Sustainable Horse Keeping at Flying Change Farms

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 thinking 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 from 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 sustainability.

She recognized that the benefits of cardboard horse bedding addressed both priorities for her future stable, and made a mental note to circle back to it.

Fast forward to May 1, 2024, 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.

Throughout California, large and small stables are disappearing. Boarding and training facilities with the caliber of amenities Grace insisted on — for both 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 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.

Big stalls were part of Grace’s plan from the get-go. Built by NorCal Structures, Flying Change’s main barn has mostly 12′ × 16′ stalls; a separate barn has all 16′ × 16′ stalls.

“I find horses do better in bigger stalls. 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.” — Grace Kamphefner

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 Cardboard Animal Bedding ensures that circulating air is not filled with the tiny 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 had struggled with allergies and hives elsewhere has not suffered from either since moving to Airlite bedding, Grace reports.

Turnout paddocks and ample space to train and wander give all horses plenty of outdoor time. Flying Change’s four arenas are ideal 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.

Made by Green Horse Brands, Airlite bedding fits Flying Change’s sustainability mission for several reasons. First, less is needed to maintain a clean, healthy, comfortable stall. In Flying Change Farms’ first six weeks, grooms reported having to remove between a third to half of the amount they’d normally remove with shavings — due to Airlite’s super-absorbency, up to 5× more than wood shavings. That absorbency includes neutralizing ammonia odors 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 horse bedding 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.

A composting bay is under construction at Flying Change Farms, and an Earth Flow composting 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 — and she expects to use the finished compost throughout the property.

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, creating a riding surface that does not need to be watered. Unlike other waterless footings on the market, it is completely green and uses no petroleum products or chemicals. Even in Northern California’s already hot summers, the dust-free covered arena only needs dragging to maintain ideal give and traction. Grace’s 27,000-square-foot arena would otherwise require at least 3,000 gallons of water per day — eliminating irrigation is a major win for both planet and 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 shade horses enjoying time in the numerous paddocks. Some of those dead trees found a new life as log jumps on the trails.

Equestrians know “flying changes” as a way to switch from one canter lead to the other. As the name of the farm, Flying Change carries a broader meaning for its owner. Raised riding horses in Virginia, Grace is a lifelong horse girl — keeping them in her life throughout adulthood while 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 effort to raise the $3 million needed to get Del Oro High School a badly needed new pool.

A jumping rider most of her life, Grace added dressage 14 years ago. She and Petite Gabrielle mastered the levels from First through Prix St. Georges, along with a Fourth Level freestyle — 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 Rex 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 joy in all — horses and humans — lucky enough to spend time there. Everybody benefits, including the environment.