For the past 13 years Beuchert has, virtually single-handedly, run Spring Fever Farm at 3430 W. Watersville Road in Mount Airy. The farm is home to 13 Andalusians, graceful Spanish horses. The stable boards horses, offering individual attention, rolling pastures and fan-cooled stalls. The charge is $650 a month, which Beuchert called ‘‘average for a high-end barn.”
Additionally, the stable will train horses in classical dressage, the art of riding in harmony with the horse. Spring Fever Farm also trains riders, both beginners and advanced students, at $75 a lesson. Training both horses and people makes sense because ‘‘in classical dressage horse and rider are both trained in the highest, most subtle form of riding.”
Spring Fever Farm is flexible. Some students work there in exchange for lessons. Clemence Levy-Guillemin, for instance, contacted Beuchert a year ago due to a strong interest in Andalusians. Immediately, she became an enthusiast of Beuchert’s understanding of horses.
‘‘She’s really helped me with moving forward into more technical and more different movement routines, harmony and timing,” said Levy-Guillemin, who attributes this to Beuchert’s strong communication abilities with both people and animals.
Animal communication and healing, which began Beuchert’s career, remain a part of her farm’s services. She offers communication services with cats, dogs and horses, starting at $25 for 15 minutes.
Beuchert gave the example of a cat she spoke with that kept wandering into traffic. ‘‘I convinced him the road was a very dangerous place,” she said. She follows up every few months to remind the cat to stay clear of the road.
She also discussed a German shepherd that refused to do agility training. Speaking with the dog, Beuchert discovered it to be ‘‘a family type, a lover, not a fighter, who wants to be bred.”
Beuchert volunteers with HorseNet Horse Rescue, using her skills to help distressed animals. The nonprofit has facilities in Mount Airy and New Windsor.
Said Elle Williams, HorseNet’s executive director: ‘‘Horses are just like people, with their own places, history and situations.” Ordinarily, though, they can’t explain their situation; they ‘‘can’t say I got mugged and beaten,” she said.
Williams said she can often figure out a horse’s problems by watching them and the way they interact. When this fails, though, she calls in Beuchert, who ‘‘has the ability to communicate with them and put us on the right path.”
For instance, a horse whose owner died was moved from life mainly in a stall to more time in a pasture, where ‘‘he just stood in the field, watching everyone else graze.” After Beuchert talked to him he began to eat again, and ‘‘started acting more like a horse,” Williams said.
The 3-year-old Equestrian Theater at Spring Fever Farm builds on Beuchert’s riding and training skills. It’s a 90-minute show scheduled about every three months, with musical routines and pattern work, including Spanish walking and bowing. ‘‘It’s like synchronized swimming with horses,” Beuchert said. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children and $15 for seniors.
Shows also include comedians and the Great Falls Vaulters, a local group. Beuchert strives to vary the shows; May’s included a very young concert pianist. After each show, Beuchert invites the audience to pet the horses and even to ride. ‘‘People cry,” Beuchert said. ‘‘It’s an emotional and happy experience.”
Such audience participation has a price, however, due to the danger of accidents. ‘‘I have liability [insurance] out the yazoo,” Beuchert said. Although she believes that ‘‘the theater has amazing potential,” without advertising or investors it has trouble turning a profit.
Beuchert has applied to the Maryland Tourist Board, the Carroll County Agricultural Board and other organizations for grants. Still the question remains, ‘‘How do I get myself on the map when I’m broke?” The theater’s next show is planned for September.
Overall, Spring Fever Farm treads a precarious fiscal line. ‘‘My husband and I have spent our life savings,” Beuchert said, ‘‘but it’s still not making a profit.” With 13 Andalusians to care for, Beuchert described herself as ‘‘horse poor.”
‘‘My business does OK. It feeds the horses - that’s about it.”
