Mimosa Hills Farm offers riding lessons, horse training, birthday parties, and more

It takes creativity to keep a fourth-generation farm afloat.

Tucked away in the lush hills of Morganton lies Mimosa Hills Farm. It sprawls across 34 acres of land, with a home, stables, pens, and more than a dozen horses — plus some goats, llamas, emus, and many other animals.

The property has been in Crosby Norris’ family for four generations, and the 34-year-old has lived there since she was 10.

Norris got her start as a volunteer at her mother Dottie Reed’s therapeutic riding program. Rather, she was volun-told to help, Norris said with a laugh, but her heart was more in horse shows.

Norris said that by middle school, she knew she wanted to pursue a career with horses. She attended the University of Kentucky, majoring in equine management and minoring in economics.

“Whatever I could do that could fund buying another horse, I would do, and I didn’t want to do something else to take away time from the barn,” Norris said. “So, I just figured out a way to make money with horses.”

Making money in the horse business isn’t easy, though.

“It’s kind of one of those things where I have to do it because I like it, and not because I’m going to get rich off of it,” Norris said.

Norris said just feeding one horse costs between $400 and $500 per month.

A diverse list of services is what helps keep the farm going, Norris said. If riding lessons were the only thing she offered, she said it would take teaching 150 riding lessons every week to make ends meet.

Under community services, Mimosa Hills Farm offers riding lessons, parties, tours, carriage rides, and in the summer, horse camps. Professional services include training, equine sales services, boarding and rehab, and horse leases.

“The real thing that keeps me going is we sell a lot of horses,” Norris said. “That is really what keeps the whole thing afloat.”

Norris said she has everything from ponies to big horses across all age groups.

“If I don’t have it, I can find it,” Norris said.

What sets Norris’ horses apart from others is thorough training. She keeps them for a minimum of three months, and described one pony she spent four years with, even giving the pony a show record.

“That wasn’t a cheap horse, but it was a very, very well-made, finished pony for somebody,” Norris said.

Rapidly rising fuel costs have been a challenge, Norris said, because the farm’s expenses rise and fall with the price of gasoline and diesel.

“Hay prices, grain prices — everything, everything, everything goes up, and I cannot increase my prices at the same rate that the fuel increases,” Norris said.

But it’s a rewarding field. Norris said her favorite thing is watching as horses and riders grow and progress.

Mimosa Hills Farm riders participate in U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF) competitions in hunters and jumpers as well as American Driving Society-sanctioned combined driving and pleasure driving events.

For more information about everything Mimosa Hills Farm has to offer, visit their website at mimosahillsfarm.com.