“A good man will take care of his horses and dogs, not only while they are young, but also when they are old and past service.”
– Plutarch
After Jerry Brody’s death in 2001, Marlene was not only feeling the emotional stress of losing the love of her life, she was also facing a real dilemma. She knew she wanted to keep the farm and continue breeding Thoroughbreds, but would she be able to? She had to learn the restaurant and farm operations from a business perspective, as well as the various financial and real estate investments. It was a difficult time, full of hard business and personnel decisions. Fortunately, for all of us, she turned out to be a very astute businesswoman who determined she would be able to continue raising her beautiful horses at Gallagher’s Stud.
Mrs. Brody’s love of the land began as a child on the tea estate her “Papa” managed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), a British Colony at the time. Her love of horses was also developed there where she and her Arabian horse Rajah spent countless hours exploring the estate.
That love of the land led her to place the entire 520 acres of Gallagher’s Stud under Conservation Easement with the Columbia Land Conservancy in 2007. Doing so ensures that the land will forever remain open, free from development and, hopefully, in agriculture.
Similarly, her love of Earth has led to the installation of solar energy producing systems on many of our barns and residences to help reduce our carbon footprint. We utilize our grass fed cattle to naturally reduce our equine internal parasites by rotating them through the horse pastures. Gallagher’s Stud horses are raised as naturally as we can with horses remaining outside as much as possible, even in the cold winter months, and utilizing techniques such as integrated pest management to control flies.
Mrs. Brody’s responsibility to her horses, and love for these magnificent creatures, has always gone far beyond their value as a mere commodity or financial asset. Several of our horses enjoy retirement at Gallagher’s Stud, from graded stakes winners/producers to those who never set a hoof on the track.
Gallagher’s Stud also has a special field devoted to mares who have passed away, with a memorial sculpture of mares and foals created for the farm by artist Liza Todd Tivey.