Cherokee Hill Farm

HORSE BOARDING SERVICES AND FACILITIES


Cherokee Hill Farm is a full service 100 acre horse farm, offering the horse owner a maximum of possibilities for horse care and has been serving the equine community for more than 25 years. We are staffed seven days a week, and can offer any needed equine services, from exercise to grooming. We are able to offer specialized care for horses with special health requirements, or for those requiring a layup while recovering from injury.

The main stable is 175 feet in length, and features a twenty foot wide center isle, providing for ease and safety while handling your horse. This stable contains 22 box stalls which are 12'X12' including those with in and out capability onto adjacent paddocks. The stable has a hot water wash rack, two tack rooms, tack cleaning facilities, and toilet. Our farm includes a 250' X 125' Hunter Ring, as well as an over 1000' Outside Course nestled into the Foothills of the Blue Ridge.

Our full board includes feeding two meals per day, daily turnout, a box stall with bedding and daily cleaning, hay, and blanketing service. For those boarders wishing to do some of the upkeep themselves, we offer rough board and pasture board. We offer special rates for short term stays, such as for weekend shows at the Fence Show Grounds, Fox Hunters Week, or for special get a way vacations. Come ride with us during the fall foliage season.


LOCATION AND TRAIL SYSTEM




Cherokee Hill Farm is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and is located adjacent to the Foothills Equestrian Nature Center (FENCE). Our bridle paths on the farm lead directly into FENCE, where you may ride over their 380 acre facility.




The farm is located directly on the FETA Trail System, and as a boarder here you will be eligible to join FETA, and ride their 140 mile trail system. One of the FETA trails is located on the farm itself.




We are located in the heart of Old Hunting Country, and are in close proximity to both the Tryon Hounds and Green Creek Hounds Chartered Hunts. The spectacular views from our hilltops are sure to enhance your pleasure riding experience.




CALL AHEAD RIDING AND CONCIERGE SERVICE




Boarders may request that their horses be held in their stalls, rather than be turned out, by placing a phone call the day before the morning they wish to ride. This Call Ahead feature saves time, and gets you onto the trail or to your morning workout sooner.




Boarders who wish to save a maximum of time and effort, may also use our Concierge Service. When you Call Ahead, just tell us to have your horse groomed, tacked, and ready to ride! When you return to the barn, just hand the reins to one of our staff, and your horse will be cleaned, groomed, and returned to his pasture or stall. Your tack will be wiped down, and returned to its place in the tack room. Concierge Service is billed on a per ride basis, and will be added to your monthly invoice.






HORSE TRAINING


Cherokee Hill Farm has specialized in training primarily pleasure horses, and field hunters, and we will start and saddle break any breed of horse, including all gaited breeds. Our training staff includes Mr. Jeffery Willard, who is licensed to train Thoroughbreds for racing. Jeff also has many years of experience working with horses recovering from injury. Resistance Free training methods are utilized assuring a pleasurable experience for your horse, and rapid results. Special training board rates are offered.



RIDING INSTRUCTION


Our riding school is especially well suited to the beginning rider. Our school horses are well experienced, gentle, calm, and are knowledgeable regarding beginning riders and their educational needs. Mike's training is in classical hunt seat, having trained in New Jersey with several internationally known instructors, and also having participated in clinics at the USET at Hamilton Farm. Mike's training also includes European experience with Mr. P.H. Gilbert, at his Glenrothes Riding Centre, Fife, Scotland. He has enjoyed hunter pacing in NC as well, and he is a two time Field Hunter Champion of the Western North Carolina Hunter Pace Series. Hunt Seat Lessons for children are a specialty of our farm, and lessons are available both after school and on weekends. Students 4 years old and up are accepted for training. Special instruction rates for children are offered, as well as an introductory special for a beginners first lesson.


LEASING


Our riding school horses are available for our students to lease by the month, day, or hour. Boarders may also book horses for qualified equestrian friends to ride with them, as guests on the FETA trail system. Our lease horses include both Appendix and Quarter Horses, as well as a Warmblood. All are trail experienced.


ABOUT US


Cherokee Hill Farm is owned and operated by Mike & Linda Schatzberg. They moved here twenty-five years ago, relocating their farm from Chester, NJ, to Tryon, and established their boarding, training, and riding school in Old Hunting Country. Cherokee Hill Farm, located on Hunting Country Road, is the oldest, continuously operating boarding farm in Old Hunting Country. Besides the 175 foot long main stable, you will also find on the property the oldest working horse barn in Polk County. The main stable has twenty-two stalls, hot and cold wash racks, two tack rooms, an office, feed room and ample storage for shavings and hay. All hay is harvested on the farm and is also available for purchase. The horses are afforded nearly 50 acres of turn out in five pastures. Dog kennels are provided for borders which provide a safe environment for dogs while their owners are riding.

Mike and Linda since moving here have been very active and involved in the local community. Mike is a charter member, former treasurer and field master for the Green Creek Hounds and is a past member of the Greenville County Hounds. The local Pony Club now known as the River Valley Pony Club was formed and started at Cherokee Hill Farm. It was known then originally as The TLC (Tryon, Landrum & Columbus) Pony Club, and the farm provided horses, facilities, and instructors to the new organization. Mike introduced young riders to foxhunting, riding with Juniors in both with the Green Creek Hounds and the Tryon Hounds hunts.



We are pleased to announce that Mr. Jeffery Willard with over 30 years of training experience, has joined the Cherokee Hill Farm staff. Jeff was the Assistant Trainer to Mr. Horatio Luro, who in 1980 was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Jeff previously worked for Mr. Luro at his Cartersville, Georgia facility, "Old Mill Farm". Jeff is a Polk County native, who received his earliest training under the tutelage of Mr. George Webster, a great local horseman and huntsman of the Tryon Hounds. Jeff hunted professionally as a Whipper-in for several hunt clubs including the Potomac Hunt in Maryland, and the Deep Run Hunt in Richmond, Virginia. His professional riding experience as a jockey includes Thoroughbred Racing as well as Point to Point Racing, and he has trained many horses for both disciplines. Jeff also has had considerable success on the A Circuit, training and showing hunters and jumpers. Jeff was elected Vice President of the Georgia Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association in 1983.