Thursday, September 22, 2011

CADENCE CREEK EQUINE CENTER

Welcome to Cadence Creek! 
 
Cadence Creek Equine Centre is a riding stable located 15 minutes East of Edmonton, 5 minutes from Sherwood Park,Alberta, near Ardrossan. 
We offer a full range of horse related services such as Indoor & Outdoor Board. We pride ourselves on our family friendly, relaxed atmosphere...just ask our clients! Lessons and training available.
Our heated facility (barn kept at +5 degrees all winter) boasts 18 large box stalls, individual tack lockers, lounge and washroom, wash-bay, cross-ties for tacking and grooming and more! Arena also has heat and can be turned on while you ride! All breeds welcome. 
Indoor Board - $500 + GST per month 14x14 box stall, bedded with shavings Daily turnout to individual, semi-private or group pens/paddocks Feeding programs and customization available (+ $ for some feeds) Blanketing included (1 on/off per day) **Stallions- +$100/mth - must be well behaved and able to be turned out daily into private pen.
Outdoor Board - $300 + GST per month Horses are grouped into pens, paddocks or fields depending on personality, dietary and sometimes gender requirements to provide best living situation possible. Free choice hay or fed twice daily. All pens/paddocks etc have free choice water and shelter. If your horse is blanketed, we will check it daily. Discounts are given for 2 or more horses (Save the GST!)
Browse our website, and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us! 
  
Contact Information
Caitlin Scott
More Facebook! 

NEW ADDRESS
52152 Range Road 224
Sherwood Park, AB
T8C 1B7

From Whitemud Drive:
Take Whitemud East, cross over Highway 21. Follow this road around a natural curve to the right. (you will see a lake to your left) Our farm is the first big farm on the right hand side.

 
(780) 640-1714
(780) 908-1604        
info@cadencecreek.ca


Review: 
 
UPDATED OCTOBER 1ST 2001 LETTER FROM THE OWNER OF THE FACILITY.
Hi There,

I would respectfully like to ask you to remove the previous comments and ratings off your blog about our facility.(Everything prior to 2011) During the time of these postings (with exception to the two most recent I see today), we had another owner who was not upholding the same standards we do today. This person was in charge of a lot of the day to day things and while they were not always done the way I would have done them, none of the horses were mistreated or underfed. We are currently in a lawsuit with him for a number of issues, and I don't want to have his horrible impact left on the business we are still running.

I understand that freedom of information for people and reviews is extremely important in finding the best options for horses & their owners, but I feel that the reviews posted are not only unjust, they are from clients whose needs we could not meet and were turned away. In fact the mother who posted in the end of August was kicked off the property by RCMP for kneeing one of our horses in the gut.

I am working hard to continue to build and improve what we currently have . We have hundreds of satisfied and return clients that would be shocked to see the type of comments that have been left. I would even go as far as to say I would invite you as the blog owners (although I know probably not feasible) to come and visit and see just how far we do go for our animals here at this farm.

If it is not possible for you to remove the comments (which I know it is), I am going to ask that our stable not be listed on your directory. So, to clarify, it can stay with any comments about new facility (2011 forwards) and if not, the entire directory listing must be removed by no later then Friday September 23rd, 2011.

I appreciate your understanding. Please respond via email upon receipt.

