Gerry has spent a lifetime involved with horses: young, old, newborn, and aged. She began riding at the age of 4 (a vile tempered Shetland Pony named Blackie she atributes her tenacious ability to stay in the saddle to,) with only a four year interim in her life without horses. She has owned, bred, trained, ridden, driven, and shown eight different breeds of horses over four decades, and boarded 30 different breeds since 1980. She rides hunt seat, dressage, western, trail, gymkhana (barrel racing, etc.) bareback, jumped, and drives.

The full time Barn Manager, Jim Bruder maintains the property nearly 24 hours per day, seven days per week. He is up and feeding anytime between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m., so it does not take him long to be every new horse's favorite sight! Jim has over ten year's stabling experience and over twenty years' experence riding, showing, and owning horses. He handles each horse firmly and with kindness. All of the horses boarded with us nicker at the sight of him or sound of his voice!

Genessa Eaton, Gerry's adult daughter, runs her own smaller boarding stables located on Saline-Waterworks Road (2 miles away); teaches riding lessons and helps out at CornerStone Aces, Too. Genessa began riding at the age of 4 (a wonderful little Appaloosa pony named "Suzy") and has owned, ridden, trained, and shown Arabian horses for over 25 years. She rides and has shown hunter over fences, dressage, saddle-seat, western, trail, fitting and showing, and gymkhana; as well as an assistant coach with Ann Arbor Pioneer High School Equestrian Team, a member of Spur of The Moment Horse Club and Open Horse Shows and a 4-H horse club alumnus.

We at CornerStone Acres simply love and respect horses as horses and we love being around them. We meet horses’ needs based on the nature of horses: what horses need and thrive upon as foraging herd animals. Our hay, grain, grouping, and bedding are based on 40 years of owning, training, riding, breeding, raising and showing a multitude of personal horses, and years of boarding horses. We continue to remain current with continuing education and research via the Internet, satellite television horse channels, agrigultural media and extension offices, veterinarians, and independent horse nutritionalists. We don't claim to know everything there is to know about horses, but given that we've owned and boarded horses for as long as we have, we know quite a bit! The proof of our dedication and knowledge is obvious in the healthy, contented horses that are in our care. We are always willing to attend to all questions about your horse or our methods.  

Owning a Horse

A horse owner’s money is invested in:

• Purchasing a horse
• Boarding fees
• Riding lessons and training

The money horse owners spend on those investments contain both present and future value as a rider and horse become more experienced and better educated horsemen and mounts.

Purchasing a Horse

A horse with poor behavior, an aloof attitude or its plateau for advancement is less than the rider's, is a draining experience. An owner with a wrong horse pays a huge emotional price in the form of disappointment, frustration, and a damaged self-image. The board, health care, and farrier expenses are about the same for all horses; thus, if horse ownership is for your fun, recreation and personal growth, make it the right investment that will put the joy into the experience! 

Investing in Boarding

For any business to survive, it is impossible to charge less and offer more. Therefore, with the limited amount of time you have to spend with your horse, consider whether you want to accept inferior kept facilities, questionable fencing, or cluttered turnouts risking your ability to ride a healthy horse, just to save a few dollars each month? Our fences are inspected daily. Our pastures and barns are clean. The arenas are dragged and watered frequently.

Riding Lessons

The price of a riding lesson once a week may sound like a self-indulgent luxury, but even professional athletes’ performances deteriorate without coaching on a regular basis. At an amateur level, an investment in riding lessons creates personal satisfaction and yields measurable progress! (And riding is such great therapy because no one can stay unhappy while you are on the back of a horse!)

Training

Training is to horses, what school is to children. Training is your horse’s education and proper training provides a horse with the tools they need to do their job. Thus, a horse’s initial training is the cornerstone for their future performance under saddle.
 

~~~What you pay for utilities, phones, and gas are costs. What you pay for learning, recreation and happiness are investments. Therefore, let the guide to your spending be on value instead of price.~~~

Our resource trainers and instructors we use or refer:

   I cannot believe the purpose of life is to be "happy." I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is, above all, to matter, to count, to stand for something; to have made some difference that you lived at all.

~~Leo C. Rosten