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By Nadine Abrams
Ever thought about what you could do on your farm to reduce your environmental footprint? Recently, we took a look at Hop Hill Stables, located in the headwaters of the Pefferlaw River on the Oak Ridges Moraine, Uxbridge. This private boarding stable practices many environmental stewardship techniques thus, maintaining a naturally beautiful property while significantly reducing the environmental footprint or hoofprint as we say in the equine business.

Hop Hill Stable is owned and operated by Michael Jewett and his family. Mr. Jewett’s efforts in the protection of the environment and natural habitat are visible throughout the property. From fostering a healthy, diverse forest community, planting the areas along his creek with native vegetation, to innovative building enhancement projects, Hop Hill Stable is an excellent example for stewardship of both the natural and built environments.

His environmental ethic and unique building philosophy has focused on minimizing environmental impact and maximizing the property’s buildings and their overall function. Where possible, the building materials used in each project are salvaged to limit what goes into landfills. “This also reduces the need to purchase new materials from natural resources that would need to be harvested and processed, which further reduces our environmental footprint”, says Jewett.

His vision began with the construction of a hexagon-shaped strawbale horse barn, which currently houses twenty horses. The rafters, stall posts and beams of the building’s structure were salvaged Douglas fir from the Joseph Seagram Distillery buildings in Waterloo. The structural posts and the walls of the adjacent building containing the tack area, as well as, an apartment are made from the barrel racking rails that originally held the whiskey barrels in the same Seagram building. The wainscoting along the passageway from the stable to the arena was also planed from the same wood. The Douglas fir stall planks were made from floor joists from an old Toronto office building, now the site of a new condominium. These were de-nailed and planed on one side to provide a smooth exterior surface for the stalls.

Mr. Jewett, although partial to salvaged wood for its structural integrity and ability to be modified, does not discount other materials when updating his buildings. In 2004, the Thorncrest Mall in Thornhill, Ontario was demolished, and a 7 metre diametre (24 foot) aluminum framed hexagonal skylight got a new life in the Hop Hill stable roof. It was removed from the Thornhill site, pane by pane, transported, hoisted by crane to its final destination and reassembled, providing a brilliant natural source of light to the structure.

Although construction of this stable generally followed Jewett’s original vision and design plans, changes were inevitable during the process. This he says was not always easy for the tradesmen and suppliers. “The skylight for example, was not part of the original design and the roof aperture was a bit smaller than the skylight. When you look at it today, it simply gives the building its unique character, and does not look like an afterthought at all,” he says.