Atwood Farm began in 2008 when Randy Donelson and Gary Sales bought a former dairy farm in northeastern Ohio, converted it to a horse breeding operation and began breeding Morgan horses. Named after the beautiful Atwood Lake region where it was located, Atwood Farm registered 18 foals from 2009-2019. Many of those foals went on to achieve success in the show ring; others are beloved family horses.
In late 2019, Randy and Gary made the decision to sell the Ohio farm and relocate their operation to central Florida. Located in close proximity to the beautiful horse country in Ocala, Atwood Farm in Oxford, Florida provides a wonderful setting for continuing the
tradition of breeding and sales of quality Morgan horses achieved over the past decade.
 One of the objectives in obtaining the farm was to establish a small Morgan horse breeding and sales operation.
Gary was new to Morgans and horse ownership, but Randy
had previously owned and shown a couple of Morgans back in the
late 1970s and 1980s. Randy's first Morgan, PRF Kaz (Cinnabar x MirRoy Gallant Joy) was purchased from Pine Ridge Farm, then in
Ashland, OH. Kaz was of old Working Western, Government and Brunk breeding and taught Randy a lot about Morgans and
horsemanship in general. Randy also enjoyed raising and showing the mare Primavera Patrice (Glamorgan Mephisto x Sunita Ro),
that he had bought from the Nelsen family, then of Mohican Farms. Though he sold his horses in the early 1990s, Randy
continued to follow breeding and showing trends in the Morgan world. While much has changed in Morgan breeding and showing,
the one thing that has remained constant is the love that Morgan owners have for their horses.
 In establishing Atwood as a breeding farm, the objective was
to obtain a small band of well bred mares and breed them to
carefully chosen stallions. Randy had always admired the
work of small breeders such as the Harold Hoover family of
HRH Morgans, Karen Bauer's K-Lynn Morgans and the Van Lu
operation, who had made significant contributions to the
breed with only a small number of mares. Using those farms
as a model, Atwood obtained three mares in early 2009. Those
three mares represented a range of bloodlines and type, but
all were the products of generations of thoughtful breeding
programs. As two of the three mares were in foal when they
came to Atwood Farm, the first Atwood foal crop also arrived
in 2009. The goal of Atwood is to breed a couple of foals
each year and regardless of the discipline each youngster is
best suited for, to give them a good start in life in terms
of handling and care so that they can go on and do well for
new owners.
Randy and Gary plan to continue breeding for one or two quality foals per year. They welcome visitors to the farm which is within easy access to I-75, and only about an hour from the Orlando airport.
SCENES AROUND THE FARM:
OHIO
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The entrance to the farm |
Gary and Iris |
Winter Wonderland |
The tackroom, one of Gary's projects |
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Barn
reno project complete, fall 2013 |
Winter Wonderland, updated |
Essex and the swans |
Gary and Lia |
The Ohio house. |
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The Ohio barn. |
Swans. |
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SCENES AROUND THE FARM:
FLORIDA
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