Left to right: Randy Foster, President Rotary Club of Highlands and Sue Blair, Rotarian, speaker and founder, Carpe Diem Farms.
Members of the Rotary Club of Highlands recently learned how Sue Blair, their own Rotarian colleague, has nurtured thousands of people and horses through her work as founder of Carpe Diem Farms in Highlands.
Blair rode her first horse in Florida when she was three years old. When she turned eight, her dad gave her a horse she named “High Hopes”. Later, she learned the horse’s registered name was “Highlands Lady.”
Both names were auspicious, because Blair would eventually live in Highlands year-round and there she’d achieve her highest hopes. In Highlands, she settled on 48 acres of mountain majesty, surrounded by the Nantahala National Forest, at the headwaters of Buck Creek and Stewart Cove Branch, and a tiered waterfall named Angel’s Fall.
Blair recognized the potential of the setting for life enrichment, forming a 501(C)3 foundation in order to share it with others. Her dreams motivated the transformation of the land into a gorgeous property she named Carpe Diem Farms, a wellness and learning retreat center. Since 1997, when the Farm welcomed its first visitors, more than 5,000 men, women, and children have visited, learned, and healed in the presence of horses in the abundance of nature.
Healing isn’t limited to humans at Carpe Diem Farms. In 2013, after 12 years of dedicated work to heal some of her own horses suffering from laminitis, Blair received the first patent for “Easy’s Slipper”. The glue-on composite horse slippers provide 220% more shock absorption and shock vibration dissipation than steel or aluminum horseshoes. Hoof and lameness issues can evolve into serious conditions, causing death or euthanasia. Today, Blair’s company, Advanced Equine Comfort, holds 18 patents around the globe and still manufactures Easy’s Slippers at the Farm.
24 horses have lived blessed lives on the Farm. Those that have trotted over the rainbow bridge are buried in St. Francis Cemetery at Carpe Diem. Current equine residents include a Morgan, a Percheron, a thoroughbred, a 34-year-old miniature horse named Pumpkin, and the newest arrival: a 4-year-old Shire named Journey. This giant youngster stands 18 hands tall and weighs approximately 2,500 pounds! Shires are ancestors of Clydesdales and are the largest breed on the planet. They are now on the endangered species list with only 1500 remaining worldwide.
To learn more about Carpe Diem Farms, located eight miles outside of Highlands, please visit in person (contact first: blair.carpediem@mail.com or 828/526-2854) or visit virtually at https://carpediemfarmsnc.org
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