After 30 years of operating Hunt View Farms on Stoney Creek Road, Lisa Gordon says the farm and the horses will miss each other. “I think that will be the saddest thing, that it won’t have horses anymore,” Gordon said.
The 102-acre property is soon going to be home to 34 families. Development of the land could begin as soon as Aug. 1.
For herself, Gordon says she can let the farm go. “It’s time,” she said. “It doesn’t bother me for some reason.”
Perhaps part of the reason is the certainty that closing the farm will bring. Gordon has operated the horse farm on property owned by the Thompsons, but she has lived with the imminent threat of development for many years.
“We sort of felt our place would be developed, at least now we know when,” Gordon said.
Gordon says she does not fault the owner of the property, Thomas Thompson, for selling it. “He could have done this 15 years ago,” Gordon said. “He’s really been good to us. Thompson could not be reached for comment.
Others are not as sanguine about the loss of the farm. “You always knew your horse was going to be taken care of,” said Elaine Jones. Jones had boarded horses at Hunt View for more than 17 years. “They just gave good common sense advice.”
Jones related a time when a horse of hers, Zoe, injured its leg. While some people had recommended surgery, Gordon told Jones to take the horse to a different veterinarian.
The other vet told Jones to let the horse heal on its own, and Zoe healed well. “Zoe is fine now,” Jones said. “It’s common sense things that she would tell us to do.”
Gordon is not willing to take all of the credit for such advice. “I have really good help,” Gordon said.
Currently Gordon’s help comes in the person of Carlos Torres. Torres has worked at Hunt View for four years. “I really have spent the best four years of my life here,” Torres said.
Torres who attributes his tenure to the people and horses he had the opportunity to work with, can hardly believe that the farm will soon be gone. “It’s hard to think that this place will be gone in minutes,” Torres said.
Torres plans to keep the farm alive, at least in name, and is going to open a new Hunt View Farms in Poolesville. “It’s sad to see something like this go,” Torres said. “They should keep farms like this around for the community.”
Losing farms like Hunt View hurts Potomac’s horse culture. “There’s really no place in Potomac to go,” Gordon said. “A lot of people have just sold their horses just to be done with it.”
Rather than selling, Jones moved her horse to a new stable some time ago. “One reason I left early is I was just getting sadder and sadder,” she said. “It’s like we’re losing all our friends.”
Hunt View in particular will be a great loss to the equestrian community. “That is a beautiful place for horses,” Gordon said. “It must be that the clover tastes good or something.”
Jones agrees. “They have such beautiful pastures,” she said.
Gordon is ready to move on to new challenges. She has a new farm near Frederick where she will be breeding show ponies. She looks forward to the privacy she can find in breeding that eluded her while operating a boarding operation. “I’m semi-retired,” she said. “It’s fine for me.”