Operator takes reins at Vannie stables

If you’ve driven up and down Broadway, you have passed Riverdale Stables countless times and probably not given it a second thought. You see a large red structure off in the distance, if you’ve looked over at all, as well as a number of open spaces partitioned off by gleaming white fencing.

But if you would ever make the turn at Mosholu Avenue into the revamped and revitalized Riverdale Stables, you will encounter a hidden oasis. Twenty-three acres of pastoral splendor where people of all ages can come to learn to ride, hone their skills or simply escape the rigors of everyday life.

It is worth making that turn at Mosholu Avenue.

Scott and Elizabeth Tarter, the new concessionaires of the stables, took over last Sept. 1 when they won a 10-year contract to run the stables for City Parks Department. The stables have since undergone a renaissance, both in terms of upgrades to the facilities as well as programs for the public.

“When the lease came up we were going back and forth, ‘Do we put a bid in or not? Do we take over or not?’ said Scott Tarter, who also runs the Twin Lakes Barn in Bronxville.

Not long after the city accepted the Tarters’ bid, the transformation of the stables began.

“We ran the barn as it was from September to December and then a group of horses went to Florida and we started some major construction,” Tarter said. “We got rid of the giant manure pile which was bringing rodents, we converted to wood shavings bedding [for the horses], we gutted the basement, we got rid of the asbestos, we put a new roof on the building, we put all new electric in. It’s been a whirlwind. I can’t believe we’re coming up on a year already.”

Amateur-friendly

The concessionaire also introduced more programs open to the general public. Riverdale residents had complained of a dearth of such options under the previous operator, Catango Corporation. The Tarters’ plan was to be more community friendly with his programs.