Growing over the Decades
Fieldstone Farm was founded in 1978 as the Chagrin Valley Therapeutic Riding Center with two borrowed horses and a handful of students. Today, Fieldstone Farm remains one of the largest and most respected and innovative equine therapy centers in the country. Each year our horses help to change the lives of approximately 1,000 people of all ages with a wide range of emotional, physical and cognitive challenges. Since our founding nearly 50 years ago, we have helped thousands of people achieve what they once thought was impossible. Read on to learn about the history of the organization by decade.
1970s
Early in the 1970’s, as therapeutic riding was just beginning to gain interest across the country, a hardy group of horse owners and volunteers had a vision that horses could help people with disabilities in the Chagrin Valley. Kevin Ellison along with support from Robert Crump, Bernard Isaacs and Carol Donaldson, founded the Chagrin Valley Therapeutic Riding Center. Volunteers hauled tack and horses weekly to conduct classes wherever possible – even in parking lots – giving people with disabilities the opportunity to experience the therapeutic benefits of riding horses.
Our first students came from the Metzenbaum Center and Julie Billiart School. Then satellite programs ran at Edwin Shaw Hospital in Akron, Heather Hill in Munson, Our Lady of the Wayside in Avon and the Sunbeam School in Cleveland. Schneiders Saddlery donated much of the equipment including saddles and bridles to the program and continues to this day to support the farm.
By 1979, the program had grown to 25 students and moved to Dorchester Farms.
Pictured are our founders with borrowed horses and tack in parking lots with students. Also pictured are classes at Dorchester Farms.
1980s
The 1980’s brought big developments. The program’s name changed from Chagrin Valley Therapeutic Riding Center to Therapeutic Riding Center, better reflecting our mission to serve people throughout all of Northeast Ohio. KC Henry signed on as the first paid employee. Later, she would become the Executive Director. Physical therapist Bobbin Davis joined the staff bringing an emphasis on posture and movement, particularly for our students with physical disabilities, through hippotherapy. The first newsletter, Bits and Paces, was published. Other firsts were the Special Olympics, held at Lake Farm Park in 1989 to the delight of 22 students, and becoming part of the national association, NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association), which later became PATH International.
As the program grew, fundraising became a priority in order to serve more students. The first Ride-a-Thon, where riders raised money through sponsors and rode their horses along trails in South Chagrin Reservation was held. A few years later, our Hay Day event was added as a fundraiser which would grow to become a major revenue source.
While lessons continued at Dorchester Farms and in Kevin Ellison’s backyard throughout the eighties, at the end of the decade, the program moved to Lake Farm Park.
Pictures include KC Henry and Bobbin Davis working with students, our Special Olympics ceremony and our Ride-a-thon.
1990s
By the 1990’s, the program was expanding rapidly and moved to Salmor Stables on Bell Road in Newbury, where a shared office was housed in a tiny tack room. Fundraising continued with three events: Hay Day, Ride-a-Thon and Spring Fling. The Ride-a-thon received national recognition as one of the most successful fundraisers of this type in the country. And through our encouragement, The Chagrin Valley P.H.A Horse Show began to include people with disabilities as part of their annual competition.
The student body continued to grow throughout the decade which prompted a plan to build our own facility and commence a capital and endowment campaign to ensure the longterm future of the program. This decision would prove to be one of the most instrumental in the history of the farm. With the support of many generous donors, the current property on Snyder Road in Bainbridge Township was purchased in 1996. Later that year, was the groundbreaking for the state-of-the-art, 45,000-square-foot accessible facility with two indoor arenas, one outdoor arena, a hydraulic lift, two classrooms for ground lessons, a lounge area for parents, offices, 36 stalls, a heated tack room and more.
In late 1997 we moved into the new facility which was later named Fieldstone Farm Therapeutic Riding Center. We were able to offer our growing student body therapeutic riding, carriage driving, hippotherapy, summer camp and other programming. This move made us a leader in the industry and one of the largest programs in the country. We also were one of the first centers to receive premiere accreditation in 1990 from NARHA, (now known as PATH International), the guiding industry association. We continue to receive the premiere accreditation designation today.
In 1999, Fieldstone Farm hosted the national conference for NARHA with more than 600 attendees from across the country. Fieldstone would host the conference again in 2015.
Pictured on top of this section is our program at Salmor Stables and one of our first horse shows. Pictured to the right is our grand opening with a carrot ribbon broken by our therapy horse PC being held by Lynnette Stuart, then Program Director, who later became CEO. Other pictures include our groundbreaking ceremony and the new facility under construction.
