PineHaven Stables - (616) 875-3639

PineHaven Stables is a small, family owned boarding stable. We care about your horse and provide a feeding and pasture program tailored to your horse.

How we got started, way back when.....

Our place probably started out the way many of you did, just saving up and buying the ONE horse that I'd dreamed of for a long time. I saved up for a year, putting my pennies away into a special "Horse Fund" account. Finally (!) I had enough and sent Greg off to the horse sales with his good buddy Vic Eding and they brought back my First Horse, Libby, a gorgeous crop out APHA sorrel mare with a lovely white blaze and stockings. Beautiful to look at, not so good to ride.

But it didn't take long to realize the we would need another horse for Alison because just riding alone isn't as much fun as riding with someone else. Well, along came 'Dandy' a very sweet little bay pony who treated Alison very well. A most wonderful 'learning' pony for a small young girl. Now, of course, after we both had horses to ride, it was time for Greg to get in on the act. Along came "Skipper", a muscular, wiry palomino cow horse from out west. Turned out he had a problem with a very long grown out tooth, but after fixing that, he turned out to just be a dream to ride.... like rolling along in a rocking chair, the best lope I have EVER ridden. Just a couple of rides on 'Greg's' horse convinced me that Libby was not the most ideal trail horse (she had quite a few issues), and we sold her at auction and returned her to her former broodmare past where she was much more comfortable. After that we bought "Jr", a big, sturdy 16'2' HH Standardbred for Greg and I inherited (or stole) Skipper from Greg.

Now we were complete, a happy riding family, living by the Holland Westshore Mall, chasing down horses that would occasionally get loose and go over to munch on that lovely lush green lawn just east of the Mall. Not such a good situation. It was time for a move. We sold the family farm that had been in my family's possession since 1948 and moved out to our current location in West Olive. We bought our 40 acre farm from Joyce Aalderink, whose husband had built it up into a profitable stable, raising Thoroughbreds for the track. They had quite a few winners at the tracks around the state. When Henry died, Joyce decided it was time to get a condo and lo and behold we became the new owners. With her permission, we kept the name that Hank had built up and named our new farm PineHaven Stables in his honor.

Now we still enjoy trail riding and camping, our first and still most enjoyable aspect of horse owning, but have branched out into other realms of horse ownership. We are now holding 4H and Equestrian Team practices here, breeding for Friesian Sport Horses and quality Quarter Horses, and just having fun with our little brood. Boarding horses has been a natural progression from my family farming roots and our large (9 kids!) family now embraces our boarding 'friends' and new riding paard'ners who we thoroughly enjoy being around. We would like to invite you to join our family of friends and come meet us. Just give me a call anytime and I'll get you set up with a site visit, or better yet, just 'come on down!'

Greg, Carole & Alison Rietman

Pricing:

Stall board (includes turn in and turn out, feeding hay and grain morning and night):
$240

Pasture board (feeding hay and grain morning and night, pasture with a shelter:
$200

Trailer Rental: $30 per day

Lessons are available, please message or call for pricing and availability

Tags: Horses