Tell me how old you are

Sunnyfield was around for a very long time. I almost think I heard it got sold not too long ago, but I won’t swear to it.

Sunnyfield has been around since at least the 1940s.
It was sold in the mid 1970s when Mrs. McIntosh (A&P heiress) died.
According to a Google search, it is on the market again, for $65 million.


I can’t find anything that says it has actually been sold.
I hope whoever buys it keeps it intact.
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Maybe the rumble I heard was about it being listed. I certainly hope it will stay in one piece.

Years ago I stopped in there to see a friend of mine, and our two dogs took off and ended up almost at the house towards the back of the property. Lol.

Yes! I totally miss that!

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I remember poring over Practical Horseman,
I loved George Morris’s column.

I remember when Ariat came out and how I loved their paddock boots.

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@Janet there was a song sung by Hank Snow called The Golden Rocket (1959). Makes me wonder if there was a cultural reference of the time.

@Willesdon there used to be an old Menonite gentleman who did leather repairs in our area. I sent him a pair of (second, third or fourth hand) Dehners and in chatting he was so amazed that “some people will pay $200 or $300 for boots like these!” I didn’t tell him the pair he was holding would be well into the 4 digits new. He’d have never agreed to work on them!

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stubben saddles made with two different colors of leather

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When I was young, Argentine-made tack was seen as inferior to that from England. With low-quality India goods so prominent a supplier now, I’m yearning for good ol’ well-made, well-priced Argentine.

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I’m that old too, those are exactly the jodphur boots I had when I first started riding at age 9 or 10. Paddock boots are different and only seemed to come in adult sizes in those days (1960s) and they laced up, no zippers back then.

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When I was a child in the 1960s I saw a picture in a magazine of Sunnyfield Farm, and about 25 years later on my first visit to Bedford I remember passing the farm and being amazed it still existed. I hope it remains as a horse property but not going to hold my breath, most likely it will end up as more housing. :cry:

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Yeah, if developed it’ll be called Fox Chase at Sunnyfield or Hunters Crossing at Sunnyfield or some such horsey dumbsense. When I spot that kind of thing I always think: No. Fox Chased. Hunters Crossed. But not anymore, because now it’s four-bedroom, two-car-garage, trampoline-in-the-yard dreck.

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You’re right, that’s what happened to the TB breeding farm in my area, its now McMansions when it used to have mares and foals grazing in the fields. Makes me want to cry because Bedford is such a wonderful horsey area. And Judy Richter’s farm is in Bedford as well, that’s another 100 acres or so that might become housing unless her son holds onto it.

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Since we are talking about how old we are, I am old enough to have ridden there when it was “Running Fox Farm” and belonged to “uncle” Harry Gibson (TB breeder, MFH of Goldens Bridge Hounds, and related to Charles Dana Gibson, who drew the “Gibson Girl”). That was before the Gibsons moved to Colorado, the Richters bought it, and renamed it “Coker Farm”. We had Pony Club lessons there, and we also rode Icelandic Horses (the first ever exported to the US) in a musical ride.

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Yes!!! For shows, I had rust colored breeches. Group lessons were $10 for an hour. We cut the stupid elastic strap and plastic chin cup off the helmets for shows, and God forbid the judge could tell you had any hair. Ian Millar was on Big Ben and cleaning up.

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Group lessons were $3 an hour when I started riding. :slight_smile: I don’t remember much about the cost of a lot of things at that age but that figure stuck in my mind, and there were two of us so double expenses for my parents.

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Whatever happened to the zebra? He is never mentioned but he must be long dead.

Don’t know. I don’t remember seeing a zebra.

Yup. That was a precious 10 bucks handed to me every week. How I DREAMED about rust breeches.

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Judy had a zebra for years, his picture was even in COTH I think, I remember reading that he had the largest and nicest turnout pasture and people who had seen him in person said he had a very disagreeable personality. He was still there when my friend was riding there, maybe 15 years ago? I don’t really remember exactly when it was but it was while Kip Rosenthal was there.

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Ah! I had moved out of the area by the time the Richters bought it. I visited a couple of times in the 90s when Patty Peckham had her business there, but don’t remember a zebra.