Published: July 01, 2008 01:09 am            

NEWFANE: Horse trainer sfinds a new beginning

NEWFANE — A business owner has found a new start after a late-winter storm buckled the roof of a horse barn nearly four months ago.

On March 9, Tom Pinkowski, owner of Tom Pinkowski Horse Boarding and Training Center, woke up to a phone call informing him the roof of his barn on Coomer Road had collapsed.

Pinkowski said the winter wind and the load of snow caused the front wall of the barn to cave in.

Inside, 24 horses were spooked but unhurt. They were moved to different boarding facilities, while Pinkowski dealt with the loss of the barn. He put an ad in the paper looking for a horse training facility.

It took a couple months, but he eventually found an existing barn to move into, on the corner of Irish and Chestnut roads.

Now, business is “finally picking up,” he said.

“We had an open house, and we kind of got the word out officially,” he said. “(We want to) try and get back where we were.”

The new barn has a smaller arena than the old one, but he said the pastures are much better than the old ones.

“They’re more level and dry,” Pinkowski said.

The business provides boarding and training for horses throughout Western New York. Pinkowski said he will be holding some training clinics this year, as well as lessons in riding and general care of horses.

“It feels good,” he said. “I can kind of relax a little bit now that the horses have a place that they can live, and the boarders and the trainers have a place they can comfortably be at.”

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.

        

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