Woodvale Farms

My horse is very obviously loved and cared for at this beautiful facility. And Joe, the owner of Woodvale? He's a stand-up man. A steward of the land who takes his legacy seriously.

I have had great care here for my young OTTB. Woodvale is a beautiful property and the barn manager is always ready to go above and beyond when it came to caring for my horse. He's had great nutrition (needed to put on some weight), got great farrier recommendations and its so nice to have a large indoor (with great footing) since its gotten cold out.

I will mention just 2 examples, this only scratches the surface. We had been boarders at Woodvale for nearly 12 years. In the last year and a half, the care deteriorated rapidly. Horse Care: My mare was left laying in the field for 12 hours before we were called. The barn Manger noted she was laying down at 6:30 am, but we were not notified until 6:41 pm. When asked, the barn manager said that she moved 4 times. Our horse had laminitis. This is a very serious condition that can cripple a horse or lead to death. Yes, our horse did have a grazing muzzle. She was flat out in the field when we arrived with our veterinarian and refused to get up. Fortunately, she has recovered, and we were lucky. Safety: The inattention to safety is appalling. It took 2 years of mentioning the lack of adequate fire extinguishers in the barns. I even sent a photo of the expired can of Fire Gone - meant for small kitchen fires, but inappropriate for a barn fire. No action. Finally, I emailed a pdf from The Humane Society of the United States on Making Your Barn Fire Safe, then several weeks later, real fire extinguishers were installed. Why on earth did it take so long? Needless to say, we moved both our horses out of Woodvale as soon as we found an appropriate place.

woodvale takes good care of their facility and horses are in nice shelters. cleaned regularlyd dauly, and they put a lot of effort into maintence. i trusted my young daughters to ride here for many years. we since went on our own but we miss Woodvales sense of community.

I tend to not post reviews but when it comes to the care of horses it is a bit different. This farm charges you for premium for horse care, claims they have top quality hay and that there is no drama. Of these three claims not a single one is accurate. I have never known a farm to have such a high horse mortality rate or injury rate as Woodvale. My horse was there for a little over a year and he’s usually a lower maintenance horse that is super careful and I have seen him hurt more at that farm than in his entire life. Most injuries I was never informed of and found when I would come out to ride. Now for the topic of hay, Woodvale makes there own hay which is an extremely poor quality as every horse on the farm had some sort of cough through out the year. Not to mention the owner who run the hay operation has never prior to owning Woodvale done any farming or hay production before. Then the third large issue basic care of your horse. When you would voice concerns around your horses care usually the barn owner would state things would change and rarely followed through. If you want your horse to remain healthy and not get nickel and dimed for appropriate care stay far away from Woodvale Farm and their hay.

This facility us absolutely gorgeous. I currently work here and will be moving my own horse here in October. There is so much land, small herds in large fields, and gorgeous barn.

First: the facilities here are great. The property is beautiful. The pastures are large and lush. Second: none of that can make up for the UNREAL level of drama that goes on here. Explanation: Joe, the property owner, leases out each of the barns to a manager who is supposed to be the final authority at that barn. However, boarders run problems up the ladder to Joe because they know that he owns the place.Joe does not want to lose boarders and so will bend over backwards to keep them happy. This means that the managers have no real authority an it causes chaos. Joe is not a horseman. He knows little about horse care and nothing about proper riding. This, combined with his desire not to lose boarders, means that care is compromised. I observed horses with thrush and obviously overgrown hooves. There was a horse with severe arthritis who was almost 3-legged lame, and yet whose owner didn't want on pain medication due to risk of ulcers, even though pain can cause ulcers and the horse could have been put on Ulcergard etc.Then there were horses who were so herd-bound that they upset horses in OTHER pastures with their behavior. Safety issues included: cross-ties being clipped the wrong way to the wall; wood fence panels breaking in half and not being fixed; dogs running around off-leash; and unattended children riding-- and jumping!-- with zero adult supervision. Continuing on that: there are literal pre-teen children "managing" the care of their horses... with a year or two of riding lessons under their belt... with parents who know nothing about horse care. This was the case with several horses at the farm. These horses were the ones with the overgrown hooves, thrush, lameness issues, saddle fit problems, etc. I observed these kids try to use advanced equipment and is only due to the grace of god that none of them got hurt. I felt horrible for the poor horses, who were often in pain. These kids' parents get taken in by unscrupulous "trainers" who have no business training anyone; they are uncertified and without credentials. However, they pop up in the social/show circuit and market themselves as affordable trainers for beginners. The parents do not know better; they go off word of mouth from other parents who also don't know better. I remember that one such "trainer" hauled a LOADED trailer down the road with the rear doors open, flapping around. This person was recommended by the barn management. Very young children, the siblings of the children who rode, would come with them to the barn and do what young children do: run around, get into things, and generally be in the way at a horse barn where adults are trying to ride. Regardless of the barn you board at, you share the same space with boarders from other barns-- the same arenas, trails, and sometimes even pastures. You then have Joe, setting exceptions when boarders get upset. This means that you have several sets of rules in place on the property at any given time. It is chaotic. The rules are granular down to the individual level, meaning that you'll see supposedly forbidden activities happen, only to find out that they're okay for ONE person in particular because they complained enough. For example, boarders' dogs aren't allowed on the property-- except when they are. But if they are, they have to be on a leash! Except when they don't. But when they aren't, they have to be right next to their owner! Except when they're not. But they're certainly not allowed to run around the property off leash... except when they are, and when they do that, it's okay because they're... therapy dogs???... as if the frightened horses know that. Exceptions like that were so common that THEY were almost the rule. It was frustrating and at times wildly unsafe, as for example with the dogs mentioned above. It's a shame that the managerial situation here is what it is. It really is a beautiful property, and it's amazingly close to Frederick. But the interpersonal drama, the unsupervised children, and the substandard care enforcement are deal-breakers.