Rider Spotlight:
Moriah Orms
Barry’s May Letter
The present rate of inflation is difficult to deal with.
Stable View’s gas, insurance, remuneration, replacement cost and maintenance bills are going up at the fastest rate since we’ve been here.
While the price of gas and diesel might come down, the rest of these costs are not - our Budget for 2027 is going to use Actuals from 2026.
In addition, Consumers are [also] being squeezed - their pocket money, remuneration and pensions are not going as far…… this has an effect on Stable View. We have to work harder to increase our market share just to stand still.
As I’ve said before in these Introductions, Stable View is trying to diversify its portfolio as it attempts to cover its expenses. Recently, the driving force behind our growth has been the social media Team. More Press Releases, Reels, Boosted Posts and the Jumbotron are all playing their part in increasing Stable View’s Entries.
In addition, Sponsorship is beginning to help as is the Trails Club which is developing its profile, following and fixture list.
Many of you over the years have watched this business grow - we’d like to thank you for the part you’ve played in this success.
Rider Spotlight: Moriah Orms
Q: What has been one of the biggest challenges in your eventing career, and how did you overcome it?
A: As with everything in life, just keep going when things are not going well. Seems both simple and hard all at the same time. Just keep going. That's how you get through.
Q: Can you tell us about how the April FEI at Stable View prepared you for Kentucky four weeks later?
A: I think the course was really well designed. It was designed with challenging questions, but definitely doable. Just enough that I had to think a lot, you know? It was a very educational course, and after doing that, it was a good run, which helped build confidence, too.
Q: How do you prepare mentally before any big competition or show?
A: Honestly, I just try not to think about it too much. It’s just another competition, you know?
Q: W your eventing career so far?
A: Probably the 4* at Kentucky last month.
Q: Balancing out three phases is difficult. How do you balance training across the 3 phases of eventing?
I'm pretty lucky that I grew up in an eventing family and they had a pretty good program that they followed. When I got my first working student job with Kelli Temple, who winters in Aiken at Stable View, she had a really great setup and program, so I learned a lot from her. And what days to do what, and how often to do dressage and jumping and fitness and all that.
Reviving the Hives: A Promising Recovery
the for Bees at Stable View
After last year’s disastrous honey harvest, the recovery we’re watching this year is remarkable.
Last year’s outcome was as a result of neglect - I (Barry) was under the impression that a Stable View employee knew what he was doing, but with the benefit of hindsight, he didn’t.
The Stable View bee hives are now being managed by Jacob Brewer - son of John Brewer who had previously built our hives to 17, prior to retiring.
We feel we’re back in the right track with Jacob and his assistant, who re-started the program last year with three viable hives. With two new Queens and four nuc’s - short for nucleus colonywe’re back up to seven hives. While this is nowhere near where we were, it’s much better than last year.
We’ve seen that the bees are very active this year with significant activity around the large holly trees by the Main Barn. They’re also very active around the Mountain Laurel (Kalmia) on the cross country course. My best suggestion for seeing them later this month will be around the magnolia grandiflora that are dotted around Stable View.
While bees don’t collect pollen from long leaf pines, they do benefit from the controlled burns we managed around them earlier this year. Totaling eight burns, the understory management we’ve achieved has helped all pollinators.
While this year’s increase in hives will not have a significant impact on 2026 honey production, it’s good to hear that the bees are already producing honey.
After last year’s disaster, we feel we’re back on track.
Stable View’s 2026 honey will be available for purchase in July / August.
The Off-Road Driving Experience
Earlier this year, an off-road driving course was designed and created on the back 800 acres of Stable View by Ben Woottan of Classic 4x4.
What began as a practical pursuit for Ben over twenty years ago, quickly transformed into a deep fascination with the challenges of off-road driving. Without modern conveniences like cell phones or advanced recovery gear, he learned to read terrain, understand vehicle dynamics and recovery methods. His passion led him to spend fourteen years as a Land Rover Experience Lead Driving Instructor, where he was immersed in advanced off-road technologies.
