JUNE 9 • 2022 | 15

people who participate have a 
chance to engage directly with 
horses. They feed them, take care 
of them and learn how to both 
train and ride.
“Horses have such a healing 
component to them,” Robin says. 
“They just embody wellness 
and allow a person who is going 
through any kind of emotional 
trauma or problems to be brought 
to a state of homeostasis.”
With horses helping humans 
since what Schwartz believes was 
ancient times, the longtime rider 
says it was important to her and 
her husband to help facilitate that 
kind of connection. Now, they’re 
building out a staff of therapists 
and volunteers to run the eques-
trian therapy program, which 
will be the core base of the farm’s 
operations.
Once the equestrian ther-
apy program is up and run-
ning, Howard, who is affiliated 
with Chabad Jewish Center of 
Commerce/Walled Lake and The 
Shul in West Bloomfield, plans to 
extend its services to the Metro 
Detroit Jewish community.
He and his wife are committed 

to working with local organiza-
tions like Friendship Circle to 
offer equestrian therapy to kids 
who have special needs, providing 
a safe and fun activity that’s only 
a short 20-minute drive from the 
West Bloomfield area.

BUILDING A 
COMMUNITY HUB
Yet the farm’s offerings don’t stop 
and end with equestrian therapy. 
Howard, who owns a successful 
commercial real estate business, 
wants to transform River Forest 
Farm into a full-scale retreat cen-
ter for people of all ages.
The Schwartzes will be working 
closely with Chabad Jewish Center 
of Commerce/Walled Lake on pro-
gramming, which launched with 
a Lag b’Omer event at the farm on 
May 19. Through other partner-
ships and their own events, they’ll 
also offer car shows, children’s 
game days, animal connection 
activities, pie-eating contests and 
workshops.
“It’s nine miles from West 
Bloomfield,” Howard says of River 
Forest Farm. “You could be at the 
farm and be in West Bloomfield 

in 30 minutes. You can go there, 
come back for lunch and go back 
again. That makes it accessible to a 
lot of people.”
As they continue renovating the 
property, the Schwartzes plan to 
get even more buildings and ame-
nities up and running in the near 
future. Howard is currently in the 
process of renovating the onsite 
apartments, which he wants to 
transform into residential units.
“I’m also planning on building 
three air-conditioned treehouses 
in the woods,” he adds.
Eventually, they’d like to offer 
team-building programs on their 
property that incorporate horses, 
helping business teams connect 
and boost their relationships. At 
the end of the day, however, the 
Schwartzes simply want River 
Forest Farm to be a community 
hub.
“It was a 50-year-old farm,” 
Howard Schwartz says, “and we 
made a lot of capital improve-
ments. We have an equestrian 
poetry workshop scheduled for 
the summer, and we’ll probably do 
an outdoor movie theater for our 
neighborhood this summer.” 

continued from page 12

LEFT: Howard and 
Robin Schwartz.

RIGHT: Leah and 
Bluma Greenberg 
celebrated Lag 
b’Omer at the 
farm.

