Photo courtesy of Maria Marriott Photography
Grace Kamphefner got excited about her dream stable long before she found the land on which to build it. She sketched out the design and started to think about the many details that would make it a completely modern facility focused on sustainable horsekeeping.
While still boarding her horses at other people’s facilities, the lifelong equestrian received a marketing email about Airlite dust-free bedding made of pre-consumer cardboard.
She and her husband had not yet bought their 40-acre property in the Greater Sacramento area’s Placer County. Yet Grace knew what her priorities would be when the time came – horse health and environmental sustainable horsekeeping.
She recognized that the benefits of Airlite horse bedding addressed both priorities for her future stable, and made a mental note to circle back to it.
Fast forward to May 1 of this year, when Grace’s Flying Change Farms marked a major milestone. The 32-stall centerpiece of her master plan was finally done and ready for new arrivals, complete with Airlite dust-free bedding.
Mindful Horse Management
Throughout California, large and small stables are disappearing. Boarding and training facilities with the caliber of amenities Grace insisted on for horse and planet health are even fewer and farther between.
Located in Loomis, Flying Change Farms features two barns for a total of 39 stalls, and 10 paddocks with shelters. Most of them are already filled with clients of its featured trainers, Sabina Rijssenbeek for dressage and Kristie LaFreniere for hunter/jumpers. PATH-certified Jessica McKendree-Johnson works with beginning and novice riders with hopes to develop therapeutic riding options over time.
Flying Change Farms hit the ground galloping with educational clinics that fulfill another of Grace’s priorities – building a community of equestrians and advancing horsemanship knowledge across the disciplines.
Since early May, they have hosted a dressage clinic with Olympian Lisa Wilcox of Florida, a rider fitness and biomechanics clinic with Coach Tony Sandoval of Kentucky, and a Working Equitation clinic with local trainer, Jessica Mosbaugh Panighetti.
Healthy, Happy Horses
Big stalls were also part of Grace’s plan from the get-go. Built by NorCal Structures, Flying Change’s main barn has mostly 12’ x 16’ stalls. A separate barn has all 16’ x 16’ stalls.
“I find horses do better in bigger stalls,” Grace comments. “There’s less chance of getting cast and most horses seem to keep them cleaner. They are happier and healthier because they just have more room to move around.”
Flying Change Farms epitomizes California’s indoor/outdoor lifestyle.
A raised center aisle roof with overhead fans creates ideal ventilation throughout the stables. And the dust-free characteristic of Airlite bedding ensures that circulating air is not filled with the tiny dust particles typically found in conventional bedding.
These particles are a major cause of equine respiratory problems that are surprisingly common, though not always obvious in their symptoms. One horse that struggled with allergies and hives elsewhere has not suffered from either since getting on the Airlite bedding, Grace reports.
Turn out paddocks and plenty of space to train and wander give all horses ample outdoor time. Flying Change’s four arenas are great for clinics and lessons, while trails throughout the 40-acre property give horses and riders paths for conditioning work and the mental health benefits of riding out in the open.
Sustainable Horsekeeping
Made by Green Horse Brands, Airlite bedding fits Flying Change’s sustainability mission for a few reasons. First, less is needed to maintain a clean, healthy, comfortable stall.
In Flying Change Farms’ first six weeks with the bedding, grooms reported having to remove between a third to half of the amount they’d normally remove with shavings. This is due to Airlite’s super absorbency – up to 5X more than wood shavings. Plus, the absorbency includes neutralizing ammonia odors that are harmful to the respiratory health of horses and their people.
Excellence as compost material is Airlite’s second sustainability selling point. The pieces of pre-consumer cardboard maintain their structural stability in the stall for a long time. When they’ve served that purpose, they get a second life as soil sustaining compost.
And the dust-free characteristic of Airlite bedding ensures that circulating air is not filled with the tiny dust particles typically found in conventional bedding.
A composting bay is under construction now at Flying Change Farms and an Earth Flow system from Green Mountain Technologies is on the way.
The Earth Flow system automatically mixes and aerates compostable materials producing “ready to cure” compost in two weeks. Grace is excited about the one-two punch of Airlite and Earth Flow to capture carbon and return it to the soil. She expects to use it throughout the property.
Earth Friendly Footing
Arena footing is another area where Grace insisted on materials that support horse and planet health. With water conservation a top priority, she turned to international footing expert Dan Carr’s ArenaMend, a globally-renowned company whose motto is “Ride Green.”
ArenaMend mixes silica sand with Noviun fiber and a vegetable oil-based glycerin which creates a riding surface that does not need to be watered. Unlike other waterless footing on the market, it is completely green and does not use petroleum products or chemicals. Even in Northern California’s already hot summer, the dust-free covered arena only needs dragging to maintain the footing’s ideal combination of give and traction. Grace’s 27,000 square foot arena would need at least 3,000 gallons of water per day. Eliminating the need for irrigation is a big win for the planet and the budget.
No trees were harmed in the making of Flying Change Farms, Grace reports proudly. Dead trees and debris were cleared for fire prevention purposes, but plenty remain to provide shade for horses enjoying time in the property’s numerous paddocks. Some of the dead trees found a new life as log jumps out on the trails.
A Name with Many Meanings
Equestrians know “flying changes” as a way to change from one canter lead to the other. As the name of the farm, Flying Change has a broader meaning for its owner. Raised riding horses in Virginia, Grace is a lifelong horse girl. She’s kept them in her life throughout adulthood, juggling a career in communications, owning her own business and raising three kids with her husband Rex Kamphefner.
When she retired from her professional career, Grace devoted equal energy, time and quality of thought to volunteering and fundraising for local schools and community projects. One of her many contributions was the seven-year process of raising the $3 million needed to get the area’s Del Oro High School a badly needed new pool.
A jumping rider most of her life, Grace added dressage to her agenda 14 years ago. She and Petite Gabrielle mastered the levels from first to Prix St. Georges, along with fourth level freestyle together and are now choreographing a new freestyle after the mare has produced two foals. On the jumping circuit, Grace and HMS Diamond 54 are solid contenders in the amateur meter division.
In short, Grace excels at and enjoys the “flying changes” needed to juggle a range of life projects and priorities. On top of all that, Grace’s husband loves another form of flying. He is a long-time helicopter pilot and owner of Aerometals, a manufacturer of helicopter and airplane parts.
Joy drives all of Grace’s endeavors. Flying Change Farms fosters that in all – horses and humans — lucky enough to spend time there. Everybody benefits, including the environment.