Thanks,


Caitlin Smith
www.cadencecreekequine.com
780 908 1604



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BBB Rating - Previous Location
BBB Rating - Current Location
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Customer Review 2010 - We're at the new Cadence Creek location - the old Eyford Equestrian place. It's a bit run down right now (they just bought the place a couple of weeks ago) but the basic amenities are all there and the staff and owners are fantastic!
Customer Review 2010 - Cadence Creek - avoid at ALL COSTS! Sub standard facility with poor wire fencing. All boarded horses (and some of their own) are thrown in one big muddy pasture. Poor lesson program which caters to VERY young children. Instructors are really not qualified. Horses are under fed. My fat easy keeper who was the dominant horse came back a rack of bones. Never mind what my already skinny submissive TB looked like. No gravel in the parking lot to speak of, so if you drive a car good fucking luck getting out of there when it rains. Dead horses were places right in front of the main entrance to the arena (remember, very small children are there regularly). The owners are too young, not experienced enough and lack the resources to run a boarding stable.
Customer Review 2010 - Cadence Creek Stables – Kids Starter Stable. Breed nonspecific. $250 outdoor board, in the process of getting indoor stables together. All supplemental feed was extra. Private and semi-private paddocks extra. Large cover-all to ride in, with Canadian weather, it was pretty cold and noisy fairly often. Seemed to have a high turnover of staff, and fairly inconsistent with service; when not on free choice, horses were fed whenever, but didn’t seem to go without. Water was also not checked at regular intervals, although it was checked daily. They had a rescue horse that looked like a skeleton until the day he died, despite free choice feed, but seemed to have a spark to him, and was loved on by pretty much everyone who walked in the yard. People who were hands on with their horse, and were a regular presence seemed satisfied. Absentee owners were often very vocal about their dissatisfaction. Lots and lots of children present at all times; not a good fit for a spooky, unhandled or unruly horse.
Customer Review 2008 - I had looked at Cadence Creek, and unless they made some drastic changes I would not send one of my kids there. I was very put off by the picture when I first looked at the website. Why do they have kids riding in ill-fitting bicycle helmets? I'm sure some parents don't mind but I have certain rules when it comes to my kids and horses and the number one rule is no proper helmet no horse. I have no idea what the instructors background is so can't comment on how she is with kids or her knowledge and ability to teach proper equitation. She may be a fantastic rider and teacher, but in my mind if an instructor does not put proper safety equipment as a requirement then I don't trust they will not cut corners in their teaching elsewhere. And if I do not have confidence in the instructor why should my child?

18 comments:

  1. Facility is not safe or sanitary. Up to 20 students from 9 to 16 in a residential camp with one instructor means one lesson per day, not two as advertised. Work did not exceed the trot. Very basic and limited for the cost. Several animals on the property are in distress and underfed. An undernourished tb, with serious cannon bone issues, if not foundered as he is totally rotated, was being used as a lesson horse. Feed is substandard. Not recommended.

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  2. Had a great experience with Cadence Creek this summer with both of my childrens summer camps. Instructors were wonderful, and as veterinary tech, I can report that I did not have any concerns of any of the others below posted. I was astounded at the amount of knowledge my children came out of the camp with in one week. Definitely will be going back.

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  3. Have been riding here with my child for a few years now, and can attest that the owner works hard to ensure standards are met and surpassed, and things are constantly improving. The barn atmosphere is comfortable and fun, my daughter has learned a great amount about both riding technique and horse care. Maintaining a barn is difficult, not to mention creating a name for oneself, and the young owners are doing a great job to make a place where everyone is welcome. We've tried different barns and left because we didn't enjoy the strict and harsh training being offered...at Cadence Creek it is a joy to get to know the horses, and the younger staff who truly love being around the animals.

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  4. A+ In my books for overall experience. Was with them at there old facility and new one. The old facility needed some TLC. But the new one is much better and closer to town. Which i love. The owners are very accessible/knowledgeable. They have gone above and beyound on numerous times for me. I'm not sure about the negative comments above. Seem far fetched for the most part. There lessons cater to novice to intermediate and haven't seen/heard no complaints about it. Beside the people that are unreasonable/impossible to please. My horse and all other on property are healthy looking....i've had no reason to complain beside little things here and there which were taken care of right away. Better off having look for your self....they wont bite

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  5. I was a boarder this last year in the new facility and am extremely dissatisfied! I would not recommend it to anyone! The website is false advertised, they do not have separate pasture for mares/ geldings, when the waterer breaks in one pasture they combine the two pastures instead of fixing it.. many days i went out their ponies water troughs were completely empty and the ponies had been banging on them so much they were actually flipped! they had nails sticking out of stalls and fences and instead of getting a board to fix the fence the owner would use binder twine! in the winter they combined the two fields and had at least 30 horses in one pasture with only 4 bales. The babies went without hay in -35 degree weather and there werent any tracks going to the pen to see if they had been checked! The owners excuse for not putting bales in were "they are fat" or "they have to finish up whats left" (when what is left is pure mold mixed into the mud from them standing on it" To top it all off they were to lazy to take off the twine from the bales before they put them in so horses were eating twine and getting caught in it. getting the owner to do anything such as putting a bale out was like pulling teeth. As a boarder i should not have to go out and feed my own horse! There were days she was to lazy to even turn in the horses in the winter. As for summer camps, its disgusting how unsanitary it is! sink in bathroom doesnt work so kids are washing hands in a wash rack, they are sitting at tables that are fly infested where the flies are all over the food. they sit in stall that is uneven and some one could get hurt! Horses were going sore in the arena because they would not harrow it was like riding on cement!The place has gone completely down hill for boarders since their barn manager started.. shes rude, talks poorly about boarders and the owner herself behind her back and really has no business being there.. neither of them have business sense and do all communicating through text message.. My horses went home ribby, and full of worms!!!! not a place i recommend!

