Gary and Pauline Hartogh – Freedom Oaks Horse Retirement Sanctuary

Horses have been a common thread in the lives of Gary and Pauline Hartogh. Gary grew up in South Africa where he was introduced to horses when he developed an interest in fox hunting and later owned race horses. Gary, a proud father of two daughters and grandfather of two granddaughters, passed down his love of horses to one of his daughters who still lives in South Africa with over eighty horses.

Pauline, born in Scotland, began her love affair with horses at the age of 8 when she started riding and has been hooked since then. Pursuing her passion through the years, she blossomed into a high-level show jumper, retiring from the sport at age 30 to focus on her career.

Gary and Pauline met in South Africa on a wildlife safari and haven’t been apart since then, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary this year.  Gary was a successful property developer and builder of commercial and industrial properties as well as residential and leisure communities ranging from custom estates to golf course and marina projects. As an award-winning international interior designer, Pauline specialized in high-end new construction custom interiors and was featured in numerous lifestyle magazines. They combined their talents in development, construction and interior design and led many innovations in luxury living, intimately involved with clients to design, develop and build more than 750 luxury homes.

Thinking about retirement, Pauline dreamed of once more living in the country with horses. They came to Marion County because of the horses, lush rolling countryside and majestic live oak trees. They created Freedom Oaks Horse Retirement Sanctuary on their farm in NW Marion County.  The farm offers premiere horse retirement for discerning sport horse owners and is devoted solely to retirement care.  All efforts are made to keep the horses comfortable, healthy and content with daily loving care.

While it was an unexpected turn from the quiet retirement they envisioned, it was one filled with so much joy and love that they recently purchased another farm three times larger. This will allow them to create well-planned custom horse retirement facilities to house their growing horse family. As horse farm owners, they appreciated the mission of Horse Farms Forever to preserve the magnificent horse country of Marion County. They became Founders to lend their support to an important initiative focused on the conservation of horse farms and farmland in Marion county.