**4/5/14 UPDATE! This is so close to happening! The purchase offer is accepted and the bank is reviewing our application - and they are looking at this site to see what kind of community support we are getting!  We have only a few days left in this campaign. Every little bit is helping to prove to the bank that City View is worth saving and growing. Thank you to everyone who has made a donation, both here and offline.**

Please, help me rebuild and grow my business after a summer filled with heart break that left me fighting to keep the barn doors open. If you are unable to contribute financially - please take a few moments to spread this page to your friends and family. Thank you in advance for your time and support.

Let Me Start Off by Introducing Myself…

My name is Mary Honora McCormack. I have been horse crazy since the day I was born. I am also a determined and headstrong entrepreneur. On paper, I am the sole owner of City View Equestrian, LLC located near Scottsville, NY – but in reality, my business wouldn't be here without all the people who surround and support me and City View Equestrian, including my family and friends, students and their families.

I am a graduate of Our Lady of Mercy High School – an all-girls school that pushed me to be the strong business woman I am today and continue to grow into. My work ethic was "given" to me by my loving parents. They continue to remind me to never give up and have helped me make the “impossible” dreams I had as a starry eyed teenager become a reality.  I am surrounded by friends, family, professors, co-workers, and other people who keep reminding me to never take “no” as an answer.

I’d like to take a few minutes of your time to tell you a little bit about the past, present and future of my growing business.

   

                                           

                    Newspaper article featured in the business section - 18 years old

My Goal:

My goal is to purchase my own horse farm so that I can grow and expand City View Equestrian into a vibrant facility where I can give young students the opportunity to learn and grow personally and to experience the joy of riding and working with horses that I have been fortunate enough to have. 

This is the goal that I have had and have been working hard toward since first starting City View Equestrian three years ago on my family's property. But on June 6, 2013, something happened that put the entire future of City View Equestrian at risk. It also made it very clear that without the proper facilities, I would not be able to grow CVE into the kind of business that I dreamed of and would not be able to offer the services to students and the community that I hoped to.

“Who Are You?”:

Good question.

City View Equestrian is a small horse stable located just south of Rochester, NY. Our current facilities include a small 3 stall horse barn, a decent amount of pastured acreage, a few large run-ins sheds and one outdoor riding arena.  The barn has a tiny tack room, a crowded aisle way that can only fit one horse at a time and a narrow attachment that allows us to store a week’s worth of grain and hay. 

Because we do not have an indoor riding arena – we are at the mercy of the weather. Lessons are cancelled when the weather is too cold, too hot, too windy, too rainy, too – you get the point. This results in many lessons having to be canceled, simply because we don’t have a roof over our heads!

Because of the size of our barn and lack of an indoor riding arena I cannot expand CVE into the business that I know it can be. Moving to a larger barn with an indoor arena would keep us from being at the mercy of the weather and allow me to offer some additional services. For example:

• Equine therapy for Wounded Warriors
  
• Girl Scout and Boy Scout badge trips
• Therapy Riding for the Disabled
• Affordable Horse Shows for local competitors
• And much more!

City View Equestrian has outgrown what we started with – and I could really use some help to take the next step.

                                                    Current riding arena

Why I Need Your Help:

“If you've been so successful – why do you need help?”

After 2 successful years of business, I had begun to make plans to expand. I had just started my last semester at Monroe Community College and hoped to be able to make an expansion happen shortly after graduating with my Business Administration degree. However, all of my plans - college and business - came to an emotional halt on June 6, 2013 after finding two of my beloved horses seriously injured.

Lacey, a young mare that was one of our child friendly lesson horses and adored by our students for her unique markings (and one blue eye) was found in a run-in shed unable to stand on her own. After an hour of crying and coaxing her to stand up, she finally trusted me enough to lean on me and struggle to her feet. Her back leg was broken in two places. The vets were not optimistic about her future.

Tizz, my first rescue horse that I saved and babied back to health - was found with a laceration on her back leg that was so clean and deep that it looked as if someone had sliced her open with a knife. The wound went all the way down to her tendon and had severed the tendon sheath. She was leaking joint fluid. The vets were even less optimistic about Tizz's future.