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  6. My daughter has taken lessons at Cadence Creek for a number of years. The program that they offer is safety conscious and the stable itself is a family oriented establishment. The instructors are knowledgeable and give very detailed and informative instruction. It may be a little older and run down facility but I see they are constantly working at updating. I always see the presence of someone working around the facility and what I like most is that there are a number of teen girls volunteering their time and doing an excellent job making everyone feel welcome! It saddens me to see negative comments like the one posted above because my experience with the people that work together and run this barn has been a positive one.

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  7. We love it here! My daughters have been doin lessons for the past several months and I see great improvement in their riding! The instructors are wonderful, very professional yet friendly and answer all our questions.

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  8. Fascinating to see how the positive pictures have been planted immediately following the bad ones. I've been in the industry for a long time and can attest to this facility having a horrible reputation. I'm sure the people that now own their old place would appreciate having the address on this site updated to reflect Cadence Creek's current location.

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  9. We had a great summer here and now my daughter is hooked on horses! She feels great about her accomplishments so far, is learning from the ground up, and progressing at a comfortable pace (for bothe her and me!) highly recommended!

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  10. I don't understand where some of the negative comments are coming from...I am a new boarder, and have absolutely no complaints. The fields are all separated with mesh electric fencing, very safe, and there are no more than 10 or 12 horses to a field. Some have only 4 or 5. The hay they have fed this winter was wonderful (and plentiful!) The barn and arena are well-maintained, the arena has a soft sand footing. The horses are all extremely happy and well-looked after! I've spent time at many barns and this one is top of my list for feeling warm and welcome!

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  11. We just finished a session where my daughter was introduced to riding for the first time. She started off very nervous, and now is comfortable and confident! We signed up for the spring session again and are looking forward to summer camp too! Great experience!

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  12. Buckle up, because this is going to be long (1/2)

    I had boarded both of my APHA mares there for two years, and had to remove them immediately from the premises due to the poor management of a situation by the facility owner. At the end of March 2015, I was informed that on May 5, 2014, a stallion has gotten loose in the pen adjacent to the one my mares were in. The boarders (or at least, me) we not informed that a stallion was loose. Instead, the owner chose to sit on this information for nearly an entire year, fully knowing that one or more mares could be pregnant, and chose not to take the appropriate steps (i.e medical intervention, termination of pregnancy etc) to rectify the problem. While I am understanding that accidents like this do indeed happen, her lack of action (and proactive problem solving) is absolutely unacceptable. She not only set me up for expenses I do not want to cover (and shouldn't have to) but also is putting the life of my mare at risk, due to her getting bred at an old age, opening her up to STIs etc, and the life of the unborn foal at risk, for not receiving proper natal care.

    Her solution to this mess: to cover all expenses but ONLY if she could place a free broodmare lease on my mare, essentially holding her hostage from me all summer, and getting to keep the foal for free at weaning time. Obviously, she was willing to take only so much responsibility for the situation and trying to twist this situation to her favor. Her argument to try and convince me was "lets face it, you never do anything with your horses anyways so do you really need a new foal?" as if it were somehow her business what I do or don't do with them - and due to her negligence, she's ensured that I'm getting one whether I can handle it or not!

    She told me who the stallion belonged to, but refused to give me his contact info. I suspect she's covering up for her own stallion who is on the premises year round... which I also didn't know about until recently when I did some snooping. I am considering my options on how to pursue this.

