Our Story

Harley’s Hollow is a father’s dream finally fulfilled…

In 1986, My sister Lisa found a want ad in the Tallahassee Democrat for a horse. Only $300! She’d wanted a horse for years and at the age of 11 and 12, we convinced our father, and mother, Tom and Fran Harley to just go see him, “please, please, please.” We drove the 10 minutes over to Coventry Farms and took a look at Loki. What a horse! The next 5 years was a whirlwind of bad attitudes, broken bones, vet bills, daily riding lessons, ribbons, and finally a solid horse with a great disposition. Through it all, the Harley family’s love of Loki and love of horses grew.

Tom, a farmer’s son, had grown up in Starke, Florida with a dream of black cows in a green field surrounded by white fences. Later this vision of the perfect farm got him through tough times as a soldier in Viet Nam. In 1986, He Fran, the kids and Loki set off to make his dream come true and find Loki a place to call home.

Tom and Fran had been pulled toward the Greensboro area and its beautiful crop land and had visited the area many times as newlyweds. The land had a rich history of tobacco farming, share cropping and a landslide called Pitt's Hole on the back forty. After fencing and cross-fencing all 72 acres, constructing their house and two barns, Tom realized his passion for building horse jumps.

Some of his handiwork survives today. For many years before his untimely death in a car accident in 2002, the Farm was host to equestrian boarders and events especially frequented by Pony Clubbers in Tallahassee and beyond. The Farm was sold by my Mom after a few sad years and we thought the farm was lost to us forever. But in 2021, Steve and I discovered the farm was on the market once again. We acted fast and our little family was able to buy the farm back. My father’s dream and legacy have lived to fight another day and we are so excited to restore the property to the grand equestrian center it once was.