About US
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Ann's family's involvement with Morgan horses began in the early 1960s when her uncle and aunt John and Anita Hoitsma started Bridle Vale Farm in Franklin Lakes, NJ, and hired Barbara Irvine as trainer and instructor. The solid foundation that Barbara helped to establish led to Ann's success in saddle seat, hunt seat, and western seat equitation. Ann was the first winner of the AMHA Saddle Seat Gold Medal National Final in 1973 at the first Morgan Grand National in Detroit, MI. She was top ten in the AMHA Stock Seat Medal Final for three consecutive years beginning in 1973, and won a second AMHA Gold Medal in the Hunt Seat division in 1974. Ann was also the first Morgan equitation rider to win a top ten ribbon in the National Horse Show Good Hands Final at Madison Square Garden in 1971. She has continued to emphasize the fundamentals of equitation in her training and instruction throughout her career.
Brad's family owned and bred Morgans beginning in the 1950s in Stonington, CT. As a junior exhibitor, he was instructed by Adelaide Connelly, and he began his career working for Jim Borden. He established himself as a trainer with his successful mare UC Eva in harness, under saddle, and in hand. He then fine-tuned his professional skills while working for Mike Goebig as an assistant trainer for three years before he accepted a training position at Bridle Vale in 1976.
This marked the beginning of Ann and Brad's journey together. They married and started their own business in 1977, and have operated it at their current location in Pittstown, NJ since 1984. Together they have taken their clients and horses to the top ranks of competition, such as the Morgan Grand National and UPHA American Royal National Championship horse shows. They received the American Morgan Horse Association Golden Reins Award in 2007 for their decades of world-class training, showing, and promotion of Morgan Horses.
Ally started riding saddle seat under the direction of Mike and Jessie Richardson in 2007, and spent her junior exhibitor career instructing riding camps and working at horse shows every summer. As an equitation rider, she earned two Reserve World Champion titles and a Reserve National Champion title in her age group, as well as two top-ten finishes at the New England Horse Council Medal Finals. Throughout college, she rode at a hunter/jumper barn with The College of New Jersey's riding club, and worked summers and weekends at various saddle seat and hunter/jumper farms. After earning her Bachelor of Arts in English in 2020 and briefly working in the arts non-profit field, she has returned to the horse business to follow her passion alongside Ann and Brad.
Brad's family owned and bred Morgans beginning in the 1950s in Stonington, CT. As a junior exhibitor, he was instructed by Adelaide Connelly, and he began his career working for Jim Borden. He established himself as a trainer with his successful mare UC Eva in harness, under saddle, and in hand. He then fine-tuned his professional skills while working for Mike Goebig as an assistant trainer for three years before he accepted a training position at Bridle Vale in 1976.
This marked the beginning of Ann and Brad's journey together. They married and started their own business in 1977, and have operated it at their current location in Pittstown, NJ since 1984. Together they have taken their clients and horses to the top ranks of competition, such as the Morgan Grand National and UPHA American Royal National Championship horse shows. They received the American Morgan Horse Association Golden Reins Award in 2007 for their decades of world-class training, showing, and promotion of Morgan Horses.
Ally started riding saddle seat under the direction of Mike and Jessie Richardson in 2007, and spent her junior exhibitor career instructing riding camps and working at horse shows every summer. As an equitation rider, she earned two Reserve World Champion titles and a Reserve National Champion title in her age group, as well as two top-ten finishes at the New England Horse Council Medal Finals. Throughout college, she rode at a hunter/jumper barn with The College of New Jersey's riding club, and worked summers and weekends at various saddle seat and hunter/jumper farms. After earning her Bachelor of Arts in English in 2020 and briefly working in the arts non-profit field, she has returned to the horse business to follow her passion alongside Ann and Brad.
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