Full Circle Farm: Athens GA

08/08/2026

Last week we featured Louie, and this week it’s our other beloved “retiree”—Andi! ❤️

Andi spent his younger years competing at the upper levels of eventing and then helped Susan earn her USDF Bronze Medal during his prime. While his days of tackling big tracks are behind him, retirement hasn’t slowed him down one bit.

These days, you’ll find him enjoying ba****ck hacks, teaching lessons, making the occasional appearance at a lower-level horse trial or hunter derby, and, of course, running the farm like the king he knows he is. 👑

08/01/2026

Ragtime Blues, aka “Louie” — Then & Now ❤️

Louie is one of those horses who has touched so many lives, and we’re lucky enough that his story has come full circle.

Owned and loved by Hayden Jones, who now lives in Washington State, Louie currently enjoys his retirement at Full Circle Farm—making him a true Full Circle story.

Years ago, Susan had the opportunity to ride and compete Louie while renting his previous owner’s farm, competing him through the CCI2* level. When a young but eager Hayden was ready to move up from her pony, she took over the ride on Louie. Like many young riders making that transition, it was a BIG adjustment—but together they grew into an incredible team. Hayden has many humorous stories about that adjustment time!

Over the years, Hayden and Louie progressed from Beginner Novice to Preliminary before moving to Florida to continue training and competing. In Florida, they reached the CCI2* level together, earning countless top placings along the way, as well as numerous Pony Club awards at both the regional and national levels.

Even after an early retirement, Louie came back to compete for fun with Hayden through Training Level before officially hanging up his competition hat when she moved to Washington.

Today, Louie is happily enjoying his well-earned semi retirement. He still loves flatwork, hacking around the farm, and—perhaps most importantly—teaching the girls who work here exactly how to wrap an abscess… because if there’s one thing Louie has perfected over the years, it’s making sure everyone gets plenty of practice! 💙

We’re so grateful to have this special horse here!

07/30/2026

Paddock management is one of the most overlooked parts of horse care! 🌱🐴

The ideal grazing height for horses is 4–6 inches of grass.

✂️ Why should you mow?

✅ Prevent many weeds from going to seed
✅ Encourage thick, even grass growth
✅ Reduce mature, stemmy patches that horses avoid
✅ Promote a healthier, more productive pasture over time

A well-managed pasture doesn’t just look nice—it provides better nutrition for your horses, helps reduce weeds naturally, and keeps your fields productive year after year.

🌿 Healthy grass = healthier horses.

07/25/2026

One of the best fertilizers for your pasture is already being produced by your horses! 🌱🐴

Spreading composted manure and returning manure and urine nutrients to your pastures helps recycle valuable nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and organic matter back into the soil. This natural process feeds beneficial soil microbes, improves soil structure, increases water retention, and encourages healthier, thicker grass growth.

Manure also helps buffer soil pH over time by building organic matter and supporting a more balanced soil ecosystem. Healthier soil means stronger root systems, more resilient pastures, and better forage for your horses.

Instead of letting nutrients accumulate in sacrifice areas or manure piles, spreading well-managed manure across your fields helps complete the nutrient cycle—reducing waste while improving pasture health naturally.

🌾 Healthy soil grows healthy grass. Healthy grass helps grow healthy horses. It’s a full-circle approach to pasture management!

07/16/2026

🍂 The fall show season is just around the corner, and we love using summer schooling shows to prepare! They’re the perfect opportunity to practice, work through the little details, and make sure both horse and rider are ready when the season arrives.

One of the easiest ways to reduce stress on show weekends is to be prepared before you ever leave the barn. We pack the day before leaving so that we have plenty of time to go over our list thoroughly! A good packing list helps ensure nothing gets left behind and lets you spend more time focusing on your horse and your rides instead of scrambling for forgotten items.

Here’s our very basic packing list for an overnight schooling horse trials weekend! 🐴✨

Do you have any specific must-have items not on our list? Let us know in the comments—we’re always looking for great packing tips!

07/14/2026

This is why we do night turnout!