Both injuries were serious and both required immediate emergency surgery. I recognize that some people may have chosen to just put them both down, or perhaps picked just one to save. And I definitely had to wrestle with the expense of the decision I was being faced with. Some have called me foolish (and worse) for making a "non-business" decision. But City View Equestrian is not just a business. This is a place where young riders come to experience a dream - and Tizz and Lacey were a big part of that dream for those kids. How do you explain to a 12-year old horse-crazy girl that her facorite horse was killed because she broke jer leg, or got a bad cut? No, euthanizing either one of these horses was not an option. So, what had started out looking like it was going to be a beautiful summer day at the barn turned into an emotional roller coaster.

After our local veterinarian stabilized the girls for transport, we loaded them into the trailer and left for Cornell University's large animal hospital. The entire 3 hour trip to Cornell, I drove in silence, wondering if I had made the right decision. Upon reaching the clinic, I was greeted by a team of vets ready to start working on my horses immediately. It wasn't until one of the vets separated herself from the group, walked up to me and without saying a word wrapped her arms around me - that I began to cry uncontrollably. I don't know if she knows just how much that gesture meant to me. 

                         

                                   Tizz Post surgery - feeling very tired and weak

The next 24 hours  flew by in a blur. There were lots of medical terms being flung around, X-rays being taken left and right and multiple surgeries happening. It was an emotional whirlwind and only got worse when Lacey fell in recovery and broke another one of her legs. (The Cornell vets had warned me that post surgery would still be a dangerous time for the horses as they tried to stand as the anesthesia wore off.) The staff and vets were all kind and caring. They understood what a big commitment I had made by choosing to bring both horses for surgery, and they knew just how much work and expense was still ahead. They explained what was happening during each procedure, what to expect when we went home, and they were always willing to answer my questions as I struggled to care for Tizz and Lacey's wounds over the next several months. One week post surgery, we loaded the girls on the trailer for the trip back home - their futures still uncertain.

When we arrived home, we were greeted with open arms by the community. A local tack shop donated wrapping supplies. Past and present lesson students stopped by with bandages and treats. A local competitor even showed up at our door with cash in hand to go towards anything that we might need. 

The recovery time was long and heart breaking. Both horses' bandages had to be changed every two days. Each animal had to remain quarantined from their herds and spent 6 months straight locked in stalls. Tizz's leg had an open wound so she was always at risk of infection. Lacey was forced to wear a cast on her front leg and a hard bandage on her back leg which meant she was always uncomfortable, especially in the summer heat. Over the course of their entire recovery time - we were still unsure of their futures.

                           

                                             Tizz's stitches coming out

                       

  Lacey enjoying the sunshine after getting her cast changed and signed by her fans

                     

     Left picture: Before stitches were removed. Right picture: 9 weeks post surgery

Good News!

At the end of January we took the girls to the vet for a followup exam. Lacey's legs have healed properly, and although she will never jump again, she will be able to be ridden and have a long healthy life. Tizz's tendon is nearly 100% healed. Both horses will now require lots of therapy to rebuild their muscles. After 8 months of constant worry, everyone is finally able to breathe a sigh of relief!

So why am I HERE asking for YOUR support?

Right now City View Equestrian is experiencing something of a "Catch 22". CVE is a small business in its start-up years. Even after a hardship discount from Cornell and a small grant from the veterinary students, the enormous expense of the surgeries and subsequent care has used up all of my resources - college, business, and personal savings - and left CVE with debt. To pay off the debt, I need to be able to give more lessons. But the injuries took two of my horses out of the lesson program. In addition, this really cold winter has meant that there have been very few days that I can give lessons, which has reduced income even more. Of course, the expenses have not been reduced, because the horses still have to be cared for whether there are lessons or not. I work another job and put all of my income into the business, but it hasn't been enough. I have done as much as I can with what I have on my family's property, and there isn't enough room to expand here. If I could purchase a farm with a larger barn and an indoor arena, I wouldn't be at the mercy of the weather, riding lessons could continue year round, and I could pay off the debt from the surgeries and grow the business. I have a business plan. I am back in college and will finish my degree this semester. I know that I am capable, and I have demonstrated that I am a hard worker. But to buy a farm requires a large down payment and right now what I need is the extra help to get me over that hurdle.  That's the power of crowd funding - many small contributions can help make big dreams come true. Thank you for your support!

                                                 

                               

                       Tizz and Lacey enjoying their newly regained freedom!

If you'd like to know the whole story of how City View Equestrian got started, how we got to where we are now, and hear from a few of the people we've inspired over the years - please feel free to click on the link below! 

                                              Rebuilding CVE - The Whole Story

                  

                         Lacey enjoying herself after having her cast removed