Caroline Goodman-Thomases has always enjoyed an equine friendly lifestyle. She spent most of her time growing up riding at barns in and around New York City, specifically Rockland County. Caroline worked in various barns giving lessons, teaching summer camps, or working as a stable hand. She was up for anything as long as it involved horses.

As the years progressed Caroline’s professional career led her down a different path. She spent 10 years working in the film industry (while still riding on the side) before deciding to pursue a full-time career with horses. Four years ago Caroline rented an aisle in a larger facility and started teaching, training, and boarding horses to pursue her equine passion as a career.

Just like many horse crazy girls, Caroline had always dreamed about having her own barn and waking up to see horses grazing in the pasture. Initially the couple planned on renting a farm. After a few things didn’t pan out the search continued. They became open to the idea of purchasing a farm.

“Originally we were looking to rent a farm, but a couple promising places fell through so we started widening the search. We were getting a little frustrated because pretty much everything we were seeing in this area was way out of our reach financially. We saw the listing for this place and it was in really, really rough shape, honestly a little scary looking, and we passed over it a few times before deciding to go take a look. But when we came to look for the first time, it was clear that behind the chipped paint and over growth was a really beautiful facility with amazing bones – just dying for the right people to come along and bring it back to life. So we bit the bullet and dug in!”

It took Caroline and James about five months to renovate the place themselves after moving in around May of this year (2018).

“We definitely still have much more that we want to do with the place over time, but now it is at a point where we are happy with it and we are able to start opening up to boarders and students,” explained Caroline.

Before the Renovation

A glimpse at the forgotten barn in the winter before it was purchased.

“When we arrived it was covered in layers of old chipping paint. We tried everything we could think of to remove the paint (paint strippers, power wash etc.). Originally we were just going to re-paint it, but once we starting getting bits of paint off we saw that it was beautiful cedar siding underneath and we fell in love with that look. One day we were wrestling with what to do and we had this brain wave – what if we just flip the existing siding over to the side that isn’t painted? We started flipping the siding and the first day we were so excited about how good it looked – then it sunk in that we had to do the whole barn! It was a long process but it worked! Once we had finished flipping the siding we gave it a good power wash and then sealed it with a cedar tinted stain/sealer to preserve the wood color and protect it from the elements.”

Another big challenge was the indoor arena, the birds had pecked through the window panels and made basically the entire arena a big bird’s nest. It was covered from the ground to ceiling with bird poop. James had the task of power washing off the entire arena.

A Fresh Start

Taking on a horse barn renovation isn’t a task for those are afraid of doing hard work, but a lot of elbow grease goes a long way.

“If you are willing and able to dig in, get your hands dirty and do the bulk of the work yourself, it not only saves a huge amount of money, but it connects you to the place in a much deeper way, said Caroline. We now know every inch of this place like the backs of our hands, and for years to come we will be able to look at the farm and say ‘we did that’ which is incredibly empowering.”

Thomases Equestrian is about 38 acres and has access to trails nearby for riding. The main barn has 24 stalls inside. Boarding, training, and lessons are available.

Caroline has extensive experience with hunter/jumpers, dressage, and equitation.

Thank you Caroline and James for sharing your wonderful renovation with us! If you are local to Dutchess County and want to learn more please visit thomasesequestrian.com.

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