Old Coach Farm
Donna Gardiner
410 Old Coach Road
Charlestown RI 02813
(401) 783-6555
(401) 783-3274
oldcoachfarm@msn.net
https://oldcoachfarm.wixsite.com/oldocoachfarm
A new boarding facility on 27 acres in Charlestown, R.I. provides quality-care boarding for your horse. The facilities include bright, airy stalls, common-area chat room and wash stall. Indoor and outdoor riding rings allow you to exercise your horse AND you have access to miles of nearby riding trails in a pristine country setting.
Old Coach Farm provides personalized riding lessons in all disciplines (Western and English) for all ages.
An article from the South County Independent Newspaper:
Old love of horses finds expression in new farm
by Sylvia Smith, Independent Staff Writer
CHARLESTOWN - Donna Gardiner moved to Rhode Island from Washburn, Maine when she was age 12, but in spirit she never really left her grandfather's farm, where she happily rode his work horses, Duke and Duey. Today she's recreating some of that magic at Old Coach Farm, her newly opened horse stable at 410 Old Coad Road. She even has revived Duke and Duey on a smaller scale: the family cats, which she describes as a far cry from independent barn cats.
In March, Donna and her husband, Arvid Autio, finished building their new home, tucked back in the woods on 27 acres. They completed the horse barn and indoor riding ring at the end of June. The first horse to board there arrived July 1. The farm now has six boarding horses and one of Donna's own. She has stalls for five more horses at the barn.
Instructor Tracy Jennerwein, who works full time as a social worker at Chariho High School, started giving riding lessons at Gardiner's establishment in early July. She instructs local students who come in weekly. She also has taught riding to some summer people. She teaches classes in hunter jumper, dressage and Western techniques.
Gardiner, 51, took a considerable time coming back to her farm roots. After graduating from North Kingstown High School and attending the business administration program at Johnson and Wales University, she held a number of jobs including secretarial posts at the University of Rhode Island.
"I never really wanted to work for myself," she said, "but toward the end of my business career, I was employed by a software company that kept going through mergers, then laying people off. I was reprieved three times and finally let go on the fourth notice. This prompted me to get control of my life."
When she thought about starting a business, horses kept cantering into the back of her mind. She had two of her own in the back yard of her home and was happiest when working with them.
In her spare time, Gardiner had been volunteering at Ashaway's Ramrod Farm, the home of In Harmony Therapeutic Riding. In 1999, when the ax fell at the software firm, she asked the Ramrod owners if they knew of a stable needing an employee. They said, "We do. You're hired." Gardiner worked there for a year, gaining invaluable experience in managing a horse stable.
The current site of Old Coach Farm had been on Gardiner's wish list for a long time. She bought her hay from the people who owned the land across the street. "Every time I got hay, I recall looking at that property and thinking, 'I love it here.'" She first approached the couple about purchasing the land 10 years ago. They told her they would call her if they ever decided to sell.
Four years ago, Gardiner called the owners again. "This time they said, 'Come talk to us.' They wanted to keep the land open and not see a housing development there. They stop by every so often to see what we've done and have been very encouraging."
Now that the buildings are up, Gardiner and her husband are starting on the landscaping. They plan to plant more pastures, seeded with a special mixture that has, among other grasses, clover, a delicacy to horses.
Although Gardiner didn't own her first horse until age 39, she was never far from people who did own horses. All during childhood, she always had friends who owned horses.
Ironically, neither her son, Bryan, now 25, or her husband's 27-year-old son, Ben, like riding. "I think they both rode once and that was it," Gardiner said. Autio isn't the horse lover his wife is, but he pitches in to help her with the upkeep of the barn. One never-ending chore he's assumed is dragging the riding ring. This involves towing a section of chain-link fence behind a tractor to level the dirt that's been dug up by the horses' hooves.
Gardiner has put up fliers advertising Old Coach Farm at various locations around town. She also has created a Web site, https://oldcoachfarm.wixsite.com/oldocoachfarm. For further information, call (401) 783-6555 or email oldcoachfarm@msn.net.