Five years ago I bought a small house and 3 wooded acres one-half mile down the road from where I kept my 3 riding horses. One quarter mile up the road in the opposite direction was this old falling down farm complete with an infoor arena. There were several sorry looking horses out in the field.
One day last summer the for sale sign went up, so I checked it out. Price was a little steep what with all the fixing up it would need. I guess others felt the same as it remained up for sale all through the fall. Fast forward several months: end of November the racetrack closed. I had a 2 yr old stud colt in training. None of the boarding stables took studs. Meanwhile I was offered another horse, (Heathcliff) to train. So here I was with 2 paying trainees and nowhere to keep them.
I went down and talked to the old man who owned the place. Ended up renting 3 stalls for the winter. Structurally the place is very sound, it just needed a lot of cleaning up, so I set to it. Stalls were a foot deep in manure, boards falling down, trash everywhere. I got the areas I would need in working order before the harsh weather set in.
The arena, of course, is the best part. 100' by 60' with the long side facing South enclosed by a 5' wall, the rest open which I like since it allows plenty of fresh air and sunshine. Eventually I will need to add some dirt/sand/stonedust to the existing footing. I have the whole place to myself and am enjoying the peace and quiet. In time, if I can pick up more business, I'll get a couple large paddocks fenced in and maybe an equisizer.
I've heard from several long-time residents that it use to be quite the showplace 20 years ago. Underneath all the dust and cobwebs you can tell this was so. There's a tackroom frozen in time with bridle and saddle racks, and a wall still festooned with ribbons.
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