2000s
In the 2000's, the farm's operating budget surpassed the $1 million mark, putting the program among the top three largest centers in the nation. In 2003, Fieldstone Farm celebrated its 25th anniversary at our annual fundraiser, Hay Day, sponsored by baseball great Jim Thome and his wife, Andrea.
Fieldstone continued to lead the industry with innovative therapy programs and became a national training center for instructor certification. Early in the decade, a carriage trail which loops around the property became a favorite for both riding and carriage driving students as they explored our 45-acre farm. In 2006, a partnership with the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center began to develop a riding and carriage driving program specifically for veterans. That veterans program is now one of the most comprehensive in the country.
Staff soon realized that the large facility could also fill a gap in secondary education by hosting an alternative high school at the farm. In 2006, Fieldstone Farm became the first therapeutic equine center to host an on-site high school and in 2008, Gaitway High School moved into a brand-new building with a capacity of 24 students on the north end of the main facility. Years later, other therapeutic riding centers would follow by adding their own alternative high schools.
Pictured is Sunny Jones, one of our carriage driving instructors at the time, cutting the ribbon on the new carriage trail, a project she spearheaded.
2010s
The 2010’s are marked by the very first Chefs Unbridled fundraiser – held in 2011 under a tent at Fieldstone Farm with 300 guests, led by the culinary team of Chefs Chris Hodgson and Scott Kuhn. In 2012, the second annual Chefs Unbridled moved to the Chagrin Valley Hunt Club Polo Field in Gates Mills – again with Chris, Scott and other notable Cleveland chefs. Attendance doubled and the event was named one of Northeast Ohio’s top 10 benefits by Currents Magazine. The event would receive this honor three more times. Chefs Unbridled continues to the present day and has raised millions of dollars to support the programs at Fieldstone Farm.
Also in this decade, our very special therapy horse, Rascal, received The Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred of the Year award in 2013. The honor included a donation to the farm in his name and was celebrated at nearby Thistledown racetrack, where Rascal received a leather halter in the winner’s circle.
The budget in the 2010’s reached the $2 million level. A generous donor interested in our veterans program provided funding to expand this initiative and make it free and more readily accessible to this deserving population. Today, Fieldstone continues this great work with various veterans populations including family members of service members.
Other innovative programs were introduced in this decade such as music therapy offered in conjunction with our therapeutic riding lessons and free rein work in the new round pen, as well as programs for seniors with memory loss, those grieving in collaboration with the Hospice of the Western Reserve and survivors of human trafficking.
Additionally, Fieldstone embarked on a research study in collaboration with New York University to better understand the benefits of therapeutic riding for children with anxiety. The research showed that therapeutic riding reduces stress for the participants as well as the horses.
With the future in mind, the board members of Fieldstone Farm initiated an endowment campaign which added $3 million to the endowment, bringing the total assets close to $10 million at the end of the decade.
Pictures include Chris Hodgson and Scott Kuhn, lead chefs of our Chefs Unbridled fundraising event, Rascal winning the Jockey Club's Thoroughbred of the Year Award and our veterans, music therapy and mental health programs.
2020s
2020’s
2020 marked the year of the COVID pandemic. Following state guidelines, Fieldstone Farm closed to the public in late March. In an effort to keep students involved and stimulated, instructors creatively introduced virtual programming as well as mailed and hand-delivered activity packets to students quarantined at home. Virtual lessons were also offered to schools and other groups. Additionally, a Mobile Mini Program began, taking miniature horses to schools, nursing homes and therapy centers. The first miniature ambassadors were the lovable, Willy and Thunder, which were later succeeded by the adorable, Thunder, Remington and Maverick. When COVID restrictions were lifted later that spring, Fieldstone reopened its doors to students implementing all of the safety protocols suggested by the CDC.
In 2022, a Suffolk Punch named Rose joined the herd as a carriage driving horse. In July to the surprise of all, she showed signs of pregnancy, and the vet confirmed she was in foal. A month later, she delivered Summer's Surprise on August 5, 2022 in one of the side pastures. Summer was the first horse ever born at Fieldstone.
With the facility being more than 25 years old, several improvements and repairs have been completed recently including a new roof, a new heating and cooling system for the indoor arenas, pasture improvements, the renovation of the wooded trails and renovated wash stalls.
Through an unexpected and generous bequest, Fieldstone Farm received a significant contribution to the endowment guaranteeing support to carry out our mission for decades to come. In 2025, the endowment totaled $25 million.
Pictures up top include Mobile Mini Program, masking during COVID, the Chefs Unbridled fundraising event and the facility. Pictures to the right are Summer, the first foal born at Fieldstone, and her mom, Rose, over the past three years.