Walnut Grove Farm

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United States
Alden, NY
Walnut Grove Farm

We are a boarding and training facility located outside of Buffalo, NY, specializing in eventing, dressage, and hunter/jumpers.

We're home to the East Aurora Pony Club and have an IEA team.

05/16/2026

Goat (shepherd, elderly cat, and horse) Yoga might be one of my top three favorite memories of Walnut Grove barn aisle happenings. Thanks so much to and Carolyn Kugler for providing the yoga, my adult campers for sharing their weekend, and Max for doing extensive morning chores to help prepare the farm, for controlling parking, and everyone who participated in the shenanigans! This won't be the last goat yoga; we're already talking about next time.

05/04/2026

It's three weeks later, and I'm still aglow from the good fortune I had, training in Ocala with Kyle and Jen Carter at 5 Ring Stable . When Jessica and I were horse shopping last year, we quickly became enamored with Kyle's methods of working with both horses and humans. Kyle competed Hudson for a few seasons before Jessica purchased him, and working with him for two weeks was invaluable. Kyle was able to translate more of Hudson's language for me, and point me in the right direction for our 2026 season.

Thanks to all the humans and animals at Five Rings who made me feel so at home, and for giving Kate a fabulous lesson. Thanks to Jessica for making this whole magical happening possible, from Hudson to the trip itself.

Thanks to my family for joining me for a week of Florida fun, and then leaving me to my own devices to focus on the first event of the season. Thanks always to Jeff for considering this "professional development" and holding down the fort. Thanks always to the amazing and the crew who keep Walnut Grove Farm cruising while I'm out of town. Extra special thanks to Jayne Schaber and Jo Novakovic for keeping my students busy and polished, and thanks to my clients for patiently waiting through my travels thus far this spring.

The good photos are from Xpress Foto

04/23/2026

In IEA, children watch horses warm up, then they're randomly assigned a horse to compete on with basically no warm up. I can be found saying, a little more often than is savvy for someone in my position, that IEA is make believe. It's usually in the context of a child drawing a horse and then not clicking with that horse in the three to eight minutes they're riding it...in front of a judge, for points and ribbons, with their peers and families watching, and often with the added pressure of wanting to score points for their team placing. Sometimes, the riders do well because the judge missed some glaring error, and sometimes they do badly despite having ridden beautifully. Karmically, those types of incidents usually work out through the course of the season.

Knowing all that, it makes it all the more impressive when a student does compete well, and get noticed for it, time and time again. Walnut Grove has been proud to send two students to Nationals in our seven years of IEA. Olivia Gmerek even won her class the year she competed. Today, Camryn Brown is competing at IEA Nationals for her second time! Paraphrasing her words, Nationals is less nerve-wracking than Zones, because you've already made it and now you just get to ride a great, new-to-you horse, in a big show venue, with all the best IEA riders in the US.

Good Luck, today, Camryn! May your enemies perish like the dew in the sun! I mean...have fun. Let's go, wildcats.

Thanks to Abby Scott for coaching her while I attend my kids' school circus.

04/21/2026

Treat your inner 14 year old horse kid self to a long weekend of Adult Horse Camp at Walnut Grove Farm 5/15-17!

🐴 One Serious and One Unserious Mounted Lesson/Day
🐴 Guest Clinician and Speaker
🐴 End of Camp Excursion or Fun Show
🐴 and more!

Bring your friends, bring your horse or lease a WGF school horse, and join us for a fabulous long weekend. Limited stalls available.

(Stay tuned for more information about Eventing Camp 7/7-10, conveniently leading into one of our favorite events of the year, Genesee Valley Hunt Horse Trials!)

Email [email protected] for more information!

(If I didn't tag you in a pic, it wasn't from lack of trying, I just couldn't figure out everyone's IG names.)

03/22/2026

ISO three horses for students of mine at Walnut Grove Farm in Western New York. All four students are the type of caring, deserving, horse-loving students that become good friends and advocates for the animals in their lives and are always striving to be better horsewomen.

