LOCHSLOY — The horses were restless Saturday morning, anxious to run and unusually attuned to the ducks gathered on a pond that in the summer dries to become prime grazing pasture.
“There’s something in the air,” said Meika Decher, who owns Polestar Farm in Lochsloy with her husband Mark Salser.
The farm is situated on a scenic spot across a one-lane bridge over the Pilchuck River. It’s a haven where busy professionals board their horses and pony clubs meet for summer camps. Guests run their dogs or take hikes and trail rides around the 380-acre farm.
The focus, though, is on training horses and riders for a three-day competition called eventing. Decher calls it “the triathlon for horses.”
Eventing includes show jumping, cross-country jumping, and dressage, a type of exhibition riding based on cavalry training from centuries past. The sports can be seen at the Olympic Games.
Decher has trained and competed with Olympic athletes. Show jumping tends to be her strong suit but she loves the thrill of cross-country riding.
On Saturday, Decher rode 7-year-old Archie, a Thoroughbred-Holsteiner cross, around the outdoor ring where they usually practice jumping. Archie was born at Polestar Farm, the son of a spirited mare Decher rode at international competitions.
“I do compete a lot,” Dechler said. “My students kind of balance me as a rider and as a coach.”
Many of the students balance their own careers with a passion for riding.
Kim Brethauer, a data analyst, lives in North Everett and boards Peter, a 12-year-old Warmblood cross, at Polestar. She goes to the farm at least three times a week, usually more.
“I spend a lot of time here just walking around and hiking,” she said. “This is not a typical boarding facility. It’s nice that they treat me and Peter like family.”
Most boarders at Polestar are adult amateur riders who need a safe place for their horses and a welcoming group to ride with, she said. The size and beauty of the property set it apart from others.
“There used to be more places like this, but there aren’t many left where you can just come out and run and jump,” Brethauer said.
Decher and Salser bought the property in 2000 and moved there in 2007. They now have a dozen regular boarders and up to 30 horses and riders in the summer. They also have working students who intern at the farm.
Letty Moreno and Morgan Kelly are learning about horse care and barn management while getting riding lessons and helping at competitions. It’s a golden opportunity to work with a variety of horses and meet a group of riders and trainers who are “like family,” they said.
“Meika has ridden at the top level, so it’s really nice to learn from someone who’s been there,” Moreno said.
The regional competition season starts in April in California. It ends in October in Eastern Washington.
Decher competed on the East Coast before moving to Lochsloy.
“It’s been really fun to come out from back east, where it’s kind of a pressure cooker,” she said.
From 2000 to 2007, she and Salser lived in North Carolina while taking trips to fix up the Polestar property. There used to be cattle on the farm and it hadn’t been cared for in a while, Salser said. The manure was up over his shins and the buildings were run-down.
They overhauled the farm, with a focus on protecting the Pilchuck River and a connecting creek that runs nearby. They planted a buffer of native species to help water quality and repair damage along the banks from the cattle. As biologists, they’re excited to see the health of the water and the animals that rely on it improve, Salser said. The two met while studying biology at University of California, Davis.
Decher spent most of her life around horses and Salser, who grew up in Los Angeles, never spent much time around them as a kid. They’re a dynamic team on Polestar Farm. While she rides and trains, he creates wood furniture, raises honey bees and coordinates events and classes. He’s president of the Northwest District Beekeepers Association in Snohomish and part of the Snohomish County Fruit Society. They’re planning to host a fruit tree grafting class and apple cider pressing at the farm this year.
“The farm is our business but it’s used for a lot of other events,” he said.
They’ll be hosting a tour of the farm with the Snohomish Conservation District at 10 a.m. next Saturday, Feb. 13. The tour is to showcase how rural landowners can protect streams and salmon. Guests can learn how projects such as replacing culverts, planting buffers and removing invasive plants benefit the river and the property. Register to attend the tour at snocd.org/polestar_tour.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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