Phil & Melissa town

Phil & Melissa share a mutual love for their family, horses, dogs and all things outdoor.

Their Starting Point Farm, established in 2010 in Moreland, GA, is a haven, and a respite from their fast-paced careers and busy lives. The farm now stretches over 500 acres of pasture and timberland, complemented by several creeks and ponds; truly a serene retreat for both its humans and all of its four-legged inhabitants.

Their farm is situated in the hunt territory for the Bear Creek Hounds, with easy access to miles of trails, and a short hack to the kennels. SPF horses become accustomed to seeing Bear Creek members hacking through the trails behind their fields, and are all introduced to the cry of foxhounds at a young age.

while both Phil and Melissa enjoyed eventing in the past, and Phil played polo fairly seriously on his own team, they now spend their time foxhunting with the bear creek hounds where they took over Mastership in 2020.

Phil town has always loved horses. Though he initially spent his time team penning and riding western in WYoming, when he and melissa met, she introduced him to foxhunting. Foxhunting, in turn, led to eventing and Polo. He has played polo all over the world, and enjoyed owning his own team, rule 1. He embraces the family breeding program, and enjoys owning and competing quality sport horses.

Melissa's riding career began as a child, starting at the well known Voght's Riding academy in atlanta, georgia. she was trained in classical dressage, then moved into hunter/jumpers and then into eventing. her love for foxhunting started early; she became a member of the shakerag hounds in atlanta in '74, and has been hunting for more than 45 years. she earned a college scholarship to ride at VA intermont college, and rode professionally for a number of years after she finished school. she now spends much of her time managing her breeding program and evaluating her young horses for their future careers. she is very involved in their training and showing, working closely with the farm's professional rider, Sara Beth anton. Melissa foxhunts at every opportunity she has, and still enjoys competing on occasion.