Cardinal Mill Farm was founded in 1997 less than a year after JoAnn and Lewis Hood Jr bought their daughter Nora a pony, Little Mr. JoAnn also decided to buy a horse herself, an Egyptian Arabian named AlaFaradd. The family then opened their barn to borders, and Nora started Pony Club. In the years since, JoAnn and Nora have cared for the borded horses and taught English pleasure, dressage, and show jumping. The farm is 71.5 acres and has two houses (the owner's and a tenant house), stables with an indoor arena and 14 12x12 box stalls, a bank barn with 8 10x10 stalls and 3 large hay lofts, a 200 ft by 100 ft outdoor arena with jumps and dressage letters, and miles of trails. The farm is surrounded by other farms where our borders have permission to ride as well, so the farm is very quiet. There are turn-out pastures ranging in size from 2 acres to 5.5 acres. The outdoor arena is fenced in so there are no worries for young or beginner riders. The indoor arena is set between the two halves of the stables so no rider has to brave a long walk in the weather to enter it. There is a locked tack-room and a lounge, so there is plenty of storage space for anything a horse might need. There are also two large hay fields on the property that the owners produce and harvest themselves. The fields yield more than enough hay for the number of horses on the farm. The bank barn was built in 1819 along with the tenant house, both of which have been renovated with modernity. There is a private bathroom at the tenant house for clients to use; it has a single exterior door. JoAnn earned a CDL for hauling and picks up a few hours of shuttle driving on Sundays at McDaniel College. She drove a school bus for three years before returning full-time to her love of farm and horses. She still has AlaFaradd, now 27, and teaches lessons with him. Nora earned a Bachelor's from Hollins University, a college with a fantastic riding program, where she worked in the barn and helped set-up for intercollegiate horse shows. She also graduated an adept C-2 earlier this year from Green Spring Hounds Pony Club. She just missed earning her C-3 due to a jumping injury to her dear mare, Annie B. She continues to volunteer with the club to set up for its annual Tetrathlon rally. She has had her pony Little Mr. Ed, also 27, since she was 5 and teaches lessons with him and her two other horses, her Polish Arab Cody and her Thoroughbred-cross Annie B.
