The Thomason Bowie Foundation
Bowie Branch Saddle Club is proud to call the arena owned by the Thomason Bowie Foundation our home. The Thomason Bowie Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting agriculture and helping preserve its importance for generations to come. We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to use and enjoy this property and to help carry that mission forward through our club.
The property offers a variety of facilities and amenities that make it a special place for riders, families, and the community. There are approximately ten miles of trails to explore, along with an arena complete with an announcer’s stand for events and competitions. The trails and arena are free for the public to use at any time, providing a welcoming place for riders to enjoy their horses and practice. The property also features an event building, as well as 11 camping sites with water and power hookups, making it a great place to spend the weekend with family, friends, and horses. Throughout the property, you can also find antique farm equipment, serving as a reminder of the area’s agricultural heritage and the importance of preserving that history for future generations.
This property is more than just a riding area—it is a community asset, and we all have a responsibility to take care of it. We ask every member, rider, and visitor to please leave the property in as good as, or better than, the condition in which you found it. That means picking up after yourself, taking care of the grounds and facilities, and treating the property with the respect it deserves.
The Bowie Branch Saddle club, along with many other dedicated volunteers, have donated countless hours of their time helping clean up, improve, repair, and maintain the property so that it can be enjoyed by our club and the community. We are proud of the work that has gone into making this a place where people can gather, enjoy their horses, and create lasting memories.
Please help us protect what others have worked so hard to build. With everyone’s help, we can keep this property beautiful, functional, and available for generations of riders, families, and agriculture enthusiasts to come.
More detailed information Can be found at www.bowiefarm.org
Marie Thomason Bowie
Mrs. Marie Thomason Bowie, a local benefactor and heir to the 800 acre Bowie farm in Iva, SC, made a decision in the mid-1990’s to leave her property for public use, outdoor education, conservation and recreational purposes.
She formed the Thomason Bowie Foundation to administer the property and later placed the farm in a land trust with Upper Savannah Land Trust. She constructed 2 picnic pavilions, walking and horseback riding trails, a lighted rodeo arena, a fellowship barn, and an old farm museum to support her plan. In 2005 she donated 34 acres on Parker Bowie Rd. to the Iva Recreation Association for an athletic complex.
The Iva Rec. group and Anderson County have completed phase 1 of this complex with 4 ball fields and parking facilities. In early 2007, a small group of local retired farmers gathered to discuss working with Mrs. Bowie and the Thomason Bowie Foundation to help utilize her property to help preserve the history, farming methods, and family life of our ancestors.
A 501c3 non-profit corporation called the Bowie Old Farm Reunion, Inc. was formed for this mission.