Most barns in America operate on a schedule that looks something like this: horses come in from the paddocks in the early afternoon, stand in stalls through the night, get turned out in the morning, then after the feeding and mucking is done, come back in sometime in the early afternoon, and stand in their stalls again through the late afternoon, evening, and night, Piper Klemm writes.

If you examine it honestly from the horse’s perspective, from the barn management perspective, and from the perspective of everyone who needs access to those horses during the day, it is also, in some cases, exactly backwards. While night turnout in the summer or heat is not a radical idea, it is time for it to be given more and serious thought for year round horse management.

Research shows that horses are happiest and healthiest with regular turnout, and that allowing horses freedom of movement and social interaction fulfills basic needs that support equine welfare. The question is not whether turnout matters (that is settled) but how much of it the horse actually gets under the typical schedule. In most working hunter-jumper barns, the honest answer is somewhere between six and eight hours on a good day, and considerably less on busy show prep days, bad weather days, or days when the schedule simply runs long. Night turnout, by contrast, gives a horse the entire dark stretch of hours — realistically twelve to sixteen hours outside, moving, grazing, breathing fresh air, and doing what horses are physiologically built to do.

Researchers have found that animals in natural settings spend significantly more time in restorative rest cycles compared to stalled counterparts, and that the physical space of a field encourages low-impact movement that reduces joint stiffness while building muscle tone. A lack of turnout is linked to stereotypic behavior, digestive problems, and weaker musculoskeletal tissues. Every extra hour outside is an hour of circulation, hoof stimulation, gut motility, and mental decompression that the stall simply cannot replicate regardless of how well it is managed.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2026/07/08/the-case-for-night-turnout-year-round-why-flipping-the-schedule-is-worth-considering/

07/14/2026

🪰 Barn Hack: Why We Spray Pine-Sol Around the Barn 🧽🐴

Flies seem to love summer, but they don’t love the fresh scent of Pine-Sol! We try to rotate between the original, lemon, and lavender scent for best results.

While Pine-Sol isn’t an insecticide, regularly spraying it on barn walls, doors, aisleways, wash racks, and other surfaces can help make your barn a less inviting place for flies and other crawling pests. The strong scent helps eliminate the odors that attract insects, and keeping surfaces clean removes organic residue that flies feed on and lay eggs around.

✨ We like to:
✔️ Spray aisle, walls, stall floors, and doors after sweeping.
✔️ Wipe down wash racks and grooming areas.
✔️ Keep feed rooms, trash cans, and muck carts clean.
✔️ Pair it with clean stalls, rinsed feed pans, dumped standing water, and good manure management for the best results.

Remember, no single product will eliminate flies. The best fly control comes from combining good sanitation with multiple management strategies. Every little step helps reduce the fly population and creates a healthier, more comfortable environment for your horses.

A cleaner barn = fewer flies, happier horses, and happier humans! 🐴💚

07/10/2026

🐴🪰 Want to keep flies and other unwanted critters out of your barn? Start with your horses’ feed pans!

One of the simplest and most effective barn management habits is cleaning feed pans after every meal and turning them upside down each night.
Leftover grain, soaked feed, and moisture are magnets for flies, ants, roaches, rodents, and other pests. These unwanted visitors aren’t just annoying—they can spread bacteria, contaminate feed, and make your barn less healthy for your horses.
By rinsing feed pans and flipping them over overnight, you:

✅ Remove leftover feed that attracts flies and insects.
✅ Prevent rainwater and condensation from collecting in the pans.
✅ Reduce bacteria, mold, and feed spoilage.
✅ Make your barn less inviting to mice, rats, ants, roaches, and other scavengers.

Good fly and pest control starts with good barn management. Along with keeping stalls clean, rinsing water buckets, and maintaining tidy feed areas, this simple daily habit can make a noticeable difference in reducing unwanted bugs and critters around the barn.

A few extra minutes at the end of the day can help create a cleaner, healthier, and more comfortable environment for both horses and humans! 🐎✨