SS Ranch

04/11/2026

⭐️1 RARE Stall opening and a few pasture spaces opening May 1st as we say farewell to our college students⭐️

Seasonal and non-seasonal options available.

Hager City, Wisconsin

Stalling includes several additional stall-exclusive features. Stalls are 12×12 in the heated barn for year round comfort.

Our facility is under new ownership and located at the end of a quiet dead end road with lots of on-site trails and road riding opportunities.

Come take a tour and see if we're a good fit for you and your horse(s).

Discover a welcoming barn community and a facility with people that support you and your horse!

Text or call Alaina @ (651) 808-1692 or send us a DM for more info!

04/11/2026

Do we sleep? Sometimes. But we mainly just work on making this place even better. 😍 Back bladed edges and a fresh, deep drag with our ABI Attachments to get it level and ready for our boarders and haul-ins to throw down some nice patterns.

Just a wild Friday night at the ranch ☺️

04/03/2026

Attention parents with youth riders!

We've got a great 4H/WSCA Youth clinic coming to the ranch in June.

Have fun learning the ins and outs of games classes with your horse and go into show/fair season with confidence.

Sign up with Chandler before spots fill up!

Link to register:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeCrqCh_yfvD8kCWtivhD5ITgb62WAc2nOJMPZJlNZVFBNH9g/viewform?usp=preview

04/01/2026

✨️Rare stall board opening coming available in May✨️

One of our beloved UWRF college students will be moving out once the school year ends and leaving an open stall for someone to enjoy.

•Daily turn out in a quiet, stall horse exclusive pasture
•Grain twice daily
•Free choice grass hay 24/7
•Your own tack area
•Full access to amenities
•Blanketing/fly gear based on weather and boarder requests
•Heated barn

In addition, we offer:
•Large, heated indoor arena
•Oversized outdoor arena
•Trails on-site
•Free trailer parking
•Variety of clinics and events on-site
•Regularly scheduled group days for farrier, chiropractor, body work, and vet
•On-site lesson opportunities

Location:
•15 minutes from Red Wing
•20 minutes from River Falls
•30 minutes from Hastings
•45 minutes to an hour from Twin Cities

Call or text Alaina at (651) 808-1692 or send DM to schedule a tour of the facilities and meet your future stall neighbors!

03/31/2026

Let's talk medications 💊 for a second. The times your horse needs 14 pills that don't taste great and you can't very well give them 14 treats with a pill hidden inside 😬

For animals that have such large mouths, they seem to be the best at picking through and skipping the smallest bits when they don't want to eat something.

Top tricks that I've found to work well for our residents?

1. Mix whole pills in ground flax and molasses so it coats them enough to become their own pill pocket treats. Works well for Hungry hippos that don't pay too much attention.

2. We're not super picky, but too picky for whole pills... Grind pills into a powder and mix it with some apple sauce.

3.A little pickier? Grind up your pills with peppermints into dust. You can add a little oil of sorts like coconut oil or your liquid supplement to create more of a paste that sticks to your grain.

4. The pickiest eaters. (Hopefully they like apple sauce) grind up the pills with an applyte or flavored electrolyte powder to help mask the flavor as fine a possible. Then mix it with about 2-3x as much apple sauce (cinnamon flavored has worked the best) and stir the mix into the grain so it sticks to everything so even the most masterful feed sorter can't pick through it.

Do these work every time? I wish I could say yes. 😂 But maybe these ideas can help someone else out there trying to get their horse that medication they just keep refusing to eat.

What are some of your favorite tricks for getting our picky friends their medications?

03/28/2026

We're SO proud and lucky to have such a fantastic practitioner servicing our barn!

If you haven't checked out Gold Star Equine, you're missing out. Our boarders and their horses always look forward to their "spa days" with Shania. ❤️

Meet Shania Braaten , LARC TEST’s certified technician in Minnesota. 🐎📊

Shania has been involved with horses for over 23 years, with her greatest passion rooted in barrel racing. As both a competitor and equine professional, her perspective is shaped by the horses she works with every day, including her own two mares.