Today, Ben’s experiences allow him to offer instruction that combines essential off-roading fundamentals with insights into modern vehicle features. He leads weekends with Land Rover, Jeep and INEOS. His approach equips enthusiasts with the skills needed to safely & confidently tackle challenging terrains.
Check out the video below of Ben guiding Boyd Martin through the course in a Defender provided by Stable View sponsor, Land Rover of Columbia.
Be on the lookout for the next off-road driving experience at Stable View!
USEA Intercollegiate/IEL Championships
Experience the thrill of the United States Eventing Association’s Intercollegiate/IEL Championships at Stable View. Colleges and schools come together in Aiken to compete for the national title in 3 Day Eventing and the highly coveted Spirit Award, creating an electric atmosphere! Join us and cheer on the future of the 3 Day Eventing!
Intercollegiate/IEL Championships
Schedule of Events
Spectators are encouraged to enter via Gate 2 for Day Parking
No Fees for Parking or Admission
Friday:
8:00am: Dressage P/M/T
10:00am: Show Jumping Probably P/M/T
5:00pm: Opening Ceremony & Parade of Teams
6:00 - 8:00pm: Gaze and Graze (appetizers and drinks) at the Pavilion.
Saturday:
7:30am: Dressage N/BN/Starter
9:00am: Cross country for P/M/T Followed by lower level XC
9:00am: Show Jumping for BN and Starter
5-7:00pm: Gaze and Graze & Hobby Horse Competition
Sunday:
8:30am: Cross Country for BN and Starter and remaining divisions
8:30am: Show Jumping for N and remaining divisions followed by victory gallops
~1:30pm: Unmounted Championship Awards & Closing ceremony following completion of competition.
Reflections from a Brit in Horse Country: Our Different Oaks
by Samantha Taroni
Each time I travel across the seas from my home in Hampshire England to visit Stable View, I make some time to get to know Aiken better. It is a landscape, treescape and peoplescape that has surprised me in powerful ways. I’d like to write a little bit here about some of the Oak trees in this wonderful corner of the world.
I grew up used to deciduous oaks —the kind that drop their leaves each autumn and stand bare and sculptural through the winter months. On the right, I will show you some of these!
Mossy English Oak trees in Winter
And the same trees in Spring!
You have plenty of deciduous oaks here in South Carolina too. Most of the oaks here fall under the two umbrellas of White Oaks and Red Oaks, and a key difference between the two is that the white oak acorns mature in one growing season, while the red Oaks take two. This next picture is of an oak outside of the Healing Arts studio at Stable View (have you checked out the yoga classes for when you are next at Stable View?).
Kevin McCormick
This oak, to the right of the buddha, is likely a cherry bark oak, which is a red oak that grows very tall and straight. You will see more of these on the trails around Stable View too, as they love to grow on the lower parts of the land here where there is richer soil. Exploring more widely in Aiken, and discovering that some of the oaks are evergreen was astonishing. The Southern Live Oak holds its leaves year-round, creating vast, sheltering canopies that feel both ancient and alive with movement.
Across the Coastal South these trees shape the character of the land. Their immense limbs stretch wide and low, often draped with Spanish moss, forming living arches over roads and through gardens. It is deeply grounding to stand beneath a live oak. Their wood is famously dense and strong, once prized for shipbuilding, but what strikes me most is their presence. They stand as guardians of the landscape, supporting countless other forms of life and holding the memory of the places where they grow.
If you would like to see some of these majestic trees, just drive down South Boundary Avenue near Whiskey road into downtown Aiken, or extend your stay at Stable View by a day, and take a trip to the historic Hopelands Gardens . Here you can walk amongst them, as I did on a sunny day last week and took this pic:
Aiken is on an interesting transitional zone geologically, falling between the Piedmont foothills, the Coastal Plain Flatlands, and sandhills. This means that entirely different treescapes can thrive very close up to one another. The drier well-drained sandy areas have species like the post oak and southern red oak, and the live oaks too, while the richer soils and creek bottoms have the cherry bark and water oaks.