    There was another situation where my mare almost lost her eye, because the staff (which seem to be non existent) weren't cleaning it out on a regular basis after she cut the lid and developed an infection/ulcer in the eye. I couldn't be there during the day to be taking care of it because at that time I was flying between Calgary and Edmonton quite regularly for work and doing my job on top of that, so no one was flushing the eye out. Perhaps naively I thought they would take care of it, but then again, the reason I pay $600 a month (collectively) is so that I don't have to do it! I chalked it up to being a miscommunication at the time, but now I'm not so sure. It was never indicated to me that I needed to be the one taking care of it, otherwise I would have taken my horse to the vet to deal with it.

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  13. And finally (2/2)


    I boarded my horses at her previous location as well (this time it was the same mare and a welsh gelding) and confirm the older reviews that horses were frequently left without water (though at the new location it seems fine) and the story of the three dead horses at the entrance of the barn/arena is sadly true. From what I know, they had to be euthanized due to some injuries, but putting dead horses under a tarp held down by stones at the entrance is unprofessional and pretty gross.

    For these reasons, I've concluded the barn owner is a complete train wreck and totally incompetent (sadly, I had to figure it out the hard way) and should either remove herself from the day to day business that she doesn't seem to want to do in the first place and hire a competent barn manager (there isn't one listed on the site and I have never seen or heard of one) to take care of everything. She wouldn't be the first in the area. She jumps from one idea to the next, so I don't believe she is fully committed to the idea of owning a business and it has left the previous and current location in a state of constant construction, which is pretty annoying for clients.

    My suggestion to anyone considering boarding their horses here, or taking lessons: stay away. The facilities she has are nothing special and are very similar to most of the stables around here (many of which are on the same road or within close proximity, or from the same distance from Sherwood Park) and almost all cater to riders of many different disciplines and skill level, have summer camps or even 4-H clubs, where as Cadence Creek does not. And most importantly, the vast majority have owners, managers and staff who know how to do their jobs!

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  14. It's is truly unfortunate how, in this industry, there are always one or two vindictive and troubled souls who take it upon themselves to smear the name of someone they have a personal bone to pick with, by (anonymously!) spreading malicious, far-fetched rumours. I can attest that, after shopping around, I wouldn't take my horses anywhere else. There are negligent horse owners out there who don't show up for months on end, don't pay their board, and like to blame their lack of care for their animals on others, but I am one of those owners who communicates with the barn owner (which is easy!) and spends time working with my animals and contributing to the well-being of the space they are in. I find everything here to be top-notch. Check out their website; any horse owner would be happy to take advantage of the services offered.

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  15. I absolutley agree with Eddy! It is truly unfortunate! I have been riding for about 1 1/2 years and I LOVE Cadence!! The barn family is truly AMAZING and knowledgeable!! I have seen none of what the very last "Anonymous" is talking about. To me, if you have to sign anything Anonymous, the comment(s) may as well be deleted, as in my opinion, it gets the attention it deserves - NONE ! I don't own a horse yet but I will, maybe more than one and they will certainly be at Cadence!

    Oh and one more thing! Just because there are no barn managers and fancy titled people listed- that means diddly! There is more to a business than titles of people - we treat all equally- and that is how I feel Cadence is!

    The horses there have the very best of care!

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  16. I had my horse at Cadence Creek for rehab from July 2 to Sept 28, 2015 under the care of Shantel Parreal ( Equine Chiropractor/ Osteopath) and Caitlin Scott ( Equine Masseuse). He was a show horse and had strained his stifles. In the three months he was there he lost about 150 lb. This horse was an "easy keeper" at his previous training barn. I attended him twice weekly throughout that time and when I questioned him about his declining condition both Shantel and Caitlin said he was fine. I removed him from CC when I showed up and he was lame ( abscess in his LF hoof) and up to his hocks in mud. He arrived in their account "slightly overweight' and left lame and extremely emaciated. This happened under their rehab program so I am not sure what would happen to a horse who is left for boarding there. When my horse was in trouble Caitlin and Shantel refused to communicate. Caitlin threatened to lock in my horse if I refused to pay. I paid because it was in the horse's best interest to get him out of Cadence Creek not because I felt she deserved to be paid. This experience has been very traumatizing for both my and my horse. I would not recommend Cadence Creek or the rehab services of Holistic Equine Rehab.

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  17. After all my own, and the awful experiences of others I'm personally quite relieved that Caitlin Scott is now operating out of a different facility and no longer in charge of horse care.

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