Azgard Farms was founded out of the old Blue Ridge Stables & Riding Academy back in the 1930's in San Antonio, Texas. During the 1920's it was called and located at the Brackenridge Stables & Polo grounds. In an effort to establish a riding academy, Bruce and Irene Brewer, their daughter Bev and Irene's mother Iva purchased some land on the north side of San Antonio and built their own place, The Blue Ridge Riding Stables. Blue Ridge Stables & Riding Academy, was a home away from home for hundreds of kids. Mrs. Brewer and Bev taught 250-300 students a week on over 63 school horses. Bev met and married R.V. (Bob) Mobley, after a few years the operation had out grown the facility. So, Bev and R.V. (fondly known as) moved across the highway and started R.V. Mobley Stables it was the Show Horse Barn where riding students, if interested and ready, trained and showed after learning the basics at Blue Ridge. The Mobleys trained and showed all over the Southwest and throughout Kentucky winning multiple title Championships.
The Mobleys had a daughter, Tina, that grew up in and around the horse show world and large animal clinics. Tina spent much of her childhood traveling to shows, grooming and preparing client's horses (working and warming them up) to enter the show ring, as well as showing Saddlebred and Arabians herself.
Early in 1983, Mobley Stables was combined with Blue Ridge Stables due to Bev still recovering from a broken hip and Irene's failing health, it had just became very difficult to run both facilities simultaneously. Tina and her husband Ron Gary later added their own facet to the legacy, a Saddlebred breeding program, standing their own stallions. Ron and Tina were cofounders of the Texas American Saddlebred Small Breeders Association, since dissolved after meeting its goal of uniting the Texas Saddlebred horse community through networking, lobbying, and education. Tina produced the 1st in the world American Saddlebred Dressage Suitability classes held the SASHA Horse Show until the show was closed. In 1995 Tina was asked by the American Saddlebred Horse Association to do a presentation at the annual American Saddlebred Horse Breed Convention in Lexington, on marketing young Saddlebred horses, to horse enthusiasts from all over the world. Azgard Farm was putting its mark on the industry, Bev and Tina's lesson program two riding instructors and specializing in training Saddlebred, Arabians, Morgans, Andalusians, as well as rehabilitating draft horses off the farm for use as personal pleasure mounts or driving horses. However, Tina's highest acclaim came from being one of a handful of training facilities that not only show ready-to-go stock, start or finish out theirs or someone else's young stock, but take someone else's screw up that had been from trainer to trainer, take the time to fix it and go win with it all.
January 1996 brought training and showing to a screeching halt for Tina, who was rear ended in a car accident and left disabled.
1998 brought changes of direction for the farm. Tina started back to work teaching a few hours a week but due to not being able to ride much, made the decision to no longer train publicly. Ron and Tina were approached by the Heidi Search Center (San Antonio based missing persons agency) to form a Mounted Search and Rescue Team. Since that time the Gary's have put most of their Saddlebred show and lesson string horses through Mounted Police School, where all the horses and their riders graduated at the top of their class. Here are just a few things the Azgard Farm horses have participated in; T.V. commercials, product ads, such as Ron and A Mac's Admiration (aka Max) for a McClellen Saddle made in Africa as well as Parade of Breeds, Dressage demonstrations, Rodeo Queen Contestants borrowing a horse to ride in competitions, parades at which they received Honorable Mention, and general have a good time trail rides.
1999 was spent rebuilding the business along with still many hours of physical therapy for Tina.
Years 2000 and 2001, Bev died suddenly June 4th, Ron's mother Flora Gary passed from Cancer on December 15th and R.V. expired after a long battle with Cancer on January 5th.
Azgard Farms narrowed its focus and applied their expertise to their lesson program, including therapeutic riding for the handicapped in conjunction with Special Olympics as well as continuing their breeding program. So, 2001 brought this family full circle, back to being a riding academy with a few extras. Tina has been in the throws of writing a book about teaching and how students learn. She has always been innovative and one to conform to her students rather than demanding her students to fit in a pre-cast mold. The beginning of her book bears a statement of her belief, that a good instructor should strive to become great; and to realize that being a great TEACHER means passion, respect and develop insight into each one of your students, find a small piece of them in yourself, compare them only to themselves, feel rather than see, support, spark, inspire, to create magic for them.
WARNING
UNDER TEXAS LAW (CHAPTER 87, CIVIL PRACTICE AND REMEDIES CODE), AN EQUINE PROFESSIONAL IS NOT LIABLE FOR AN INJURY TO OR THE DEATH OF A PARTICIPANT IN EQUINE ACTIVITIES RESULTING FROM THE INHERENT RISKS OF EQUINE ACTIVITIES.