Her interest in LARC TEST grew from its strong scientific foundation and its ability to provide meaningful insight into equine health, performance, and early signs that could lead to injury.

Injury prevention is at the core of her work, not only for her own horses, but for the riders and clients she supports across multiple disciplines.

“LARC gives me a way to better understand what’s happening inside the horse, so I can make more informed decisions to support soundness and long-term performance,” Shania shared. 🤝

As a certified LARC TEST technician, Shania is integrating testing into her equine bodywork business to help riders build programs that support longevity, recovery, and overall well-being.

03/28/2026

⭐️ Looking for a place to board that has a bit of everything a horse person could want and a beautiful, convenient location to boot? We’ve got a few pasture boarding spots available! ⭐️

Under new ownership with a great community of boarders.

03/15/2026

Snow removal is always a hard job, and even harder when March shows up late with the whole "in like a lion" thing by delivering a full on blizzard.

Our snow blower attachment broke before we could even make a sizeable dent in the snow. What we thought was going to take a few hours suddenly turned into a full day activity. However, some amazing neighbors showed up in full force to help. There was so much gratitude and relief seeing them pull in.

It's sometimes difficult to do the big things on your own, and having a supportive community behind you makes all the difference. Taylor and I are so thankful for those we have the privilege to call our neighbors! ❤️

03/14/2026

🪻Spring Ranch Update🪻

With the snow finally melted, we’ve been taking a close look at the property and identifying several key improvements based on what would make day to day more efficient and the feedback that we've collected from both boarders and past event attendees.

To make sure we’re building the best possible experience, 2026 will focus on facility upgrades and grounds improvements.

Larger projects include:
• Improving property drainage
• Reinforcing parking areas during wet conditions
• Addressing sand washout along the outdoor arena
• General grounds upgrades and maintenance

What’s still happening in 2026:
• Exhibition nights later this summer
• A small number of clinics with outside clinicians

If you know a clinician looking to add dates to their 2026 calendar, feel free to reach out. We’d love to host a variety of disciplines.

Our goal is to complete as many projects as possible this year so we can return in 2027 with a full lineup of events at an even stronger facility.

Thanks for following along as we continue improving the ranch!

01/23/2026

🌾 Forage = Heat 🔥: Fueling horses through cold weather

Plummeting air temperatures mean your horse needs more energy to maintain their body temperature and condition. One of the best sources of warmth comes from fiber fermentation; the microbes in your horse’s hindgut generate heat as they digest forage. That’s why forage = heat.

During cold weather, meeting your horse's higher energy needs with forage is one of the most effective ways to help keep them warm and comfortable. How much forage is enough?

For every degree below 18°F, a horse's dietary energy needs increase 1%. For example, if a 1,000-pound horse needed 17.5 pounds of good-quality hay each day when the temperature was above 18°F, its requirement would be increased by about 3 pounds (to 20.5 pounds daily) if the temperature dropped to 0°F.

Let's break down the math in this example:
1,000-pound healthy horse at maintenance needs about 17 Mcal energy daily
Hay analysis indicates 0.97 Mcal energy per pound of hay

0.01 (% energy increase) x 17 Mcal (horse's daily energy) x 18 (number of degrees below 18°F) = 3 Mcal additional energy needed at 0°F.

3 Mcal additional energy / 0.97 Mcal energy per pound of hay = ~3 pounds of additional hay needed

3 pounds additional hay + 17.5 pounds hay daily (when above 18°F) = 20.5 pounds of hay per day to meet energy demands at 0°F

01/23/2026

Hot electrolyte mashes brewing, waterers open and flowing, hay feeders are full, all residents are staying warm, and night one of this cold snap is over.

Winter in the Midwest with animals is not for the faint of heart.

I'm in the market for a good pair of snowboarding goggles and taking recommendations 🥶