A Brief History of Walnridge Farm
The name “Walnridge” is derived from the Waln family. The 
Walns were English
Quakers who arrived at Philadelphia in 1682 with William Penn.
In 1774 Richard Waln acquired land in Upper Freehold Township and
erected a house and a mill. This holding became known as Walnford or Waln’s
Mill. It is presently owned an operated by the Monmouth County Park System.
In 1830 Nicholas Waln purchased a farm near Hornerstown for his son Richard. This farm was to become Walnridge. Elizabeth Waln married John Meirs in 1861 thus establishing the connection between Walnridge and the Meirs family. John Meirs was the great-grandson of the first David Meirs who we know was farming in Upper Freehold Township before, during, and after the American Revolution. The children now at the farm are therefore the seventh generation of this family to be at Walnridge.
Dr. David A. Meirs, II inherited Walnridge from his aunts Lucretia, Elizabeth and Mary Ann in 1952 while he was a student at the Veterinary School of the University of Pennsylvania. At the time Walnridge was a struggling dairy operation. After graduation Dr. Meirs was associated with a mixed veterinary practice in Freehold while trying unsuccessfully to resurrect the farm. Ultimately, the cows were sold and the land rented to other farmers. In 1965 Dr. Meirs established Walnridge Equine Clinic and with the advent of the New Jersey Sire Stakes program in 1972, decided to attempt breeding Standardbred horses as well. The first stallion to stand at Walnridge was PEERSWICK, a horse imported from New Zealand and acquired through Stanley Dancer. He had distinguished himself by being the first horse to pace a mile in two minutes in New Jersey.
In 1974, Dr. Meirs son, David III, returned to Walnridge after attending Delaware Valley College. In 1982 his second son, Richard, graduated from the Veterinary School at the University of Pennsylvania and became an associate of Walnridge Equine Clinic. Today Richard is the General Manager of Walnridge Farm, Inc. the Director of Walnridge
Equine Clinic P.C.
Through the combined efforts of the Meirs family, Walnridge is now recognized throughout the Standardbred world as a pre-eminent breeding farm and an excellent veterinary facility. The farm presently stands Yankee Glide, Art Official, Four Starzzz Shark, Real Desire, Western Terror, and Glidemaster at its satellite location in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Each breeding season Walnridge cares primarily for Standardbred mares, foals and yearlings, as well as some Thoroughbred, Quarterhorse and Warmblood mares and foals.
In 1989 the Meirs family decided to participate in New Jersey’s Farmland Preservation Program and sold the development rights to Walnridge. This action insures that these 300 beautiful historic acres of Monmouth County will remain a part of agriculture forever.