Blue Star Farm - Mount Albert, Ontario

RK S.

The corporation that rents this barn out, do not know anything about horse care. They did not keep up with maintenance. The barn is full of rats, the paddocks flooded and drains backing up into the barn. They were verbally aggressive and did not allow tenants the decency if good communication. They would change rules on a whim or if other tenant cried to him. Would say events are not allowed after he brought his family to one and participated in all activities (for free).

He rented out the arena and rings without consulting the tenants. Which would have meant no access to renters or boarders (who pay for use of the facility)
Offers to bring lesson children for the lesson program then demanded lessons are not allowed.

Only in it for the money.

Does not promote a healthy working relationship between renter's.

Other renters smoking and vaping while riding in the arena. Landlord was spoken to multiple times and did nothing to stop it.

Sent a threatening letter to renter's with 24 hours notice or locks would be put on the barn.

Definitely not the way to do business. It sounds like the old owners made a huge mistake selling to a corporation who is greedy.

Jessica B.

Beware! As a boarder in the front barn for a short time we were led to believe that we could access all the facilities including the bathroom and viewing room. The person renting the main barn is difficult and uncooperative and makes the boarders in the front barn feel unwelcome. She tried to keep us from sharing certain facilities such as the bathroom, viewing room and outdoor arenas. She allowed her boarders to do as they pleased including smoking, vaping and letting their dogs run around and leave their poop behind. Jimmy (the "owner" who does not have experience with horses at all) was no help in solving any issues. Our paddocks were under water and the driveway was never plowed or treated so it was dangerous. The barn stunk because of poor drainage and the sump pump was broken. Nothing was done to repair it. There was only one shelter for horses on the property but that was reserved for the outdoor boarders that Jimmy was attempting to bring in. Our horses were not provided any shelter. The facility is beautiful but the inexperience of the new owners and the poor business model makes it impossible for boarders to ride there peacefully.

Jessica B.

Blue Star is under new management. A corporation purchased it and the person overseeing it doesn't have any experience with equestrian facilities and rents out several different areas to different renters. There isn't shelter for horses in the paddocks and there is not an owner living onsite (just renters). I boarded by horse there from November until May and during that time there was constant conflict between the two renters over the shared spaces. The arena was constantly busy with lessons and there was loads of drama. There are no owners or managers onsite for emergencies. Our paddock was under water and the owner is not willing to do basic repairs. For example when the sump pump broke and the drainage in the barn was backed up nothing was done to fix it. Such a shame to see a beautiful property go downhill.

s D.

Would give this place -1 if that was an option. Sad when people who have no horse knowledge buy a horse property and run it into the ground hoping to squeeze every last dollar out of it.

The place is showing its age with no worthwhile maintenance being completed. Fencing is looking shabby, all barns are infested with rats, there are no shelters (natural or man made) and rain runoff from the road is literally redirected into 3 of the paddocks (that’s gotta be great for the horses!)

Having boarded at this facility for a short while, I was astounded by the amount of drama and toxicity displayed by the tenant who remains there today. She was difficult and completely unwilling to work together with boarders from the other barn. The landlord did nothing to help mitigate conflict between barns including when there were boarders illegally smoking and vaping in shared arena in front of minors.

Avoid boarding, renting, showing etc at this place and hope that they put it back up for sale for someone with equestrian knowledge to buy!

Thom B.

It's sad to say but Blue Star is not like any of the stories I heard about it from the past. You can tell that one time the facility and property were well taken care of. This is of course not the case any more. Many things are in disrepair and this once beautiful farm is depreciating fast. This seems to be another example of corporate greed, and people buying up farms thinking it will be easy money to make from hard working individuals. This property has no one on site full time, it also doesn't have a manager or a handyman to fix any of the issues. There is a person we were told would take care of any repairs, but when he was asked to fix something he said he was only there to look out for the owner's investment. The current boarding model has multiple lessors sharing many different spaces even farm equipment. Without a manager to oversee any issues that arise, this naturally lead to infighting. I had a particular issue with a boarder who would vape on her horses in the middle of the arena in front of my daughter ( 14) and other riders. I had to bring it up to the other lessor. She said she would deal with it, and it wouldn't happen again. This issue was just swept under the rug and it kept happening. So on the 4th or 5th occasion I had to deal with the issue and address the boarder herself, which erupted into a large argument in front of boarders, (many who were children). I was blamed for this not the adult vaping in the arena. I approached the owner of the farm who said he would deal with the issue and would love to have a conversation about the incident, neither happened as he avoided having that difficult conversation ( the vaping continued till the border left). The current model had multiple boarders sharing spaces like a washroom and a heated viewing room, but the other lessor made it very uncomfortable for anyone who tried to use it, and the owner didn't rectify this issue either. He also decided at the end of our time there that we were no longer allowed to teach lessons or hold horse events there as it "wasn't part of our contract" even though he had witnessed many of the lessons and even attended an event with his family and enjoyed themselves. He also hired a 3rd party to run a horse show at the facility, which meant we wouldn't have been able to use the riding areas while the show was going on. This is the equivalent of your landlord letting someone host a party in the backyard of the house you rent. The fields were so wet this spring that there were even two ducks that laid eggs in the paddock. When we were told we could use a back paddock that was dryer till ours dried out, we gladly gave our horses a break from the mud and rotated them through the fields. This was short lived as the old owner who lives on site when he's back from Florida, told him that's not ok, and we shouldn't have horses in that field. Did I mention the old owner lives on site for part of the year, and the only thing he does is tell the new owner how he would run the farm differently. When we first moved in we were told we could use up all of the old hay in the loft ( to get rid of it) and then when we bought more we could store it up stairs. Then one day the hay loft was off limits, and if we wanted to buy small bales off him it would cost more than twice what the average bale goes for, and we also no longer allowed access to the loft for storage, so we had to turn to using a stall which we rented out for a horse. As nice as it was having an asphalt driveway to go from barn to arena, this was never plowed in the winter or salted when the snow melted off the roof and created ice down below. This made for an unsafe path for the horses. We were relegated to getting our own salt and having to shovel what we could, or rely on the sun to melt us some paths. The wet paddocks turned into an ice rink, which was also very unsafe for the horses. I hope this helps someone.

MG F.

To anyone considering entering into a lease with this farm or boarding at this facility, I would exercise extreme caution. I was not comfortable with my wife or my children being anywhere near the landlord. The landlord here is aggressive and verbally abusive. This is an extremely uncomfortable atmosphere, and I would sincerely offer a warning.

One can only imagine how challenging it would be to operate a business in this environment. Sadly, this facility's reputation will make success impossible.

For those who support this farm or its employees, I urge you to reflect on the kind of person you want to be. In a sport dominated by women, there is no place for the kind of aggressive and verbally abusive behavior exhibited by the landlord. It's a stark reminder of the progress we still need to make in our society.

As we see, the local equestrian world is a tightknit community. I would collectively suggest a complete boycott of this facility. I hope this could lead to new ownership. Perhaps with new ownership, the Blue Star Farm may return to its once proud name.

Karen M.

Was driving by Blue Star Farm, saw a Parking Sign and drove in. I am not a rider, I can only admit to loving horses. This was an eye opening experience to see young girls jumping, horses everywhere, friendly people and immaculate grounds. Was an amazing morning for me and I would love to go back and see another show!

Tori P.

👎👎👎 Would not recommend. New owners don’t do their diligence with facilities maintenance… flooded paddocks and barns, infested with rats, impossible to get any arena time or to escape toxic management.