Heathermoor Farm

One of the largest horse-riding venues in Alabama

Story by Elaine Hobson Miller
Photos by Graham Hadley

If a gaggle of giggly girls is any indication, Heathermoor Farm is the greatest place in the world to take horseback riding lessons. A visit to the farm any given hour on any given Saturday reveals at least a dozen young teens and pre-teens scattered about. Those who are not actually astride the horses are hanging out and hanging all over each other smack in the middle of the indoor arena. They are laughing, playing on their cellphones and, occasionally, watching their peers take lessons.

“I want to do a winter tournament, the fun shows and then the National Academy Finals,” says 10-year-old Evie Campbell, who lives in Hoover. She has been taking lessons since September 2020, having discovered Heathermoor through her good friend, Alex Mountz, who also takes lessons there. “She talked about it, I looked into it and told my mom.”

Evie has always liked horses and feels quite comfortable on the back of one. “My first time here, I was a bit nervous, but I was excited, too,” she says. “Now I take lessons twice a week.”

Katie Bentley of Trussville, who takes lessons Thursdays and Saturdays, also discovered horseback riding through a friend. She now owns a mare named Secret, a gift from her mother, Amy Jones, for Katie’s 12th birthday in November 2020. “I love it,” she says of riding. “It makes me feel calm and relaxed. I go there three times a week. I just ride for fun on the third (non-lesson) day or play with Secret.”

Heathermoor Farm can claim more than just the adulation of a bunch of young girls, though. With over 100 equestrians, both men and women ages five to 68, either taking lessons or training for horse shows, it is probably the largest horse-teaching facility in the state of Alabama.

“We’re the only American Saddlebred horseback riding academy in the Birmingham area with an indoor arena,” says co-owner Jennifer Fernambucq.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said, “There’s something about the outside of a horse that’s good for the inside of a man.” Jennifer knows exactly what Churchill meant and how the teenage girls feel about horses. “It’s an incredible thing, the way a horse touches a human being,” Jennifer says. “It’s such a gift.”

She was 10 years old when a friend in her ballet class took her to Heathermoor, where the friend was taking lessons. Started in 1965 by John and Anita Cowart, the farm was located off Highway 119 in Jefferson County then. It only took one visit to hook Jennifer for life.

Later, when she was in her early 20s and working for a financial consulting firm, she received a phone call from Mrs. Cowart. She needed an instructor, was Jennifer interested? “I had not ridden in several years,” she says. “College, then becoming a working mom, kept me busy. But I quit my job and joined her. It worked well. I could stay with my babies mornings and teach in the afternoons.”

Five years later, the Cowarts retired, and Jennifer and a business partner bought the farm. That was in 1999. “In a few years, we dissolved the partnership, and my partner started her own stable, Stepping Stone in Columbiana,” Jennifer explains. “I’ve been at it 20 years now.”

She and her husband, Richie, who met through their love of horses, moved Heathermoor to its present, 16-acre spot on Carl Jones Road in Moody five years ago. They built a 42-stall barn and quickly filled it up. Constructed in a U-shape, with the 55-by-175-foot enclosed arena in the center and 200 feet of stalls along each side. The overflows are in the pastures, for a total of 55 horses.

 On one side, the stalls are home to performance or show horses owned by individuals. On the other, which is the lesson or school side, some animals are owned by Jennifer and Richie and others by individual riders. The door to the center of the “U” features a long window with barstool seating that allows parents, grandparents and friends to observe the arena riders without disturbing them. An office and storage rooms flank the lobby.

“We lease our lesson horses out,” Jennifer says of the horses the facility owns. “I own them, but the riders treat them as theirs. They can come and ride them any time.”

Performance riders take part in 10 shows a year all over the Southeast, she says. “We work the performance horses five days a week, and their owners ride once a week. However, they come in several times a week.” As for her and her husband’s respective roles, she says, “Richie teaches the horses, I teach the riders.”

She and employee Brittany Campbell (no relation to Evie) teach about 120 lessons per week, 40 of them on Saturday, their busiest day.

“Knees tight, don’t move your arms, and walk,” she instructs a rider one recent Saturday. “Heels down, hands up.”

Some riders take lessons in small groups, many in private lessons. The former costs $30 per half hour, the latter $40. Most advertising is by word of mouth.

“His head’s too low. Remember, his ears need to be even with your eyes,” Jennifer tells another student. “Use your left leg to push his body so he’s straight.”

Meanwhile, her husband demonstrates a maneuver for another student. “These horses are athletes,” Richie says.“We bring in farriers from Kentucky who specialize in American Saddlebreds. We also bring in chiropractors. We spend a lot of money to keep them healthy.”

They specialize in show horses, but Saddlebreds are also used as hunter-jumpers and sometimes for the trail, according to Richie. “American Saddlebreds are bred to be high-strung, and they’re supposed to give with everything they have in a short period,” he says. “Most of their competition performances last about 10 minutes.”

Brittany has been a full-time instructor at Heathermoor for two years. She started riding when she was 7, left for a few years, then came back to help Jennifer and Richie. In fact, she gave up a bank job to work at Heathermoor. “My mom, my sister and I all ride,” she says. “We’ve had three horses here for 10 years.”

Boys and girls, men and women take lessons from Brittany and Jennifer, but the females far outnumber the males. “I have ladies in their 60s, and one of the men is 68,” Jennifer says. “He started taking lessons a couple of years ago. You’re never too old to learn to ride.”