Remembering Snickers

Snickers earned a special place in our hearts at Freedom Farm as a veritable “Swiss-army knife” among horses—we could call on her for lessons, cow work, kiddy rides, ponying, you name it. And she’d already been a terrific first horse for her owner, Kathy Schmidt, who recently reminded us of just how versatile and indispensable Snickers was, from the get-go.

Kathy bought Snickers, a 13-year old, experienced pack horse mare, in 2004. Kathy had recently been given Hazelnut, a troubled but promising 4-year old filly, and needed a nice, steady horse to ride while Hazel came along through years of

Reflections on a Clinic, a Successful Show, and the Barefoot Advantage

This excerpt from our August 2025 newsletter shares a note on our recent Dave Ellis clinic--where Mary rode several of her hunter-jumper trainees, a bit of team pride for our current Hoof Beats Competition team, and also Mary's thoughts on the advantage that barefoot horses have in the show ring. -ed.

...This has been such a full and wonderful summer and there’s so much more to look forward to. 

Hunter-Jumper trainee Marcus rates his cow.

Our clinic with Dave Ellis was the best yet. Like I said last letter, he is so good at finding the little pieces that make the big differences. We started with a general discussion about what we were doing with our horses and what we wanted to improve on. My desire was to improve my trainees’ flying lead changes, and Dave really delivered! His consistent focus on communication and lightness was perfect; both my young horses came away better prepared for their future in the show world. Enjoy the photo album!

We followed Dave’s clinic with the Evergreen Classic Horse Show in Cle Elum, where our Hoofbeats Competition Team dominated their divisions. Lily Robertson, Elly Dam, Hadley Wolslegel, Daniela Dam, and Bella Greimes rode like young professionals, winning champion, reserve champion, and top-ranking slots in nearly every class they entered. In timed events they placed consistently within fractions of a second of each other for those 1st, 2nd, and 3rd slots, and consistently several seconds ahead of other competitors.

Gratitude for a Very Busy 2023

by Mary Gallagher

A very full year. Somehow I feel like we started this year busy and never stopped! I am going to share some highlights…

Early spring cleanup. As I sat down to write this year’s notes of gratitude, I let my mind wander back
to late winter 2023. The extensive winter clean up from last year featured the expert pruning and cleaning of the flower beds by Gerardo Vidal and crew. I was so very grateful for Gerardo blessing our gardens and fruit trees—our spring and summer foliage and fruits reflected your expertise. Thank you Gerardo!

Many colts to start..! Jerry Schmidt connected us again this year with clinician Martin Black for

Jerry and Jackson, first saddling.

another fabulous clinic, which included a pretty amazing colt starting series, pushing us to acquire more skills again this spring. After the clinic Jerry was so generous with his time, helping me and training assistant Elise Dean with what seemed like a constant string of talented babies to start. Thank you Jerry and Elise! Also thanks to fellow trainer Brad Varner who joined us for some great early sessions. Most of all—speaking of the colts—special, deep thanks to their owners Amy Johnson, Wendy Comstock, and Melene Bourm for sending so many lovely, special horses this year. We honor and value your trust in our work.