I recently drove by Hollandia Farms (or what ever it was last called), you know - Harry DeLeyer/Snowman, etc. The front gate was closed and there was lots of new cesspools and some bulldozers.
Is the whole thing sold?
Where did the fellow who owned it go (Winters)?
last i heard,
it was taken over by a new bunch of people, who were keeping it horse property, but making improvements. Hopefully that hasnt changed!
Why would this be sad?
Harry hasn’t lived in NY for many years.
The property is being totally rebuilt and that’s a good thing. It was in need of repairs.
Waterford/Hollandia
I drove past the farm this week also and was shocked. It appears that the area to the left of the main driveway, with paddocks, has been re-fenced and the main barn and indoor are still there. It looks like everything to the right of the main driveway has been demolished, including the shedrow barn, the lower barn, and the large turnout which was a former cross country course.
I don’t know the details, but being in construction I can tell you that it certainly appears to be a subdivision. I’ve never seen that much drainage installed for any horsey purpose. And the contractors have set up an office trailer “village” usually seen on long term construction projects.
Winters moved out about two years ago. They had operated it as Waterford Stables. They did not own the facility, they leased it from the DeLeyer family. My understanding was that the DeLeyers sold it to a group of individuals who were making it into a private horse facility for their own use.
Not sure if the property was subdivided by the DeLeyers or sold to the new owners who then subdivided it, but from all appearances, it’s going to be half horsey and half houses.
The Silver Oak Stable website mentions the following: “All approvals have been obtained for site plan and sub-division…”
Yet the map of the facilities, found here, doesn’t seem to include any houses, other than 3 employee residences.
Very confusing.
Wow. I remember showing there when they used snow fence to mark the rings, and you had to watch out for the rocks on the outside course!! Old, old, old.
When I was very, very ,very young a long time ago I rode a horse called Dutch Love. She’s the reason I love Tbs. Not sure if she was a full Tb, but probably and she came from Harry’s.
[QUOTE=dutchboy;4762514]
Wow. I remember showing there when they used snow fence to mark the rings, and you had to watch out for the rocks on the outside course!! Old, old, old.[/QUOTE]
Not to derail the thread, but you know, I would actually give ANYTHING to be able to get some of that nice old cedar-type snow fencing to do a ring with. Of course, it doesn’t snow here in the South, so nobody sells it, but boy that stuff lasted forever!!
Much of the property was sold years ago, I think either at the time of Harry and Joanna’s divorce or afterwards and the old outside course has had housing on it for ages. Originally I believe Hollandia was about 40-50 acres and accordiing to the new website it is now 26. It was in sad shape even in the 60’s so I’m glad its being renovated and that horses will still be living there.
And I’m not sure how true this is, but someone told me that the property had been purchased by a client of Marty DeLeyer’s, who has his own farm, Dutch Manor I think it is called.
[QUOTE=BAC;4762854]
And I’m not sure how true this is, but someone told me that the property had been purchased by a client of Marty DeLeyer’s, who has his own farm, Dutch Manor I think it is called.[/QUOTE]
Correct !!
I had horses at Hollandia in the 70’s so I’m happy to see it continue as a farm.
As noted the new owners are clients of Marty. In fact, if you look at these links there are quite a few shots of Marty showing the Silver Oaks horses.
http://silveroakstable.com/sales_leasing.html
http://silveroakstable.com/services.html
Is Snowman’s grave in the subdivision or on the farm?
[QUOTE=Anne FS;8891321]
Is Snowman’s grave in the subdivision or on the farm?[/QUOTE]
The subdivision is built on what used to be the outside course, which was several acres of open field. I seem to remember Snowman was buried in one of the paddocks so I expect his grave is still there, unless it was disturbed during the renovations of Silver Oak.
I too knew the Deleyers well and also rode with Harry and others at Hollandia. If anyone knows where I might purchase a copy of the book “Snowman” or if they know the author, I would be very grateful. Thanks.
The name of the book is “The 80 dollar Champion” by Elizabeth (oops, I have forgotten her last name). Not particularly well written, but the story is good. There is also a documentary by the same name available on DVD which you may enjoy since you were “around at the time”.
Which Snowman book? The one from 1962 by Rutherford Montgomery? Or the other recent book mentioned above?
The documentary Harry and Snowman is excellent. It’s available now on Netflix as well as DVD. I believe some of the same people were involved in making the new documentary Life in the Dog House, which is about the fantastic work done by Danny and Ron’s Rescue to save more than 11,000 dogs in the past decade. Danny Robertshaw and Ron Danta are great horsemen who branched out into dog rescue after Hurricane Katrina.
So what happened to the old DeLeyer property described in the original post? Did it stay a horse farm? I believe Harry DeLeyer lives in Virginia now.
The old Hollandia Farm is now Silver Oak Stables, they did a magnificent renovation of the barns and property and it is gorgeous and luxurious. Marty DeLeyer’s client is the owner of Silver Oak.
Glad to hear it. Thanks!!
MHM, Silver Oak is on the property of the second Hollandia Farm, where the de Leyers and Snowman moved to thanks to the great success of Snowman. It is only 26 acres, I think it was originally at least 40 or more acres, but the outside course was sold and became housing. The first Hollandia, a much smaller property just a short distance from Silver Oak, has been a housing development for many years now. 
It became Fox Hill after the de Leyers moved out and I rode at Fox Hill as a kid.
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