest feed that has special nutrients senior equines need.  A dentist visits regularly to float (file) their teeth.  Older horses are susceptible to skin conditions and this is something watched for as they get brushed four to five times a week.

Moonlight Farms yearly goes through 1,200 bales of hay that Steve and Melissa bring in and carry to the hayloft themselves.  A bale lifter/elevator is the next big purchase on their wish list, Steve said.

The Sases make sure the horses get what the owners request.  Occasionally someone will leave their horse just for the winter, or to rest and recover from an injury.  The thing people love best if their horses our out all day instead of being confined to a stall, says Melissa.

Owners stop by a lot at first, bringing carrots, Steve said.  When they see their horse is clean, fed and happy, they're put at ease and usually settle for e-mail updates, providing the horses weight, health and medical information, sent out several times a month.  Pictures are sent out periodically throughout the year, and owners know they are always welcome to visit unannounced anytime.

Most of the boarded horse are show horses who have won many awards and whose owners want them to be stress-free.  Although these horse are too old to show, the life expectancy for a horse is between 25 and 30.  "The owners want to make sure they have a happy ending to their life and don't get sold to someone who may abuse them or worse yet, end up in a slaughterhouse," says Melissa.  "This is for people who want to make sure they're going to die happy.  This is the end of the line for them."

For more information about Moonlight Farms, call 330-625-5618.

Barnosky my be contacted via e-mail at petlady@ohio.net or write: The Gazette, 885 W Liberty St., Medina, 44256.  She can be reached by telephone at 330-725-4160, ext. 4075.

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