Elizabeth (Betty) Alford grew up in Brookline, MA and attended college in Vermont, where she met her future husband, William (Bill) E. Mattison Sr. After college, they married and moved to Concord, MA to start a dairy farm in 1932. They chose Ayrshire cows as their breed, and along with a few chickens and a few sheep, Arrowhead Ayrshires was in business.

Betty had a daily egg route where she sold and delivered fresh eggs to friends and neighbors while Bill tended the farm. Arrowhead Farms steadily grew in breadth and size. At any one time, a visitor to the farm could meet calves, heifers and bulls to support the herd of 200 registered milking cows, any one of the herd of Hereford beef cattle, plus a brood of pheasants, bevy of quail, pigs with their piglets, the oxen team, the work horses, the farm dogs and cats or the pair of puddle ducks (named Pete and Repeat). Their barns, out buildings and grazing fields grew to encompass over 200 acres.

In the meantime, Bill and Betty were growing their own flock – first Jack, then Brad, then Polly, then Roger, Rikki and a few years later, Martha. Martha (Mattison) Curran took over the caretaking of the farm in 1982 after her mother passed away. Martha leased the farm to a horse trainer for several years, while she focused on raising her own family. Elizabeth (Lizzie) Alford was born in 1988 and Hannah Mattison was born in 1990.

It wasn’t until 1997 when Martha took over the day to day operations of running the farm. She managed a full-scale renovation of the farm including the removal of defunct buildings and silos, replacing all building roofs, building sidings, heating systems, electrical systems, re-seeding and re-fencing all the paddocks and fields, expanded the outdoor riding ring and replaced all driveways and landscaping. Upon completion of this massive renovation in 1998, Martha invited in boarders from all disciplines ,including dressage riders, eventers and hunter/jumpers, as well as starting a lesson program. Further renovations in 2005 included the construction of the 200 x 80 indoor riding ring, two heated indoor wash stalls and one outdoor wash stall and the creation of ten additional individual turnout paddocks.

In early 2006, Martha invited one of Hannah’s trainers, Kristen Bumpus to train and ride at Arrowhead Farms. Kristen is one of the top Hunter/Jumper/Equitation trainers and pro riders on the East coast. Martha and Kristen quickly filled the 25-stall barn with competitive Hunter/Jumper/Equitation riders and horses at all levels.

Currently, Lizzie Curran is attending Bennington College in VT as a Fine Arts major in her Senior year. Hannah Curran has paused her riding career to attend the University of Colorado, Boulder, as a Sophomore (though she misses her horses, Randy and Mr. T every single day!) Jingles the cat governs the farm in their absence, while Puffy and Timmy, the indoor cats, keep their beds warm in between holidays and school breaks.

We thank you for taking a minute to learn about our history, and getting a glimpse of our show barn community here at Arrowhead Farms. Welcome to our website and we hope you can see how we strive to keep our horses healthy and happy, and our clients learning, riding safely and having fun!