From a Clydesdale named Captain to miniature horses and ponies, and just about everything equine in between, Lisa Leek’s equestrian center has it all. Hayburner Ranch came into being this past summer, not quite two miles east of Decaturville, Mo., half way between Camdenton and Lebanon.
“We moved the 29th of May and we had three horses boarded here the next week,” explained the exuberant owner of the Camden County facility that provides riding lessons for all ages, beginning at age 2, training for horses and riders, trail rides, boarding, even birthday and pony painting parties.
While both Lisa and her husband, Barry, an emergency service veterinarian in Springfield and a part-time vet with Osage Animal Hospital, are originally from Missouri, they spent the last 13 years in Florida. “We decided we wanted to come back to Missouri and do this,” she continued. “We plowed our retirement savings into this ranch and decided to just take a chance. We knew we had to make it work, and we’ve been very pleasantly surprised to be busier than we expected to be at this point.”
“There are 40 horses on the place at the moment, which is 177 acres. About 25 of those are boarders. We actually have a waiting list now for board space,” she smiled. “We have a Kentucky Derby horse on vacation here at the moment. We get inquiries from all over. Folks from St. Louis have also called, and of course, our board rates are about half of what they are up there.”
She continued, “We offer lessons six days a week, private or group, English, Western, and barrel racing, for all ages. A lot of our work with the smaller children is about safety, ground rules, schooling and how to tack their horse up, because those are the basics and they are so important.”
To help area youth who enjoy horses and want to learn more, Lisa and Barry have opened their facility to the local 4-H, donating the time and space for 4-H meetings and projects. Lisa is a 4-H project leader. “We have a great group of kids coming here through 4-H, and great parents, too. It’s about fun and safety and people getting together who really enjoy the horses.”
The hillsides immediately surrounding the large barn that houses stalls for rent and a work training area are covered with a variety of horse breeds, most of which are also blanketed against the cold, but not all.
“These woolly guys are ready for this weather,” Lisa laughed, indicating half a dozen miniature horses in a corral immediately behind the big barn. “We show them during the season as they are from grand champion stock. We have to shave them when it’s show time. You would never recognize them from the way they look right now. They are also the ones we use with the smallest children.”
Lisa and Barry’s own children Tyler, age 11, Brandon, age 7 and Danielle, age 5, also enjoy the horses and life on the ranch. “My son Sean, who’s 25, is not interested in horses,” she added with a smile, “and he decided to stay in Florida. This life with horses, is something you have to really love, to be born to, in a sense, I think. After all, like raising any other animal, it’s every day, 365 days a year, no matter the weather. Not everybody is into it, but the ones, like this one,” and she pointed to Danielle who danced nearby with a barn cat in each arm, “they love it!”
Meanwhile, as Lisa and her horses make the best of winter, she and her training staff have a number of plans for the upcoming months, once the weather gets warmer. “This summer we plan to have half day and all day camps and we’ll have open horse shows as well.
“My husband’s family is originally from Troy, Missouri, up north, and he’s used to cattle as well as horses. We plan to add cattle to our ranch and I’d like to have a petting zoo, with miniature cows as well as the horses for the kids. Schools and pre-schools have already called about field trips so we have all kinds of plans for the future.”
