October Brings 30 Year Anniversary To Oak View Stables Olive Branch, Mississippi October 1, 2007, Oak View Stables in Olive Branch, Mississippi celebrated their 30th anniversary in business. In 1977, Rose Marie & Wes Lawson purchased the operation, then located on Germantown Road, from Jim & Denitia Newman and changed the name to Oak View Stables. Rose Marie had earned her Horse Masters from the Pacific Horse Center in Elk Grove, California and had been teaching lessons & training horses at Cedar Ridge Stables in Germantown prior to the purchase. Before long, Oak View was very active in the Germantown Hunter Jumper Association shows, AQHA shows, and combined training events, traveling to shows in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma. The gift of an Appaloosa stallion from Wes’ father, the late Weston G. Lawson Sr., brought the stable into Appaloosa horse shows as well, where their students competed in the halter, pleasure, trail, jumper, and hunt seat divisions, qualifying for and competing in the World Championship Shows. During the first ten years their son, Trey was born and, from the very first time he saw a horse, he was a natural born horseman. The ten years in Germantown proved so rewarding that Rose Marie and Wes decided to purchase land and build a new facility when development encroached on once rural Germantown Road. After two years of extensive searching, they found their dream location off of Center Hill Road in northeastern Desoto county. The road to the unimproved land was very narrow, but the property was beautiful, with over sixty acres of rolling hills, wide open spaces for pastures, and a wonderful high spot for the barn & house. Construction began in March of 1987, and the barn moved in on Halloween of that year. With the help of the boarders and the Lawsons’ family, forty-nine horses, a small mountain of tack, five dogs and as many cats, and the furniture for the house all were moved that day. That evening, everyone celebrated with the annual Halloween barn party as planned! Everyone was a bit younger then, but the Halloween party tradition has continued every year on the last Saturday in October with only one exception--1988 when the Lawsons’ younger son, Phillip, was born. Oak View Stables has grown over the years. The barn now offers riding instruction for every level of hunter/jumpers from beginning beginners to Grand Prix jumpers year ‘round and Horsemanship Day Camp in the summer. Rose Marie has also been known to teach western pleasure riding on occasion. The facilities now include a large outdoor jumping ring and a regulation dressage ring, both with all-weather footing. Boarders and students enjoy the many coops and other cross country jumps that have been built in the pastures, both as fun diversions and as valuable training for the hunt field. Many of the barn’s boarders ride with Longreen Foxhounds, of which Rose Marie and her family are longtime members. Oak View continues to be active on the hunter/jumper horse show circuit, with many of the boarders competing successfully in shows at both the local and regional levels. The barn also cosponsors a schooling show series with Shady Creek Farm to give beginning competitors, particularly the younger ones, a taste of the satisfaction that comes from setting goals and working hard to achieve them. Rose Marie serves on the boards of directors for both the West Tennessee Hunter Jumper Association and the Germantown Charity Horse Show, and she is actively seeking her United States Equestrian Federation judge’s card. She and her son Trey are also members of the Nashoba Carriage Association and participate in driving shows and clinics. This year’s Halloween Potluck Party will be younger son, Phillip’s, 19th birthday, the Schooling Show Series Year End Awards as well as a celebration of 30 years in business. The Lawsons hope to see a lot of old faces at the party and get to reflect on the past, present, and future years to come. The Lawson family has grown over the years, but Oak View’s extended family is far larger. While many riders have moved to other cities or have gone away to college, some who rode at Oak View as children are now bringing their own children and grandchildren to ride with Rose Marie. Over the years, many memorable people and many memorable horses have passed through the doors, each of whom has helped shape Oak View into the community that it is. Rose Marie and the entire Lawson family thank every one of them for helping to make Oak View Stables a success. If you would like to see more of what is new or become a part of Oak View Stables visit them online at http://www.OakViewStables.net or give them a call 662-895-4544.