barns
The first barn to be discussed is the training barn. It holds all the horses that are currently in training, showing, or racing - even our older steeplechasers. Our training barn is located directly behind the stone mansion, past the mare barn and stallion barn, and right before the track. It contains 25 16' x 16' stalls, which are bedded deeply with wheat straw. Each stall contains a hay net, feeder, salt block, and water bucket (which helps us monitor the horses water intake, unlike automatic waterers). The barn aisle is made of smooth concrete to make sweeping easy. The barn also includes 4 wash stalls, a feed room, and a tack room. A ways to the left of the training barn is a 60' round pen, which is not pictured. The training barn layout is as follows:
The next barn is the stallion barn. It contains all the stallions on the farm that are retired and used for stud. This barn is located behind the stone mansion but before the training barn, a little off to the right. The barn is U-shaped and consists of 20 16' x 16' stalls, all bedded deeply with wheat straw. Each stall is equipped with a hay net, feeder, salt block, and water bucket. The barn also has 4 wash stalls, a feed room, and a tack room. The wider aisle between the tack and feed room also serves as a larger wash stall, equipped with cross-ties and a hose with warm & cold water. To the right of the stallion barn is the breeding shed, but it is not pictured in the layout image. The stallion barn is laid out as follows:
The last barn is the mare barn. It holds all the broodmares on the farm, open and in-foal. It also holds all the foals from the time they are weaned until they become yearlings, when they are moved to the training barn. The mare barn is located on the far left of the stallion barn and the stone mansion, in front of and to the side of the training barn. It contains 28 12' x 24' stalls (excellent for foaling) which are deeply bedded with wheat straw to ensure the foals safety. Each stall contains a hay net, feeder, salt block (in reach of the foal), and a water bucket with is placed low enough for the foal to reach yet high enough to keep any horses from getting their hooves caught. Each stall also has a video monitor that connects directly to the staff quarters and the stone mansion. Inside the barn there are also 3 wash stalls, a feed room, and a small tack room. The mare barn layout is as follows:
training facilities
Epona Park prides itself in having training facilities that are top quality and very affective in our training program. Our 1 mile training oval has an outer turf course that includes portable steeplechasing jumps and an inner dirt track. The reason for having the larger turf course on the outside instead of the dirt track (like most other ovals) is that our main focus is steeplechasing, not flat racing, therefore we need a larger turf course than dirt track. The training oval also has a padded 5-horse starting gate. Next to the oval and the training barn is a 60' round pen used in breaking the younger horses. We also have a 16' deep excercise pool in which the water is filtered quite often to ensure sanitary conditions. Our training oval is dragged everyday to keep the surface smooth and consistent, and our staff does a terrific job at maintaining the facilities. Besides the oval, round pen, and pool, Epona Park also has over 100 acres of open riding areas (trails and such), which are very useful in conditioning the horses and give them something to look at other than the training oval.
pastures
The pastures at Epona Park are always kept well-manicured and beautiful. We have 20 1-acre pastures for our stallions, 3 7-acre pastures for our mares, and 12 5-acre pastures for our other horses. The fences of the pastures for our steeplechasers have fences that are 6' to 6 1/2' to prevent them from jumping the fences. We also have a few pastures with 5' fences for those horses that are intimidated by or don't require the taller fences. Our fencing is made of wood and checked daily for any signs of decay. All the fencing is restored every year, ensuring a neat polished look for our pastures and a safe surrounding for our horses. Each pasture is equipped with a 50-gallon water trough and a 3-wall shed for protection from the elements.