Cory Walkey Still Riding High After Selling Mill Creek Equestrian Center

By SIERRA DAVIS | Pali Life Editor

Photos by RICH SCHMITT | Staff Photographer

ory Walkey had tried, unsuccessfully, to sell Mill Creek Equestrian Center twice before. The last time she got so far as signing the papers before she broke down in tears, unable to part with the riding school she founded in 1973.

“We agreed on a price, we did all the paperwork, we sat down, they handed me a pen and I burst into tears,” said Walkey, seated on the patio outside the property’s main office. “I couldn’t do it and I wasn’t sure I ever could.”

Looking at Walkey, six feet tall with broad shoulders and a personable but firm presence, it is hard to imagine her in such an emotional state. It appears she is still mother hen – and in a way, she is – but the longtime Palisadian hasn’t been the property owner since early this year when she finally sold it to “Mr. Kim,” a Korean real estate investor in his 80s.

“When he told me that he didn’t want to change the place – he wanted it to the stay the same – and he wanted me to keep running it, we sold it on a handshake,” Walkey said, adding that she was subsequently made a higher offer by another buyer but wasn’t willing to go back on her word.

“That’s just how I was raised.”

ALL IN THE FAMILY 

Growing up in a one-story ranch house in Rivas Canyon, Walkey was first exposed to horseback riding when her mother took her for pony rides in Beverly Hills. She spent her childhood riding her horse on the trails of Will Rogers State Historic Park and Rustic Canyon and by the time she attended Palisades High School, the young horsewoman was caring for two of her own horses and boarding 12 others.

“My mother says my first word was ‘horse’ and not ‘mommy’ and it was very upsetting to her,” Walkey laughed. “I don’t think I ever thought about wanting to work with horses, I just did it. I always had a sense – I knew what I wanted to do.”

Clear vision fueled by great passion led Walkey to announce to her principal and her mother that her plans left her no time for high school – and she left.

“My mother said I had to do something, I couldn’t just hang around. So I went to Ireland where I trained and competed for a year,” she said.

Walkey’s approach to running the riding school at Mill Creek has been heavily based on her European training, namely teaching three-day eventing, an Olympic sport often termed the “equestrian triathlon.” Developed from the test of the ideal military charger, the three phases are dressage, endurance (or cross-country) and show jumping.

“It’s the ultimate test of horse and rider — most people think it’s insane,” Walkey said, driving past one of the property’s four arenas in her golf cart where Mette Rosencrantz, a Mill Creek instructor since 1992, teaches dressage.

Like Rosencrantz, a number of the Mill Creek employees have spent decades by Walkey’s side. Walking the expansive property, her Rottweiler “2Z” at her feet, she gestures to Carlos and Romeo who have worked at the stables for 35 and 20 years, respectively. Two young riders approach Walkey, one on horseback. Sarah and Sadie, now in their early 20s, started taking lessons from Walkey as early as 6 years old. Today, they are part of the staff that runs the equestrian center. Walkey stops the golf cart, taking a moment to thank the girls for their dedication and investment in a place she cares for so deeply. It’s a moving exchange for all involved.

“I love teaching kids. I forget how old I am around the kids and now, I get emotional seeing them grow up and start to take over. It means a lot to see them start to run things,” Walkey said. “This is my family. Everyone here is family.”

A BIT OF EDEN

A Palisadian-Post article from June 28, 1973, written just after a 27-year-old Walkey had transformed the former egg and walnut farm into a premier riding school, described the 38-acre property on Old Topanga Road as a “bit of Eden.” Less than a year after Walkey opened her training stables, more than 100 students and 60 horses filled her training stables set in the shadow of Fossil Ridge’s rocky outcroppings, shrouded by sycamore trees.

Secluded and quiet but full of life, the stables now board 50 horses involved in the training programs and 35 others reserved for lessons and shows. While Walkey has plans to slow down, it appears the riding school has no similar plans.

Young riders are lining up for evening and weekend classes and longtime equestrians continue to ride at Mill Creek under new ownership. Walkey also remains involved with a program called Horses in the Hood, which introduces inner-city children to the discipline of horseback riding by pairing them with other young riders at the school. Starting in 2002, children in the program were bused to Mill Creek for five days of lessons culminating in a riding demonstration and pizza party.

“It’s been very interesting for our kids who have everything that they could possibly wish for to spend a week with these kids,” Walkey said. “They’re great kids but they’ve had tough lives. I think it’s good for all of them all the way around. It’s good for us too.”

Sitting outside her office, wearing a sweatshirt from Natasha Animal Sanctuary, dogs still at her feet, Walkey is introspective, remembering more than 40 years spent at Mill Creek. She laughs, imagining the many more years she envisions sticking around.

“It doesn’t get any better than this – I was able to sell the place I love to someone who knows how special it is and wants it to stay just how it is. And so do I,” she said. “I’ve worked my entire life to support this place and now it’s going to support me, even if I haven’t figured out what that will look like yet.”

So far, it looks pretty much the same as before she sold it – a little slower, a little quieter – but still right at home.