Meadow Wood Farm

 Owner: Suzanne Jones

 With over 60 years of horse experience, Suzanne is one of the area's foremost equine afficianados!  As a little girl, Suzanne cultivated an interest in horses and urged her parents to let her do anything she could that involved being around horses.  Suzanne learned to care for and ride her horses throughout her childhood in Northern California.  As a teenager she worked as a trail guide in Lake Tahoe and competed in various Western and English riding activities and competitions.  Over the years, Suzanne has moved throughout the country, always hauling and caring for her own horses.  In the late 1980's Suzanne was able to put her passion to work full time when she retired from her job as a pre-school teacher and bought Meadow Wood Farm.  In addition to running the farm, teaching lessons, and traveling with her daughter Brittany to shows, Suzanne was able to compete in Combined Training as well as Hunter Jumpers and further develop her own English riding style.  In the years since, Suzanne has had the privilege of teaching dozens of children the art of riding, continued her dedication to the care of the horses at Meadow Wood,  and passed along her passion for everything horsey! 

Trainer: Brittany Jones Sommers

 Brittany was seemingly born to ride.  She followed in her mother Suzanne's footsteps early and was riding her first pony before the age of three!  Many years of local shows followed, where Brittany learned the art of riding as well as the responsibilities that come with riding horses.  Brittany's show career progressed as she grew older and culminated with a trip to the National Pony Finals under the instruction of the late Barry Lane from Full Cry Farm.   Other national show events followed and Brittany continued to grow as a rider and began to understand what makes a good riding teacher.   Brittany's passion for riding followed her to Georgia Southern University where she was high point rider on the school Equestrian Team and competed across the southeast.  She even expanded her horizons to include Western riding, in which she playfully competed on several occasions.  After graduating with a Bachelor's in Early Childhood Education, Brittany served as an inner city elementary school teacher for two years.  Ultimately her love of teaching and passion for horses resulted in Brittany going to work full time as a riding instructor at Meadow Wood Farm.  Brittany truly enjoys working with and watching all of our riders at Meadow progress into overall well rounded equestrian riders.

 Trainer: Nancy Greene

     
   Nancy started riding at the age of 7 at Hazelwild Farm in Spotsylvania, Virginia.   She grew up riding there and learned on 70 of their school horses.  It was Hazelwild’s philosophy to be well diversified in riding, learning all different aspects of equestrian studies.  As Nancy grew up, she spent every day there and learned lifelong lessons on being in the horse business.   Breaking and training horses, farm management, riding on the drill team,  foxhunting, being a camp counselor,  horse showing, grooming and braiding, and assisting the vet were just a few things she learned.

      At the age of 10, Nancy progressed from showing on the local circuit to the A shows.  She rode on the A circuit up and down the East Coast for 8 years with many year-end champions and reserves in  VHSA, MHSA and AHSA.   Being gone every weekend and never coming home during the summers to horse show was just a way of life.  Nancy qualified and won some top ribbons at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show and the Washington International Horse Show (WIHS).   She finished 2nd (after qualifying in her division) in the Pony Hunter Classic at Harrisburg (Pennsylvania National) and won the Even Gamble Challenge Trophy at the WIHS in the stake class.  One year she won the AHSA Medal at Upperville, VA.  Nancy rode under several different top trainers, such as A. Elizabeth Morrison, Pam Baker (Hillcrest Farm), and Olympic Rider, Richard Zimmerman.  She also did “catch rides” for Farnley Farm at the shows.  Nancy remembers all of the time, dedication, and sacrifices that it took to do all of that horse showing, but all of the great memories, all of the friends she made, and the special bond and love she has for horses now, made it all worthwhile.  
   
    Nancy moved to Georgia in 1988 after she was married to her husband, Mike, who works for the FBI in Atlanta as a Special Agent.   Nancy still continued to ride and train several horses when she moved here, but used her nursing degree and worked as a Registered Nurse for several years before having her two children, Erik and Libby.   Now, for the past decade, Nancy has turned professional and is enjoying being back into the horse business full swing.   Watching her daughter , Libby, grow up and enjoy riding and showing as much as she did, has been a true joy.  Nancy says that her true passion is bringing along the young rider and developing them into not only a beautiful equitation rider, but a highly skillful,  effective rider that can adjust to any horse and any circumstance.