Reclaiming old horse farm - dealing with gravel and super compacted soil!

Hi everyone -

My partner and I recently moved onto an old horse farm in Central Appalachia. We will not being keeping horses and hope to transform most of the open land into gardens.
The areas that would be best for growing were also the areas used for riding (level, full sun) -- so, unfortunately, that means the soil is either super compacted or has a lot of gravel mixed in (or both). And underneath that is a good layer of Maryland red clay of varying density. Digging out all the gravel is out of the question (how would we even do this?) so I'm wondering if anyone has advice for amending the soil. Of course raised beds / mounds are an option, but we are also hoping to eventually put in lots of berries and fruit trees.

Thanks everyone!

I try to ignore gravel, do you see gravel in low areas by chance?  Plant daikon radish to open up soil?  Or just try farming on areas with a simple hoe? just to loosen the soil a bit?

There is a tool called a land plane that goes on a tractor.  It is made for bringing the gravel back to the top, mainly for driveway maintenance.  But it will separate the gravel dirt so you can then scoop off the gravel and save it for driveways or building pads or...

Not sure if it is worth the time and money for you, but it is at least partially possible.