FACILITIES

Facilities at Willow Oak Ranch are state-of-the-art designed to raise quality competitive racehorses in the middle of a 1200-acre cattle ranch. The horse facilities are designed for a 20-head broodmare band complete with a foaling ward housing 3 mares in 16'x16' stalls with attached veterinarian lab equipped for all on-the-ranch foaling issues.

In addition, the mare/foal stalls are specially designed 12'x24' stalls sheltered from extreme weather but with open air/indoor conditions providing an ideal management environment for mare/foal pairs when good management practices require temporary stalling.

The weanling/yearling stalls are 12'x16' stalls utilizing the state-of-art stall design employed in the mare/foal stalls. Once again, providing the ideal environment when stalling is necessary.

At Willow Oak, our philosophy is that all horses, including foals over 3 weeks old, weanlings, yearlings and mares are always better served living outdoors. Except in those limited times when good management practice requires stalling.

The horse pastures and paddocks are designed for maximum exercise utilizing the natural rolling hills topography while facilitating ease of management. Consistent with Joe Taylor of Gainesway and Taylor Made Fame suggestions, the pastures and paddocks follow the natural lay of the land with excellent stands of well maintained frequently cropped grass. (Our river front land at Willow Oak Ranch has the same limestone base that has made Lexington, Kentucky the horse capitol of the world.) In short, Willow Oak Ranch has many of the advantages of a Kentucky Horse Farm with the added virtue of slightly more temperate climate allowing for longer fresh grass grassing in the fresh air foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.