Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Russell.
Brian, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up riding in Chelmsford just north of Boston. I spent two years at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst studying equine science and then managed barns and trained horses for several years until I was able to purchase Sage Farm with the help of partners in 2004. We spent years renovating the facility and building up the business and now we are one of the best children’s riding programs in the Boston area. We also offer an extremely popular summer camp program. My staff and I also the train and compete dressage horses ourselves. We are hoping to compete some of our horses at the national level in the next year or two!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Our struggles are primarily the seasonal nature of our business. Horses are a high overhead in low profit margin business to be in. And so consequently if you have bad weather in the winter or a very light program one Summer you can have major fluctuations in your income. Other than that it’s pretty hard for people to be in a bad mood on a beautiful farm full of horses just outside of Boston!
Sage Farm – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We teach children and some adults a riding sport called dressage. That’s the one you see in the Olympics where people are wearing a top hat and coat tails on their horses. We are most known for being a safe program where one can learn to ride on good quality well-trained horses. What I am most proud of are the horses themselves. These are working horses but when I look out across the field and see them all they look so well cared for. It proves that you can do a good job and take good care of your horses also. What sets us apart from other programs in our area is the friendly open atmosphere of our clientele and our staff. Everybody seems to feel immediately at home here at Sage Farm.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
For me success is just enjoying riding and teaching people to enjoy riding every day. We do compete so there are some built-in markers and goals that we tried to reach with each horse also. But for me if I have a client who goes home happy with their lesson and excited to come back the next day then I have done my job.
Pricing:
- Lessons are$75 each
- Camp is $500 for a one week session
Contact Info:
- Address: 349 Dedham Street
Dover, MA 02030 - Website: Sagefarm.info
- Phone: 5087859945
- Email: sage_farm@yahoo.com
- Facebook: Sagefarm
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
