We have been in business for 5 years and have shown growth every year as we take on more lesson-student clients, horsemanship summer youth day camps, and host birthday parties. Elysian Fields Equestrian Center is a horse boarding, horseback riding, and training facility located in Montoursville, PA. We provide instruction with a high emphasis on safety developing leadership skills and confidence in our students. We also host our nonprofit 501(c)3, Heroes Helping Horses | Horses Healing Heroes (6H) which provides Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) services to Veterans, Law Enforcement, and First Responders.
Getting through the Covid pandemic and the current economic condition has been a challenge, to say the least. It honestly has nearly destroyed everything we are doing. But, we are fighters, we do not quit and have continued to push forward with our dream and share the benefit of horses with everyone we can. We are steady and growing and can maintain, but we could definitely benefit from a financial boost to allow a fresh start to continue moving forward and finally be able to breathe.
Over the past five years, we have safely instructed over three hundred children how to ride horses bareback and in the English and Western saddles. With horsemanship also comes confidence, leadership skills and values of teamwork instilled through a fun learning and working environment. These are traits every child can benefit from and take with them for the rest of their lives. Please, let me tell you about our farm.
Welcome to Elysian Fields Equestrian Center
DELIGHTFUL-GLORIOUS-BLISSFUL
Elysian Fields Equestrian Center is a beautiful, hilltop-placed, 40-acre, 24/7, full-access horse boarding and horseback riding facility located 5 miles from Walmart in Montoursville, PA. In addition to blissful scenery for miles, boarders will enjoy our 14,000 square foot indoor arena with a viewing area and 16,000 square foot outdoor arena, ample tack space, multiple grooming bays, indoor heated restroom, kitchen break area, and a friendly drama-free atmosphere. On-property trailer parking is available and... trails coming this spring!
At Elysian Fields Equestrian Center, the owners live on-site and are always available for your needs and for the needs of your horses. We will care for your horses as if they were members of our own horse family. We are insured and have our own Veterinarian and Ferrier services on call, which owners may take advantage of for group rates, or you are more than welcome to use your own veterinarian or farrier.
EXPERIENCE AND DEDICATION
LeeAnn and Rob are both dedicated and experienced in horse care and stable management. They are here to provide a clean, safe facility for you and your horse.
Elysian Fields hosts horseback riding classes, horsemanship summer day camps, and birthday parties.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING TO ACCOMPLISH? HOW CAN YOU HELP US SUSTAIN AND GROW?
Having over twenty horses on the property, our overhead is extremely high. In 2021, our final hay bill for the year was over $20,000. In the spring of 2022, we made a smart business decision and purchased an additional tractor and our own hay-making equipment and were able to reduce our hay bill from $16,000 to just under $6,500 for the first half of the year. At this rate, the hay-making equipment will have paid for itself in less than two years.
The next area requiring an intelligent financial decision is one that has been a constant struggle since the beginning, five years ago. The combined electric utility bill for the house and the barn on the farm totals an average of over $500 per month for a total of over $6,500 a year. We have recently learned that our electric utility company is now allowing net metering. Net metering in this case uses solar energy in place of electricity purchased from the electric company and what is not used is cycled to the electric company for kilowatt-hour credits. The credits are used throughout the year for power the farm uses at night while the sun is down. During the day, not as much electricity is being used so most of the kW hours go to the electric company for credit. Energy commodities are not going to go down in price. The current average billing rate in Pennsylvania for electricity is $0.12/kWh in 2022, up 50% from 25 years ago in 1997 when electricity was billed at $0.08/kWh. With the constant increase in demand, usage, and inflation of the economy, one sure bet is that electric utility costs will always continue to rise. In fact, in twenty years, it is projected to almost triple from $6,500 per year to $17,300 per year! 25 years of doing nothing will yield a loss of over $215,000 to the electric company.
With the rising trend of electric-powered vehicles, the demand on the grid is even higher. Currently, the electrical utility company is allowing net metering for the maximum average annual usage of the meter. For $6,500, that is approximately 55,000 kWh a year at an average of 150 kWh per day. The 60-panel system we have designed and been quoted to have installed to support the house and the barn came in at $125,000, almost half of what is projected to be spent on electricity in the next 25 years. Another projection we have is that with the quickly approaching drain on the electrical grid, electric companies are highly likely to allow higher production from their solar power-generating customers. When this happens, we can easily expand our 60-panel, 150-kWh per day solar system into a 1,000-panel system cranking out 2,500 kWh per day. At the current rate of $0.12 per kWh, this system would pay for itself in less than 5 years at a rate of $108,000 per year and we can go even bigger. A one-thousand-panel system would take up about 15,000 square feet of roof space. The barn alone has more than three times that, will be aesthetically pleasing with panels on the roof and not look like an ugly solar farm like ones do when they are ground mounted in the fields.
"If one wants to teach, they must learn. If one wants to define the future, one must study the past." This quote by Confucius is straightforward to understand; it is literal. Without history, there is no future.
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