1: Twin 14 year old girls hoping to find a kind all-rounder, 2'6" packer-type with the ability to go higher. Horse should be no smaller than 15.3, and no older than 15. They're both in Pony Club and IEA, and their ideal horse would be easy to work around away from home: Easy to load, content tied to a trailer between rounds at a show, happy to trail ride alone or in company. Should have some low level eventing experience. Would love if it had a change. Some maintenance ok. Under saddle antics not so ok. Non-horsey parents would FAR prefer a lease, but will buy the right one for 20🥕🥕🥕

2: Adult Ammie looking for her dream horse and has the budget to wait for the unicorn: Horse should 16 hh or higher and between 7-14 years old. He, or a non-marey she, should be a warmblood in a fun color, preferably in the dun, palomino, or buckskin palette who wants to be doted upon. The adult wants to go along for the ride wherever the barn crew may be going: Hunter Paces, novice level eventing (brownie points for a BN, N or T eventer who has been winning), local hunters, trail rides alone or with friends, Halloween dress up contests, loaning it out to a deserving pony clubber for a rally...There should be no doubt that the horse will be happy and eager (no kick rides) to do any of those jobs. The $ is there to match the ask.

3: 17 year old C-2 candidate pony clubber wrote her own ISO lease ad below:

I'm looking for an eventing/jumper creature to lease for a good riding kid on a budget

-At least 16.2h, the taller the better, though!
-Preferably at least 6, happy to look at older horses, and anything in between
-Must be well started over fences and have a solid flatwork foundation, xc and show experience would be lovely but not totally necessary
-Has to have mid level potential (Training level eventing and 1m-1.10 jumpers sounds nice in the future) and be sound sound sound

Budget is mid-high 4's annually for a lease only, would also love a care lease option

03/15/2026

Happy 15 Year Barniversary to Walnut Grove Farm. 15 years ago today, we left our home on Chadwell Road in Irondequoit. I took our Tundra and .louise 's old two horse trailer, adopted Sherlock from , and picked up my horse Arial from Mendon. Jeff took our Forester, packed to the gills with 1/200 of our belongings and we met at 11564 Genesee Street, where at 12:00 pm, we took over ownership and management of seven or so existing boarders. trailered Parker and Darby over that day, the Hitchcocks and a few other East Aurora Pony Clubbers came and celebrated, and thus began WGF!

When I think of the past fifteen years on our farm, my fondest memories are of my children exploring its nooks and crannies, and the bonds I've made with the horses and clients (and their dogs) who have come up our driveway.

Year 15 is looking as bright as ever, with at the helm of our barn management and assisting in all things WGF and Walkowicz. Our village of helpers is just amazing. We have a barn full of wonderful horses and owners and students and, of course, cats, dogs, goats, and the bunny. and our veterenarians spoil us with their expertise. I've been spoiled half to death by and, well, thanks to all of these people, past and present, all my 9 year old dreams seem to be...here. Now.

But really...

03/12/2026

East Aurora Pony Club spent Saturday morning at Walnut Grove in an indoor eventing clinic with Beth Walkowicz. The pony clubbers took turns acting out the roles of Course Designer, President of the Ground Jury, Fence Judge, Rider Representative (once the original course design was too difficult, Starter, and Rider.

02/14/2026

The Walnut Grove Farm IEA team had an extraordinarily good time at the IEA Regional Banquet. Congrats to everyone on a great season thus far! We won some very, very pretty ribbons, but those don't impress me nearly as much as the stories behind the students' best rounds and worst rounds from the season. I never remember who won what end-of-season ribbon, but I always remember the stories that highlight the girls' horsemanship, teammanship, and sportsmanship. This year's team is leaving me many fabulous stories. This year was especially poignant for me, because it was my daughter Kate's first year in IEA.

Thanks to Hunter's Ridge for throwing a great Prom-Tastic IEA Banquet. Arlo was a big big fan of the DJ.

For some, we are on to Regionals. For others, we are working towards our regular show season's or Pony Club goals. Through it all, we sure do love the horses, volunteers, and family members who make this silly little sport of ours possible.

02/13/2026

I love when the best horses and the best people find each other. Walnut Grovers have acquired some of the most wonderful four-legged friends, lately. and Banks jumped his first jumps from a canter, today. and Bruno are bonding after a lengthy cold snap, and is going 2.5 year old Howard a winter to grow and make new friends.

02/01/2026

Walnut Grove in Alden, NY is looking for morning chore help Thursdays starting immediately, and Saturdays beginning April 1st. Duties include haying, graining, watering, bringing horses in from turnout, prepping pastures, turning horses out, mucking, blanketing, unblanketing, sweeping meticulously, and other horsey tasks. For someone with experience, chores take two people about three hours.

Address

11564 Genesee Street
Alden, NY
14004

Telephone

+16073683490

Website

http://www.walnutgrovefarmny.com/

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