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| Horse Heaven: a blue-ribbon facility with the latest amenities (Fall 2007) |
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By Christine McClintic
If there's a heaven on earth for
horses and their owners, it may
very well be the Peeper Ranch
located near Lenexa, Kan.
Owner Dawn Fire never envisioned
that she would one day
create the ultimate dream home
for horses. But before she began building
her equestrian facility in 2000, she
toured many of the country's premier
horse stables and came home with
a list of state-of-the-art features and
amenities that she figured horses just
shouldn't do without.
"The facility was really built for
the horse first and people second," explains
barn manager Kenny Kidwell,
who lives on-site in the ranch's stately
home just a few horse strides from the barn. That's not to say that those
who work and board their horses there
are enduring hardship. What appeals
to horses also appeals to people, and
Peeper Ranch offers creature comforts
nearly everywhere you look.
Peeper Ranch is only a 10-minute
drive from the hustle and bustle of traffic and commercial establishments. Yet
it sets serenely and privately on more
than 600 acres of rolling grassland. A
gated entry leads into a meticulously
groomed headquarters overlooking a
small lake with resident white geese and ducks. White vinyl fencing borders the
stable and also forms the outdoor riding arena.
Inside the lobby's grand interior a life-size
bronze horse statue seems to almost prance
from its fountain to show off two display cases
of trophies and ribbons that resident steeds
earned in saddle seat equitation events.
Fun to watch.
Two spacious, air-conditioned
viewing rooms with plush leather seating are
located on each side of the lobby, giving spectators
the opportunity to watch horses train
in the adjoining riding arenas. Peeper Ranch
even has a friendly concierge named Mr.
Wendell, who is known to pass out donuts to
spectators on Saturday mornings.
But what makes Peeper Ranch a place to
really neigh about is what lies beyond the lobby's
second set of doors. Kansas may have its
yellow-brick road, but the inlaid rubber paving
stones that make up every aisle inside the
Peeper Ranch stable would have been much
easier on Dorothy's feet. The interlocking, brick-colored pavers stretch down the main
corridors that connect the facility's 72 stalls,
three tack rooms, 12 tack-up stalls, and six
wash stalls. At both ends of the main aisle are
large, automatic garage doors, each opening to
240x100-foot heated indoor riding areas. Each
arena features mirrors that allow riders to view
their riding position as well as a microphone
system that also feeds into the viewing arena.
Even the arena floor is nothing to
sneeze at. It's made up of a unique
mixture of polymer-coated sand and
recycled tire rubber, creating a dust-free
riding environment for both the
horse and rider. Stable workers clean
and level the arena twice daily using
a tractor-towed implement.
A dustless, climate-controlled riding environment
is especially important at the ranch,
which draws a clientele who are largely into
saddle seat equitation. This is an elegant,
high-stepping riding discipline used primarily
on Morgan, American Saddlebred, and Arabian horses. Horses of this discipline are most
often ridden indoors, so every effort is made
to keep these pampered prancers comfortable
and safe during their exercise routines inside.
Rest and relaxation.
When they're not being
ridden, the horses lounge in roomy, knotty pine
stalls deeply bedded in wood shavings or
pellets. Background music fills the air. Each
stall features its own fan and automatic waterer
that provides cool, clean water around the
clock. At feeding time, the tilt-out feeders can
be filled fast and efficiently from the aisle and
then locked back into stall position, eliminating
the need for workers to enter the stall.
Horses at Peeper Ranch are routinely fed
three times daily at 6:30 a.m., ll:30 a.m., and
5:30 p.m., adhering to a precise schedule.
During fly season, the Peeper facility safeguards
its horses with an automatically timed
insect-control system. Above each stall and
throughout the rest of the facility are drop
nozzles that inconspicuously emit a fine spray
mist of repellent consisting of an all-natural
chrysanthemum extract base. It's harmless to
horses and humans but quite deadly to flies.
Safety first.
The barn also features an extensive
fire-protection system. Every horse stall is
protected by at least one sprinkler head dropping
down from the ceiling. For added security,
cameras and convex mirrors are located
throughout the barn supporting the Peeper
Ranch motto: "We keep an EYE on your
horse." It's a promise that dons the T-shirts
of employees and volunteers who work there.
Broodmares benefit from high-tech monitoring
during foaling season. Breeding manager Kenda Benn sutures an electronic device to
the mare's outer birth canal that sends an electronic
signal to the staff just prior to foaling.
"The transmitter sends a signal to an automatic
dialer that calls up to four preprogrammed
phone numbers," explains Kidwell.
"You can program a message to say: 'You need
to go to the barn; a foal is on the way.'" The
automatic dialer will call twice. This type of
monitoring device ensures that the barn's staff
is always there to assist the mare and foal.
Peeper Ranch is home to about 10
broodmares, eight lesson horses, 10
to 15 horses boarded by local Kansas
City residents, and about 40 horses
receiving professional training. The
ranch draws a clientele from across
the country who seek professional
training for their horses. Fire put as much consideration
into selecting trainers as she did
the physical features of the facility.
Phil Fountain and Sandy Sessink are nationally
recognized and respected for their
many accomplishments in the Morgan industry
and both have produced many national and world champion horses. Instructor Julie
Kidrowski also helps polish the riding skills
of many of the people who board horses there.
Fire designed Peeper Ranch to be a highly
functional training center. Tack rooms are just
across the aisle from the tack-up stalls, where
the horses are groomed and saddled, making
the process efficient. Tack-up stalls offer some
handy features including a central vacuum
system for removing dust from horses and wall-mounted
rubber pads to absorb sound when
the cross ties are released from the horse.
Fire completely renovated one of the barn's
existing tack rooms to better accommodate the
needs of her trainers. She removed two walls of
built-in private lockers to open up wall space
for hanging tack. "We needed easy access to
everything," says Sessink, who drew up the
tack-room plans. "We didn't want to dig into
individual lockers to get what we need."
The trainer's tack room is centrally and
conveniently located between two tack-up
stalls. It features 16 saddle racks and plenty of
brass hooks and dowel rods for hanging horse
blankets and other tack. Some 200 training
bits hang from a three-sided wall of pegboard.
The room features closed cupboards
to neatly stash small and lesser-used
items. The 12x24-foot room also features
a granite countertop, refrigerator,
a 7-foot bench, phone, message
board, and a utility sink, which is essential
for cleaning bridles and tack.
In addition to the trainer's tack room, the
barn has two separate tack rooms that collectively
house 60 private lockers for boarders.
Some measure 7 feet tall, others are half
that size. The lockers are numbered and feature
folding saddle racks, shelves, and ventilated
doors to help air out sweaty saddle pads
and gear. With only 10 to 15 horses boarded
at Peeper Ranch at one time, there's ample
storage for each individual rider.
Keeping boarder numbers relatively low
also ensures that there's ample arena space for
each of the riders. Considering the countless
amenities, the quality care, and professionalism
at Peeper Ranch, boarders find value in
the $550 to $600 monthly boarding fee charged
at this high-end horse facility.
Horse heaven.
Fire has succeeded in creating
a heavenly spot for horses and the people
who care for them. "I wanted a place where
boarders could feel comfortable and a place
employees enjoy where they work," says Fire.
She says it's often the attitude of horses
that truly reflect and define the environment
of an equestrian facility. "It's peaceful here
at Peeper Ranch," Fire adds. "The horses tell
you; it's very peaceful here."
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