Text below is from the original story of Riverland Farm,( prior to October 5, 2007,) which has become Kent Island Sporthorses and is writing a new story!
The TB , Ona Rainy Day (Remy) was to be bred to Donavan , and the little Mustang, Sugar, was to become the best "foal auntie" ever. Upon purchase of the Hanoverian stallion Donavan, Riverland began to evolve into a sport horse breeding farm, producing a few high quality Hanoverian and Oldenburg offspring each year from this wonderful stallion. This is a family owned and run, and very much hands on operation. We personally handle the foals and mares and everyone in between on a daily basis. The number of horses varies, with an attempt to keep it under 15!!
The Donavan! Group LLC was then created to market Donavan , buy mares, breed and sell his offspring. None of this could have happened without the advice and encouragement of many friends old and new, ... hence "Group".
We take great pride in the fact that any Donavan youngster purchased from Riverland is a very healthy, well mannered, confident horse and one that enjoys human contact, ready to be a solid citizen of the equestrian world. Donavan's offspring consistently demonstrate a good work ethic, and eagerness to learn.
Riverland Farm gets nutritional advice from Dr. Doug Langer, our veterinarian of over 15 years, who also breeds high quality sport horses and specializes in the study of nutrition for the horse. We feed high quality products and are very careful with the early feeding of the young sport horse so that they do not grow too quickly and put too much strain on young tendons and joints.
When it comes time to back the youngsters , Early on we called upon Margaret Goodell, and Wayne Kiehnau of Liberty Equestrian Training Center, and Jessica Jo Tate and staff at the now closed Wyngate Dressage Center to give them the correct start. Each foal is different, so he or she gets individual attention custom tailored to its personality. We have wonderful shows in our very competitive Region 2 and if a youngster is ready , we will show in hand. Jessica Jo Tate Olympic Hopeful, Grand Prix veteran, now based in Wellington Florida for winter, and in MD at GoodNess Ridge Farms, for Spring /Summer, is the professional we choose for on-going training and to compete our horses, and for giving us much needed lessons when we can get together!
Nearby, we have been very fortunate to also have excellent trainer, Shelley Day who offers her talents as needed for tuning up my mares and youngsters at home, helping with in-hand work, starting some 3 year olds, and giving me under saddle evaluations. Now she is giving Marty his lessons in Dressage!