Cooper’s Run Stables is owned and operated by the Weaver family, who have an extensive background in the equine industry and a passion that creates a friendly and practical environment for riding, training, and caring for sport horses.
John C. B. Weaver, DVM, is from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where he grew up riding with Jill Hassler and Michael Plumb. In 1975, he met Betsy, who was also riding with Jill Hassler at the time. John and Betsy married and moved to Northern California in 1982. During their time there, they had two boys and John attended veterinary school at U.C. Davis. In 1991, they moved back to Lancaster County where John would establish his private veterinary practice and, together, he and Betsy developed a boarding, breeding, and training operation out of their farm in Quarryville, PA. During their first few years back in Pennsylvania, they had their third child, Robyn, who took an early interest in horses that carried into adulthood.
Having two equestrian parents and growing up on a horse farm meant that Robyn was exposed to the complexities of the equine industry from an early age. She rode casually through most of her childhood under the supervision of her mother and a variety of other instructors. At 10 years old, Robyn became fully immersed in the equine industry when she began working for the Houghton family at Sylmar Farm, a large racehorse breeding and training operation. There, her bucket scrubbing and hot walking duties evolved into exercise riding and handling horses at the races by the time she entered her mid-teens. In addition, she developed an interest in young horse training and trained with Roddy Strang and worked for Lesley Feakins at Trevelyan Farm, a sport horse and pony breeding farm in Lancaster PA.
All along, Robyn was casually enjoying riding her own horses at home. She began attending local starter trials and fell in love with the sport of eventing. She then spent several years as a working student for upper-level event rider Molly Kinnamon. During her time with Molly, Robyn competed in her first recognized events and worked her way up to the preliminary level with two beloved warmbloods, further deepening her love for the sport. After her time as a working student came to an end, Robyn remained a boarder and student of Molly’s while simultaneously attending college. While she took time to explore life outside of horses, she always found herself drawn back to riding, competing, and training.
In 2016, Robyn took on part time work again at Trevelyan Farm backing and handling young horses. Her role at Trevelyan progressed until she became head trainer there. While she was at Trevelyan, Robyn was provided with unique opportunities to train and produce young horses, develop her skills as an instructor, and ride with established trainers and clinicians such as Emily Donaldson, Lauren Sammis, Jessica Jo Tate, and Charles de Kunffy. While Robyn’s professional role primarily entailed dressage training during this time, her passion for eventing remained strong and she continued to compete her personal horses in her spare time.
In 2020, the Weaver family had the opportunity to purchase the facility that Molly Kinnamon had been leasing, where they had been boarding horses for the last 10 years. Robyn moved to the farm full time and has been slowly growing her training business alongside the boarding operation. The Weavers are thrilled to be able to continue the facility’s legacy as an ideal place for developing happy horses and riders, and to provide an inviting and professional setting to allow them to train for a variety of disciplines.
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