ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, July 14, 1996 TAG: 9607120015
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
One of the region's largest horse boarding and training stables sits just off Montgomery County's rural Mount Tabor Road - hidden from passers-by behind a small hill.
Stoevener Training Stables can accommodate 35 horses within a huge barn, which also houses an indoor riding ring. The business is operated by Debbie Stoevener, who recently took over from her parents, Del and Doris Dyer, after their retirement. The Dyers formerly operated as Dori-Del Equine Center.
Del Dyer, 65, grew up on a farm in northern Michigan, on which horses were used for plowing and harvesting of hay. "Some people had tractors; we didn't," he recalled.
Dyer's father trained horses for other people, but Dyer grew up more interested in dairy cattle than horses. Doris Dyer, though, had been involved in a 4-H horse program as she was growing up.
The Dyers arrived in Blacksburg in 1968. Del worked as an extension specialist in Virginia Tech's Community Resource Development Program, a job from which he retired in 1991. Doris sold real estate and also taught home economics at Radford University and mathematics and business at New River Community College.
They got involved with Appaloosa horses in 1971, moving to their 400-acre Mount Tabor farm in 1973. They built the barn with its indoor ring in 1975. From 1976 until the early 1980s, the Virginia Tech riding program used the stable for workouts. The Blacksburg Saddle Club has met there since 1975.
The Dyers are members of the Virginia Appaloosa Horse Association, and Del Dyer is a past president of the Virginia Horse Council. They provide one example of how horses - a $1 billion-a-year industry in the state - have helped create jobs for Virginians.
"As a business, so far, this has treated us fairly well," Dyer said of the stable, now operated by his daughter. It provides jobs for three to five people, including two-full time employees, he said.
The interest in horses, particularly in pleasure trail riding is increasing all the time, Dyer said. For the stable that translates into more adult riding students.
People also have had a renewed interest in driving horses and restoring old carriages, he said. The stable has a carriage driving business, which people hire for weddings and other events.
Stoevener offers riding lessons, boarding and horse training. She also breeds Appaloosa horses and owns Impressive Johnny, a two-time world and national Appaloosa champion. During breeding season, the stable will house 20 to 30 mares.
Besides selling horses herself, Stoevener brokers sales for others. Appaloosa's are quiet, easy to work with, have tremendous stamina, and next to Arabians are the preferred horse for distance riding, her father said.
The availability of liability insurance has been a big issue for stable operators, but is not as big a problem as it used to be, Stoevener said. That's because Virginia and 30 other states have passed laws that say people who ride horses should accept some of the responsibility for the risk. The laws have stopped many frivolous lawsuits, she said.
One key to operating a successful stable business, Stoevener said, is to be able to offer a variety of professional services so the business is not seasonal. The stable serves the needs of about 100 to 150 people annually, she said.
Stoevener also works as a consultant for riding programs offered by social service departments in other states.
The goal of a Maryland program she is working with is to help children who have been suspended from school for violent behavior develop better self-esteem. "Horses are true mirrors of what children offer to them," she said.
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON Staff Debbie Stoevener took over theby CNBbusiness from her parents. Del Dyer, her father, is is retired.
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