Walnut Grove Farm

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Alden, NY
Walnut Grove Farm

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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.

10/06/2026

Thanks to the Walnut Grovers who stuck around after competing in the Pumpkin Derby to put away jumps for the season! Jeff Walkowicz Jen Mattimore

10/02/2026

Congrats to Arielle Rebecca on her high score of the day at Saddle Up!

09/26/2026

George Weasley was the best of cats. I'm sure other cat eulogies have claimed the title, but, they were wrong.

George was born at Finger Lakes Racetrack, and he and his twin, Fred, were adopted by a tremendous TB advocate named Rosemarie. We inherited them when we purchased Walnut Grove, formerly, Pafk Stables.

When Fred passed at the ripe age of 16, we assumed George's days were numbered, and began cherishing him even more than we had before. He spent nights on a heated bed after meals of wet cat food atop dry food. Dobby became his new best cuddle buddy, and was known to bring George trophy mice (until he became too obese to hunt, thanks to polishing off whatever food George left behind).

As George's hearing became more faint, his meow became more uproarious. He would interrupt riding lessons to announce that Rascon had polished off the cat food, or that his water wasn't up to s***f.

This last year or so, George developed a rhythm of coming to the house for breakfast, enjoying breakfast sandwiches, bacon, and leftover pizza the most. Then, he'd nap on Kate's bed until I was headed out to the farmyard. At dinner time, he'd often meander back to the house, especially if something was grilling, and this summer, he followed us dutifully around the track on our family walks.

He had an unusual gift of teaching dogs cat manners by luring even the bounciest of dogs into him and then smacking them with an open-clawed paw. He had an equally unusual gift of not teaching children cat manners at all. He'd allow, and even enjoy, children dragging him around the farm.

Thanks to you all who made George the most loved cat who ever existed. Thanks to Jeff, who despite allergies, allowed George to pe*****te the thin line between barn cat and indoor cat more and more over the past year. Many, many thanks to Arielle Rebecca and Stephanie Wishko for being George's veterinarian team to the very end, including ultrasounds and last paw prints, and his own vet, Dr. Beatty, who didn't even twitch an eye at me texting them urgently while she was seeing him.

Goodnight, dear George. Thanks for the gift of your presence all these years.

09/21/2026

The Fuller and Company double header IEA show at the Orleans County Fairgrounds feels like a fall tradition, now, as imbedded into the autumn schedule as Saddle Up For Roswell (I'm posting in chronologically reverse order) and going back to school.

Three invaluable IEA teammates moved onto college this fall, and, for some reason, this means their parents don't volunteer at shows we're hosting anymore. I was very concerned about volunteerism going into this season, but everyone contributed in big ways to help pull the shows together. A new trio of dads ran concessions, every family contributed a prize, my middle schoolers-turned-ninth graders stepped right into the Friday evening bathing, tack cleaning, packing, wrapping, loading, unloading, settling in, and pre-show riding rhythm. There were non-horsey parents offering to handle when times got tight, and a second year mom running all the horse handling meticulously. Even our beloved team grandma still came and horse handled all day despite her Walnut Grover having to take the weekend off of riding.

I'm constantly pitting the pros and cons of Pony Club versus those of IEA in my head, and what I realized this weekend, is that horsemanship is role modeling, whether it's an IEA Coach or a Pony Club Instructor. I'm so grateful to Walnut Grovers and their parents for putting horses first, and achievements second.

It's safe to say that Camryn is team captain, despite not writing the 3000 word essay mandated in the team handbook. She wasn't showing today (Day Two), and yet, she was at the barn at 6:20 am so that she could school our horses, fix hunter hair, and pep talk our all-new-to-WGF-IEA remaining riders. My own Kate refused to sleep in today, against her parents better judgment, and did the same. All four riders cheerfully horse handled, mucked, and tore down the stalls at show's end, fitting their second ever IEA rides in seemingly painlessly. What a chill, fun crew.

Thanks to Fuller & Co IEA for two great shows two dozen fabulous horses, loaning their Morgan for feeding, and even lending us a pair of tall boots

TLDR?

09/16/2026

Walnut Grove Farm, in Alden, NY, is still looking for morning chore helpers. 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. Please email [email protected] for more information.

08/26/2026

Walnut Grove Farm, in Alden, NY, is looking for morning chore helpers. 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. Please email [email protected] for more information.

08/03/2026

Our IEA Team is looking for some more members to round out our Future School (grades 5-8) and High School Teams this season. We have students of all abilities and an array of goals, ranging from "I don't care what ribbons I get; I just like riding new and different horses with friends" to "I want to make Nationals for my third time."

Join Us!

.iea

07/17/2026

As always, my negligence in posting is only reflective of how much fun we've been having at Walnut Grove Farm. This summer has seen Adult Camp, Hitching Post Horse Trials, Eventing Camp, Twilight Jumpers and Wheeler Green XC Schooling, Hasty Hills, Larkin Hill Horse Trial, schooling at Fiddlesticks, Lion Country at State College, and Hay Season of course. Separate post about GVH HT to come. Thanks to all of you who join us on our adventures, and even more thanks to those who help in the barn, or hop on the hay wagon or in the loft on those blistering hay days.

06/21/2026

Happy Father's Day to all the Walnut Grove Dads, who awaken early and drive WGFers to shows, volunteer to shovel manure, run concessions, jump crew, and paint jumps; who tolerate their riders at their crankiest and their sleepiest, and drag siblings, kicking and screaming, to shows where they wait for four hours to see their kid ride for seven minutes. May your Father's Day be a restful one, free from your children nagging you for a pony. (But also, why no pony?) Keep scrolling to see the OG Horse Show Dads, George Harris and Dick Backer (and shout out to Paul Johnson, who in that same era, used to take me out driving stick from my riding lessons, and Gary Ostrower, who gave me many a ride to and from the barn.)

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.

Address

11564 Genesee Street
Alden, NY
14004

Telephone

+16073683490

Website

http://www.walnutgrovefarmny.com/

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