Hoofs and History Run Through the Hills at North Oaks Stable

“I really have a slice of heaven out here”, Ron Resch says while giving a tour of his working stables located in the midst of the green, rolling hills of Grant. “We’re winding down but I’ve had such a blessed life along with a wonderful wife.”

The 73 year-old has been around horses since since he was a child growing up in St. Paul. And when it comes to local history, he's a  remarkable resource.

When hearing , one immediately thinks about the community 15 miles to the west. In fact, that is exactly where Resch got the name from.

“Starting in 1962, I worked at—and eventually ended up running—the stables operation out there until it closed in 1982,” he explains while giving a history lesson about North Oaks being the summer refuge for famous St. Paul railroad magnate James J. Hill. “They allowed me to use the name when I opened up my own stables.”

Over the years, Resch had a close working relationship with Hill’s grandson Louis and has provided riding lessons to three generations of Hills.

“I’ll make it four when the youngest (age three) of the family is a couple years older and we get her on a horse.” he added, beamingly.  

Resch also beams when he points out a poster-sized picture of his wife Debbie on horseback, making a precarious jump over a deep crevasse in the Badlands of South Dakota. The two met at the original North Oaks stables in the early 1970s, where she was taking lessons and he was the manager.

They’ve had horses in common ever since.

“He’s an amazing resource of information and expertise to the community and worked with the Chamber on numerous horse-related issues,” Debbie Resch said. “We had quite the time together taking guests on our Champagne Carriage rides to the Gasthaus restaurant and other notable points of interest throughout Stillwater. Now we’re enjoying more time with our own horses, though Ron is still getting lots of phone calls.”

There's quite a collection of horse-related items Resch has secured about his property. Among them, one of James J. Hill's horse-drawn sleighs that was used to move people and materials from the St. Paul mansion to his North Oaks property.

“Remember one thing,” Resch says, “I have a farm and some out-buildings and I don’t like to throw things away. I have hay-ride wagons and other horse-drawn vehicles and I’m getting things together to have a sale in the future.”

Make no mistake, Resch has no intentions of selling his stables, but he would like to see to it that much of what he’s accumulated gets into the right hands; a place where it can be appreciated, and some of it, treasured.

Dick Kiesner has been friends with Resch since they were both 16. They met for the first time at the Minnesota State Fair, and of course, they had horses in common then and they still do now.

“Ron has had such a varied background in horses and has been instrumental in starting up and growing a number of organizations here in Minnesota,” said Kiesner, who like Ron, did rodeo, played polo and rode saddlebreds. “He’s a fun guy who gets things done by doing them. He was a good all-around athlete and if you weren’t an athlete (on a horse) you were just a passenger.”

Both men stay in close contact and continue to share the same birth date and birth year.

Resch relates a story about taking a then, little-known actor who managed to get away from filming, for a trail ride. A bit into the ride as the young man was taken in by the sights and sounds of the Gateway Trail, he reached into his pocket and brought out what was still an uncommon item.

With a cell phone in hand, the young actor called his girlfriend and extolled the beauty and peace he found on horseback with Resch.

“It’s been kinda fun watching him climb the ladder over the last 15 years,” said Resch, asking that the impressive list of celebrities he has entertained remain off the record. 

The who’s-who list of celebrities, sports stars and politicians aside, Resch and North Oaks Stable have helped many regular folk climb the ladder up onto saddles and into life.

With his horses and his history, Resch has blazed a trail for many to

enjoy—and learn from—for many years to come.