Dr. Don “Doc” Mossbarger inherited the family’s small farm in Bloomingburg after a train killed his father in 1965. During that time, Doc started his one-man veterinary business as a large animal practitioner. “When a family starts its own business, there are lots of challenges,” Doc’s son, John Mossbarger said. “When my father started his single-man veterinary practice, it was a struggle for the
first few years. And my mother thought he was a workaholic, but he took care of his practice.”
Doc’s practice survived on traveling from farm to farm giving cholera vaccinations to hogs. Since the time they were around 6 years old, John and Jay Mossbarger can remember restraining hogs while their father administered the cholera vaccine. “On Saturdays, that’s what we did; we held hogs,” Jay said. During that time, their father taught them not only how to hold hogs, but how to run a business, with values like good service, honor and integrity. “He taught us that rich and poor come and go, but our integrity remains with us forever,” Jay said. That was the year cholera was eradicated, and the vaccinations, which the Mossbarger family relied on for a steady income, were discontinued. “And with Dad, he just couldn’t start charging his customers more for the rest of the services he offered. He just couldn’t do it in good conscience,” John said. The family knew it had to diversify in order to keep the farm. It was around that time that one of Doc’s customers suggested he start breeding horses. So, in order to keep his farm and ethics intact, Doc Mossbarger began breeding Standardbred horses, and the Mossbarger family business became Midland Acres. Dr. Robert Schwartz joined the team in 1971. Because he grew up near Lebanon Raceway, Schwartz brought extensive knowledge of the harness racing industry to the farm. “If it weren’t for Bob, we wouldn’t have had one of our first premier stallions,” John Mossbarger said. By the mid-1990s, the Midland Acres hard work had paid off. They had acquired more than 500 acres and were breeding around 700 horses a year, becoming one of Ohio’s largest horse farms. When you call or visit the office, you will be greeted by Tracy Foy or Tara Degenkolb. Tracy joined the team in 1996 and is in the office on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Tara joined us in 2015 and is in the office on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
