Where It All Began

My love for horses started when I was just a little girl. I got my first pony at the age of six—a fiery sorrel Shetland named Lady. She had quite the attitude, but I loved her. As I grew older, I transitioned to riding full-size horses at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center, just a mile from our neighborhood. From my game room window, I watched them build what would become one of my favorite places in the world.

Most of my childhood was spent riding with my English instructor and my beloved 16-hand bay Thoroughbred, Sammy. But in the late 1980s, the oil crisis hit my family hard. We lost our home, and I was forced to let go of the horse world I loved so much.

At 13, I packed away that part of my life—or so I thought.

 

A New Chapter

In 1998, I became a mom to a determined and spirited little girl named Bridget. I tried to keep horses out of our lives, knowing I couldn’t afford to reenter that world. But when she was just three, she found a toy horse and fell completely in love.

She would spend hours playing with horses and watching them on TV. One day, I looked up the schedule at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center and saw there was a miniature horse show that weekend. I had never heard of such a thing, but we decided to go. That day changed our lives.