Full Board openings available at F&S Farms starting in June 2012.

Full Board features:

Large riding arena 

Beautiful 12' x 12' stalls

Large tack room

Bathroom in barn

Wash bay for horses

Daily turn out into open pasture with pond.

Care includes:

Stalls cleaned daily

Hay in stall

Feed given twice a day

Horses brought in & out daily.

And a "Watch Mini" on guard night and day :)

We also have round & square bales of hay for sale as well as feed corn & sweet corn.

Also for sale, a 9 year old Palomino TWH Mare, Pixie. NEEDS EXPERIENCED RIDER ONLY!!

For information on boarding, hay and feed for sale, or the horse for sale, call: 865-640-6183

Merry Christmas!

Vickie and Kim Switzer's two "boys" Thunder and Rocky all dressed out for the holidays and looking quite festive. I told Vickie that Rocky is owning that Santa hat but Thunder just looks bored like he's thinking, "Ok, I'm wearing the hat; let's get this over with already." ;-) I think that both boys look extremely handsome and so well behaved posing for the camera. They are a perfect pair of horses.

Dr. Cindy's Son

Dr. Cindy Backus, the DVM for F&S Farms and dear friend of Chris and Tam's as well, has a son who is in Basic Training at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia and would love to get some cards and letters of support. Here is his address:

Pvt. Backus, Daniel E.
Roster #108
ACP., 2nd BN, 47th INF. Regiment

5375 Hanson Drive

Fort Benning, GA 31905-4930

in the left corner we are to put: 1st Platoon Rough Riders

Congrats Leora and Power!!

Leora and Power competed at the Tennessee All Breed Charity Show at the Roane State Equine Exhibition Center on Saturday and the really brought home the ribbons--including a Best of Show Championship Ribbon!

Snickers-The Back Story

On March 25th of 2009, Chris received an urgent call from Juli Begley-Matz. Juli had heard from a friend that there was a horse that had been injured at the barn where the friend boarded her own horse. She said that the owner refused to call a vet for the horse and instead had just thrown him into a stall and left him for two weeks. When a vet was visiting another horse at the barn, they had noticed the horse and said that the injury needed to be treated. The owner refused to pay for vet care however and said that he'd rather just have someone shoot the horse. A man had been hired for just that purpose on the very day that Chris and Tam hooked up their trailer and drove to the barn above Knoxville to rescue the horse. His name was Snickers and everyone who met him felt this was because just like the candy bar, he was dark on the outside and sweet on the inside. He was a perfect gentleman from the beginning and it seemed as if anyone who met him fell instantly in love with this sweet and gorgeous horse. Chris immediately began to treat the injury with warm compresses and daily soaks.

When Chris's vet, Dr. Cindy Backus, examined Snickers the following day, she discovered that his left rear leg did indeed have a fracture but it wasn't that break that disturbed her, it was the condition of the surrounding tendon which had been severely damaged because of Snickers being left standing in the stall for two weeks with the injury. This problem was actually caused by the very material that helps the tendon to heal, fibrin. Fibrin is an insoluble protein formed from fibrinogenduring the clotting of blood. The two tendon sheaths are made to move smoothly against each other but when the fibrin forms it creates a strong mesh that hinders that movement. Cindy began giving Snickers injections of a substance that acted as a lubricant between the tendons and also helped to prevent more fibrin build up.She said on March 28th that there was a possibility that the horse could be brought through this and made sound again but it would be an uphill battle. She was very encouraged by the progressChris had already made through his efforts. 

Chris was soaking the leg in warm, Epson salt filled water for at least an hour a day. Snickers actually seemed to enjoy this and would stand patiently for the entire hour. Within a few days the swelling had decreased considerably and Snickers was actually shifting his weight from his good leg and putting weight fully on the injured hoof for the first time.  The following week farrier, Dale Collis, wedged both back feet  Chris asked Cindy to give him at least two months to rehabilitate Snickers before making a decisive decision about his fate. At Cindy's suggestion, he began taking Snickers out for light exercise on lead twice a day.   By April 16th the change was remarkable. I'd photographed Snickers the previous week and he still had a limp. But, as Chris led him out of the barn on Thursday afternoon, the limp was so imperceptible even when he was walking on concrete, you wouldn't have noticed it if you didn't already know it was there. 

Cindy, the vet, had given Chris permission to turn Snickers out in a small round pen for an hour or so a day. She was so impressed by the improvement that she said that in the next month Snickers should be able to go into the pasture with the other horses and possibly be ready for some light riding within the next 5 to6 weeks .  On May 8th, Dale Collis commented that when he shoed Snickers the previous week, if he hadn't already been aware of the injury, he wouldn't have known anything was wrong with him.  By the end of May, he was being taken outside for daily regular turn out and exercise in the round pen and on June 4th he was moved from the small round pen to a large paddock beside the barn. 

Country Side Veterinary had just gotten two new doctors, both bone and ligament specialists. They came with Cindy to the barn  and gave Snickers a thorough examination. When they looked at the ultra sounds, they were not only astounded by the improvement but one of them told Chris that, with a simple surgery, Snickers will be 100% sound in a month's time!! 

On July 18th, a fund raiser was held at Ten Oaks Farm where Snickers was staying then to help raise funds to pay for surgery that he needed to complete his healing process. On July 22nd, Snickers had a successful sugery and the rest, as they say, is history. In the previous post you can see just what a beautiful, sound and healthy horse he is today all thanks to love of Tammy and Chris and all of Snickers's fans and friends.

Bam-Bam

Bam-Bam is the official WATCH MINI for the barn....you don't mess around with this guy who may be pint size but he has a super-sized personality.

Snickers - A NEW Horse

As you can tell in these photos, Snickers doesn't look like the same horse that Chris and Tammy rescued over a year ago. He is completely recovered from the terrible injury and neglect that nearly ended his life. Jessica Fildes is training him (that's Jess riding him in the photos for only the second time!) and she thinks he will make a terrific dressage horse. She says that he already knows so much and he's a beautiful mover. Prior to his injury he was used for jumping but Chris says that because of the injury and the possibility of aggravating it or re-injury, he will no longer allow him to be jumped. Here are the photos and you can expect more. Chris and Tammy nearly have the construction on the new barn finished but there are only a few stalls that are open. They will be having the official opening in a few weeks so drop by and check out the barn and facilities and meet Snickers....and Bam Bam the Mini; I'm including a photo of him, too:)