Where it all began..

So just a little more information on me and my horse experience: I’m in my 40’s and have been riding since I could basically climb up on a horse myself – which according to my dad was about the age of 3. My dad is an old time “cowboy” in the sense that he loved horses and the cowboy life, but was stuck running an office in Burbank, California. We’ve always had a couple of horses in our backyard, mostly mutts – one actually from a circus that would sit down on his haunches if you tried to ride him. My favorite horse in the beginning was Ringo, a black Quarter Horse type that was basically ridden by everyone in our family (a family of 7 kids – poor horse). We also had a buckskin grade named - wait for it, wait for it…..Buck. Not a whole lot of imagination back in the ‘70’s. Ringo ended up dying from a colic impaction and that led to the purchase of an off the track race horse named Blue who seemed to hate everyone but me. After Blue was my first pony – Toby. I ended up with a shattered nose riding Toby one day as a 9 year old. We were trotting along on a paved road down from my house (not the smartest thing to do, but I was a knucklehead kid) and as we turned a corner, Toby slipped out from under me, I ended up going first, hitting the ground with my face and smashing my nose right down to the ground – SPLAT! I gave all the neighbor kids nightmares for years after they got a look at me, LOL. Toby and I were just never the same after that and he went on to a new home. My next horse was the horse that would change everything for me. My dad took me to a horse trader (THE thing to do in the 70’s) and in this big corral, like a shining beacon, I found my next horse – Comanche! Comanche was approximately 7 years old and a palomino overo pinto. He was the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen and couldn’t believe when my dad bought him for me (and him – as he ended up using him as a mounted posse & parade horse). Comanche and I did everything together, including launching my show career. With the help of some local trainers that I would ride to, I eventually started showing Comanche at local shows, becoming good enough to show at the famed Del Mar show in Del Mar, California. Comanche stayed with us until his death at the age of 25. What an awesome horse he was. From that time on, I’ve trained and ridden some really nice horses that took me far in the open and breed circuit. I finished Top Ten at the APHA World Championship in Novice Hunter under Saddle (HUS) with one gelding I trained in ’96. I showed another gelding at the ApHC WC in 2001 – we came in 11th in Novice Western Pleasure.

My horses have gone on to successful show careers with their new owners, mainly because I could not afford to show them to that level. Now here I am with my latest prospect and I truly want to train and show him to a World Championship level myself. And just so there are no misunderstandings, I do all my own training, but I also get help here and there from wonderful trainers who allow me to haul in or ask questions at horse shows. I really appreciate all their help. I also have the support from my wonderful husband – first by buying Art with me when we were just dating – to putting up with me being horse show crazy. He has his own horse, an American Quarter Horse mare named Ginger, but this is his first foray into the horse show world. God help him…..