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The Farm
WildeWood Farm, Inc. is a small, privately owned, and operated farm nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains an hour north of Atlanta between Alpharetta, Cumming, Canton, Ballground, and Dawsonville. The original farm was owned by Andrew Jackson Lummus, the First, in 1850. It was primarily used for agriculture and boasted 600 acres. The original home on the property was built around 1850 by Andrew and Charity Lummus and was added onto as time went on (the last part in the 1950's). The old corn crib/barn, in front of our house, was built before the old home place. The "smoke" house was used by the family for slaughtering hogs as late as the 1960's. The well house was torn down due to safety problems in the early 1990's. The house was partially renovated in 1993 and completed 1998. In 2003, we took over the house, furnished it, and converted it into a bunkhouse for interns, visitors, and campers.
The Owner
Hannah Campbell Zapletal was born and raised in Haiti where her parents (Ben and Gloria Loyer - a Canadian couple) were missionaries for over 23 years. Hannah is the oldest of 4 children - Carmen, Lisa, and Tim. We were A-typical missionaries in the since that Dad wasn't a pastor; his background was heavy machinery and construction. One of the many projects in Haiti, was to re-introduce the "horse and buggy" concept. Everything is done by hand and wares are carried on animals or by the people themselves
It sounded like an easy project, but turned into a huge endeavor. The biggest hurdle was teaching the Haitian horses (Barb type, under 14 hands, 500 lbs, tough-as-nail, beasts that live on whatever they can forage in desert like conditions) to pull a buggy. All Haitian animals are picked (tied) all their lives and are moved from place to place each day in search of forage, but only as far as their ropes would permit. When hitched, they'd pull to the end of their traces and stop - knowing they couldn't pull. So, a new idea was born. Let's breed the Haitian horses to a little larger horse for more pulling strength - carefully balancing horse size against very little water and feed available. A QH stallion was donated to the President of Haiti and we ended up with him. A herd of 9 mares were purchased and the breeding program was born. We raised over 50 foals on our ranch in northwest Haiti.
As the "new", 14.2 hand, 700 lbs horses turned into 3 and 4 year olds, a wonderful Canadian trainer Dave Polson started coming to Haiti each winter and trained the horses for the buggy and for riding. Hannah being fluent in Creole (language of Haiti) and an avid apprentice, helped with all the training (age 7 when the training phase started). After many years, Dave stopped coming and Hannah (with the Haitians) started all the horses.
Hannah grew up training and breeding horses, doing vet work (no vets and farriers), managing the herds, and moving the herds to different pastures as well as checking for injuries. She even rode her horse Dream, to school all the way thru high school.
In 1993, the Loyer family left Haiti to return to Canada for furlough. Hannah was invited to attend Reinhardt College in Waleska, GA. After a starting school, Hannah met and married Bobby the following summer.
Hannah married in 1994, and the little log cabin was built. At the time, the entire property was heavily wooded with thick briars as underbrush. After a year, Blitz, my Arabian stallion, was purchased and the farm saga began. Trees were cut down and the land was slowly cleared to make pasture.
Each subsequent year, more progress was made as more trees were cut down and the land opened up. When the barn was to be built, Ben (Hannah's dad) and family came and helped grade off and put of the frame for a 3 stall run-in shed. The next 3 Christmases were used adding onto the barn as people wanted to board with us. The barn was built with very little money and a whole lot of sweat. You'll never see another one like it! Ben would cut the trees down and cut them to length. Then Hannah and Blitz would come dressed in a Western saddle and lariat and skid the logs to the building site. From there, Hannah's family would peel and treat the wood before it was put up into the uprights and rafters.
Hannah graduated Cum Laude with a B.S. in Biology from Reinhardt College in 1999. The farm was in full swing by this time teaching lessons, hosting summer camps, and training horses.
In 1999 Hannah began teaching at the very elite Woodward Academy and had around 65 students a week. The horses and equipment were trailered down there 3 days a week during the school year. Hannah also took her first trip to Monty Roberts' farm in California.
In 2000, Hannah received her Monty Roberts's certification after spending about 3 months out there over the course of a year.
2003 was partially spent on a month-long tour with Monty all over the southeast.
2004 was an exciting year. We've added to the amenities of the farm including: lights in the arena, a hot/cold wash rack, an outer perimeter fence, a walkway down to the arena, expanded the arena by 3,600 sq. ft., bleachers for the parents, a drink machine, expanded the gravel parking area, as well as planted many shade trees, shrubs, and decorative plants.
2008 brought a big change into my life with a divorce and the birth of Gabriel - born at home Sept. 29th. He is my constant source of joy.
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2011 the farm continues to grow and expand with the addition of different lesson formats and styles. .
2012 Welcomes Petr Zapletal. Hannah and Petr married in April. Petr is a master carpenter and works as a subcontractor and handyman. You can visit his page here on the "Clever Pair of Hand's" page on this site. He and my Dad also built the 10' x 20' enclosed parent viewing area - complete with heating and air..
August 1,2013 welcomes baby Sebastian.
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