Overview:
Crimson Acres Equestrian Center is celebrating its 50th anniversary with an open house this weekend. The center, which started with just three horses, now has 50 horses and introduces around 100 new riders to horses every year. The open house will feature various activities, including a photo exhibit and a performance by the Crimson Acres drill team. The event aims to celebrate the center's legacy and the impact it has had on participants over the years.
ORANGE — The public is invited to take a trot down memory lane this weekend, as Crimson Acres Equestrian Center commemorates a half-century of existence.
Located at 16 Daniel Shays Highway, the center is celebrating its 50th anniversary and will offer an open house from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
“We started with just three horses, as extra income for our family,” said Sandy Whitmore, who runs the business with her husband, Kenneth “Butch” Whitmore Jr. “I had five children. It was something that I could do and still be home with the kids. We now have 50 horses (some of which are boarded) on the property.”
Sandy Whitmore said the property’s indoor riding arena will consist of various activities over the two days and a photo exhibit people can walk through to get a glimpse of the riders Crimson Acres has mentored over the years.
“We probably introduce 100 new riders to horses every year,” Sandy Whitmore said, adding that she hopes some former customers will bump into riders they haven’t seen in decades.
The Crimson Acres drill team, a group of riders working in unison to create a dance on horseback, is scheduled to perform at 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
“We really wanted to celebrate the legacy of Crimson Acres and the impact it has had on all of the participants that have come to us over the years,” said the Whitmores’ daughter, Jennifer Ames, who grew up on the property.
Ames said she looks forward to seeing old friends and former participants share pieces of their past with their families. She said she and her four siblings are all involved with the business in some way.
Sandy Whitmore mentioned one of Sunday’s events will be Moms’ Coffee Hour, a throwback to a program Crimson Acres had years ago in which mothers would drop off their children at school and ride horses before having coffee together.
“And we’ve got 16 takers on it,” she said of the Sunday event.
Sandy Whitmore explained the family’s equestrian adventure started in 1975, when she and her husband purchased the farm from her in-laws, who had operated Whitmore Poultry on the property. She mentioned that that business, which is still operational, is marking its 65th anniversary this year.
“We’ve just grown over the years,” she said. “What we do is create partnerships with kids of all ages and horses.”
Sandy Whitmore mentioned she grew up on Cape Cod and bought her first horse at age 13 before studying animal science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she met her future husband.
“And the rest is history,” she said.