Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Flatt of Rose Clover Farm.
Hi Melissa, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
So, how did Rose Clover Farm get started? It could be as easy as the cliché, be careful what you wish for, but nothing is ever quite so simple when you really look at it. Take a little girl watching her neighbor’s horses. She grew up, moved to Nashville, Tennessee, graduated from college and graduate school, married an incredibly supportive and loving man, Greg, and had four absolutely amazing children, Elizabeth, Ryan, Gillian, and Audrey. These children love animals, and music, and theater, and lacrosse, and performing, and the youngest loves riding. These parents are supportive of the children’s interests, and it’s important to note that the children are very supportive of each other, too. None of their extracurricular choices takes a short amount of time! They are masters at eating snack, dinner, doing homework, finding bathrooms– everything based from the car. I give you this background because it provides some of the foundation of what we offer at Rose Clover.
Now our story needs to look more specifically at Audrey and her passion for riding. We’re all still loading up in the car and driving to all the after-school locations. Only now we are also boarding and caring for a horse. At this point, there were two immediate driving factors that led us to start Rose Clover Farm. First, I was really wanting to have a place where my family and I could be comfortable, not squashed in the car. Second, we were spending a significant amount of money boarding, caring for, lessoning, and showing a horse. Why not build some equity with the money we were already spending on boarding, AND create a farm that appealed to entire families? Would we be able to provide a quality service to a community, creating an environment that was fun for not just for the rider, but everyone who was there with that rider? We decided that if the right property came along, we would give farm ownership a try.
In Spring of 2019, our property came on the market and we bought the barn. Year one focused on a lot of foundations– eradicating termites, updating electrical, fixing plumbing, adding lights, etc. Year two allowed us to refine our program goals and start a bit on the aesthetics. It also brought the pandemic, but we survived! Year three has been a big team-building year with new employees, adding horses and riders to the lesson program, creating a horse show plan, and continuing to improve the facility. We currently have an absolutely incredible team of people working at the barn! We are a United States Hunter Jumper Association Recognized Riding Academy, and we actively participate in the Equine Mastery Education System (EMES). We’re also able to provide PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy) for our barn horses and nearby areas. We’ve kept our mission simple: to provide superior instruction and horse care that meets the individual needs of clients and animals in a family environment. We have a lounge for all our barn folks that provides a relaxing space to stretch out with complimentary snacks and drinks, Wi-Fi, Netflix, and exercise equipment (get those steps in while you wait!). We have designated observation areas so parents can be comfortable while they watch the lessons. There is space to do homework, read a book, or play a game. Or you can just enjoy the quiet while you rock on the front porch. I am super proud of how far we’ve come! And I have a huge list of where we will continue to grow!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Building the business has definitely not been a smooth road, but I would say that we’ve generally continued on an upward trajectory. One of the key components of our plan has always been to be a small, family-friendly farm. We limit the number of horses on property, the number of boarders we have, and the number of lesson spots available. We are small by design– by choice. Whenever we hire new staff or invite new participants into our program, we are inviting someone to join our family. We host social events, we pass each other in the aisles, we ride together. Building that family, both the team of employees and the program participants, can be challenging.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Rose Clover Farm is a family-friendly equestrian facility located between Nashville and Clarksville, Tennessee. Rose Clover provides superior services and materials for both horses and riders. Our unique facility is designed to appeal to the entire family– beyond the individual horse and rider–providing a welcoming and comfortable environment for riders, parents, and siblings. Rose Clover Farm accepts a limited number of clients to ensure we have committed families with similar goals and expectations. We combine large barn amenities with the intimacy of a small barn. Our mission is to provide superior instruction and horse care that meets the individual needs of clients and animals in a family environment. We are a small family-owned facility with an emphasis on providing that exceptional horse care, quality instruction, and horse show opportunities. Our instructors are well versed in hunters, jumpers, and dressage, and we are a USHJA Recognized Riding Academy, as well as an EMES (Equine Mastery Education System) school.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I grew up the only girl in a family with four brothers. We are quite spread apart in age, but I learned early on not to make a sandwich and leave it unattended, or it would be mostly gone by the time I returned. There was also that time Victor took my mattress and moved it downstairs… but I digress. My father was a civil engineer who built power plants. We moved fairly often as the jobs dictated, including some time in Iran before the change in regime, and three years in Egypt. My parents were both born in Southern states, but I was born in Pennsylvania and spent the longest stint of my childhood in Reading, PA on a 10-acre property where we would spend our days in the woods and down at the creek. I used to pretend I was racing a pony and run as fast as I could down our trail through the trees! Regardless of where we lived, we always had animals to love. My first time to live by horses what in preschool. Our neighbors had racehorses, and I would watch them for hours. I never touched the electric fence, though, that was John! Growing up, I would spend time with horses, as schedules would allow–watching those neighbor’s horses, Girl Scout summer camp, a riding lesson here or there, weekend rides at the pyramids of Giza– but I was never where riding could be a consistent part of my life. However, all of these experiences helped me to have a broad worldview, and I wouldn’t change them. I’ve seen beautiful things and tragic things. One constant is there are good people everywhere. Horses have remained another constant love, so the opportunity to develop Rose Clover Farm is a joy. Having a supportive and knowledgeable team working with us has made all the difference! We share a common vision of what we want Rose Clover to be. We are forever grateful to the employees who have chosen to join our family and share this process. Rose Clover Farm is a family.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@rosecloverfarm.com
- Website: www.rosecloverfarm.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/rosecloverfarm
- Facebook: fb.me/rosecloverfarm
