THE MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL Farm Stewardship Committee
Spotlight on Obligation Farm’s Conservation Efforts By Katherine O. Rizzo with photos from Emily Wilson
Obligation Farm in Anne Arundel County has been owned and oper- ated by three generations of the Wilson family. It was first purchased by Dr. Emily Wilson in the 1940s. “My grandmother had to do a lot of renovations as the property is very old,” current owner Emily Wilson stated. “Tere is even a historic house on the property that dates back to the 1740s.” Wilson was named after her grandmother and has continued her grandmother’s efforts to keep the farm both functional and beautiful. “I grew up on the farm with everything from pigs to cows to even
peacocks,” she added. But when it came time for her to get her first pony, she boarded it nearby as there were no horse facilities on the property at the time. “We then decided to renovate one of the cow barns into an eight stall barn and I moved my pony home,” Wilson said. She took on a few boarders to fill the rest of the barn and the farm started to make the switch from other livestock to horses. “Te business is Obligation Farm but it runs across two properties,” Wil-
son explained. Obligation Farm is the original property and consists of 220 acres. Etowah Farm is adjacent to Obligation and was owned by Wilson’s cousins. Both properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and in the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Program. “Etowah is 95 acres and we started to expand into that property for
more pastures and another barn.” Te current business is a boarding and training business with Deana Tice running her En-tice-ment Stables’ lesson, camp and showing business from the property too. “One of the things that is so great about this farm is that you don’t only
have 300 acres to ride on, but we back up to lots of trails between various horse properties so people can trail ride for miles. I used to get lost as a kid!” Wilson said with a laugh. “It is a great community of horse people here.” In order to preserve the natural beauty of the farm, Wilson has gone
above and beyond with many conservation efforts. “I’m kind of big on this,” she said, adding that education is also the key to conservation suc- cess. “I really try to teach our clients to respect the farm and the nature around them. I want them to enter the farm drive and take a breath, relax and just enjoy the beauty around them.” All fields at Obligation Farm have automatic waterers that are placed in
areas with footing that can withstand heavy use. “Tis way when the horses are gathering at the water like they tend to do, they aren’t creating muddy
areas in the pastures.” Wilson explained that the waterers they use fill two gallons at a time, so the horses constantly have fresh cool water (and warm if needed in the winter). “It also makes things way easier to clean and main- tain as you aren’t dumping huge gallons of water when cleaning,” she added. “We also overseed our pastures and compost the manure on the farm as our manure management plan,” Wilson said. Obligation also uses LED lights and has solar panels on the indoor roof that power the whole farm. “We also created berms in some of the more hilly pastures to help with water flow during storms,” she said. Wilson is always looking ahead and actively works with the Anne
Arundel Soil Conservation District and Maryland Department of Ag- riculture to continue the farm’s conservation projects. “We are currently working on fencing out water areas, including streams and ponds, while also increasing buffer areas,” she explained. Wilson also plants native species to attract native wildlife and support bee hives. “We also have a wood duck box up at the pond and two others between the two farms,” she added. Tere are also blue bird and bat boxes around the farm. “And we are looking into a better storm water management project for
around the barn areas,” Wilson added. Tese systems will include purpose- ful drainage and berms to catch water. “We are just always looking ahead!”
www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580
From left: One of the historic houses at Obligation Farm, solar panels on the indoor, concrete manure holding area, automatic waterer and gravel area, stormwater drain. THE EQUIERY YOUR MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION | OCTOBER 2023 | 51
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