Meadowvale Farm

Meadowvale Farm is a riding school which has been owned and operated by Stephanie Calvert for the last 15 years on what used to be the old Forest Farm property at 1247 Corkery Road (Carp, ON). She offers English discipline riding lessons in Dressage, Show jumping and Cross Country to the international level, is a member of the National Capital Horse Trials’ Association and also hosts the Stone Bridge Pony Club on the facility, for an outside sponsor. Currently she has 15 of her own horses and an additional eight that she is boarding. The farm maintains a local farrier and a valley veterinarian on call to make sure all the animals continue to receive the best overall care. Stephanie, whose horsemanship is at the international level, already has one pupil in that category.

The Farm offers lessons for all ages year round, using the large indoor barn in bad weather. They have a full-range cross country course on the property with 40-50 jumps including water, ditches and hedges of various heights as required by competition standards. They have two outdoor sand rings, for better all-weather footing, which are used for dressage and jumping practice and a large indoor arena with a sand/fibre floor for improved cushioning effect for the horses, which is open daily. In addition the farm runs day camps and horse shows and has a team that competes in horse trials.

Overall, to quote Stephanie, “We plan a fun and supportive learning environment, always aiming for improvement.”

The program runs with additional coaches on a regular basis with Stephanie herself as Head Coach. “When matching a student and a horse, we always take into consideration their relative size and temperament,” she explained. “We will chose a smaller, calm animal if the new pupil seems to lack confidence.”

“The spring and fall are the busiest time for new registrations,” Stephanie said during a recent interview. “We offer private lessons at a cost of $260 and for group lessons the price is $160. The usual number of students taking lessons averages about 10-15 per day with 50-90 involved in the program in total.” The farm has a website at https://www.meadowvalefarm.ca and an e-mail address at: stephc@meadowvalefarm.ca

Meadowvale Farm is a long standing local enterprise, catering to a wide range of equestrian interests that the community newsletter is happy to have selected as its first business profile.