One South Carolina tree in particular has captured my imagination: the Angel Oak on Johns Island, not far from Charleston. Estimated to be four to five hundred years old, well before the United Staes was founded. Its vast canopy spreads outward in great, twisting limbs that rest upon the earth before rising again. To walk beneath it is to enter a kind of natural cathedral.
This tree also carries a powerful human story. Local civil rights educator Septima P. Clark (1898-1987) brought children here for classes and gatherings during the era of segregation. Beneath the shelter of the Angel Oak, she created a space for learning, dignity, and unity.
Encountering these evergreen oaks has shifted something in my imagination about what a powerful oak can be. Before I came to South Carolina I knew oaks as winter-bare trees marking the seasons; in Celtic mythology the Oak is King of the light half of the year. Here I’ve discovered another expression of the same great protective and enduring spirit—one that stays green through the year, spreading its great arms across the Southern landscape and offering shade, shelter, and continuity to all who come beneath it.
Samantha Taroni is based in the UK, founder of The Soul Shed and has led retreats in Aiken with The Healing Arts @ Stable View. The Sould Shed focuses on three-centred Integration for living with depth and humanity in a complex world. Deepmapping your nature with breathwork, trauma-informed enneagram coaching, Soulcollage® and trees.
To learn more, click HERE.
Stable View Spotlight: Allison Dunne
Announcer at Stable View Horse Trials and the highly competive
Intercollegiate/IEL
Hobby Horse Competition
Q: Tell us a little bit about your background and how you transitioned into the equine industry?
A: I am a career journalist. I started in print, as a financial journalist in New York City, and soon enough found my way into broadcast journalism, my actual major, and spent a good part of my life in radio as a bureau chief/reporter/producer for an NPR affiliate in New York. I grew up riding and showing, mainly in pleasure (when that was hugely popular with big classes) and large pony hunters, taking a parental-imposed break starting in high school. When I returned to riding as an adult, I was always figuring out ways to earn a few bucks in the horse world, to help pay for the obsession. After all, I didn't get into public radio for the money. I was resourceful as a journalist, and resourceful in making money on the side in several ways, including in the equestrian world.
Now, in this era of reinvention, between announcing and heading up U.S. News for ClipMyHorse.TV, I get to combine my lifelong journalism career with horses. What an unexpected and amazing intersection for me.
Q: How has your background in storytelling and broadcasting shaped the way you call equestrian events?
A: Radio reporting is non-fiction storytelling, and announcing eventsbe they horse trials, or hunter/jumper shows, or combined driving - is similar in the following ways. At times, in radio, I was reporting on the fly, and announcing is no different. One must be quick to pivot, sensitive to an unfolding situation, and know when to talk and ad lib as much as when not to talk. I love that in announcing, I'm still delivering facts and looking for a bit of color to add, to impart information previously unknown. Also, there is a certain amount of expertise expected from the voice behind the mic, and I enjoy the accompanying pressure. In my radio reporting, every voice matters. In announcing, every horse-and-rider pair deserves my time, no matter the division, time of day, etc. In radio, I got to know various beats extremely well. In announcing, I've gotten to know various riders and horses on course, and how courses ride, along with the ever-growing Stable View layout. Hopefully, I'm reflecting what is happening for those who cannot see it
Q: Is there a favorite event or moment you’ve announced that stands out?
Q: What’s something people would be surprised to learn about being a horse show announcer?
A: This is an easy one. My absolute favorite event is the USEA Intercollegiate and Interscholastic Eventing Championships (an I'm not just saying this, given the time of yea The energy is infectious, and the event is a bl from start to finish. It's an incredible blend o serious riding and knowing when to bring i when it comes to spirit and a good time. Everyone goes the extra mile. .
A: People may not realize that announcing is quite the team effort, both leading up to and during an event/show. I LOVE announcing and really enjoy seeing so many familiar and friendly faces every time I'm on Stable View grounds. While one voice is travelling through the mic, there are numerous people on whom I rely to make it all run smoothly. From Stable View staff, to event/show officials (judges, ingate, event/show organizers, volunteer coordinator, control, scoring course designers), to volunteer cross-country fence judges. Certainly, there are others - excuse the Academy Award reference - so I apologize if I've left out anybody!
