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Owner/Manager/Riding Instructor
"Where I've been and where I'm going..."
Hi! I'm glad you're here! I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself, my qualifications and my experience.
GROWING UP
(Below is me on Abbigale; my first
public outing
in the fall of 1975.)
In
Connecticut, at the age of eight, I began horseback riding. My initial
instruction was through Pony Club where I gained a solid foundation in hunt
seat, Dressage, Show Jumping, elementary cross-country, drill team riding and,
of course, horse management. With my friends and horses, I also got exposure to
mock hunts and hunter paces. I competed whenever I had the opportunity and always
did well in the horse management & knowledge areas.
When my mother had to sell my horses when I was 14 and 15, I worked at a (then) Quarter Horse Farm where I earned the chance to further my riding and my general knowledge about showing, caring for and breeding horses. (Please visit the website of 5C's Farm .) I also was a member of a 4H club for a short while.
COLLEGE
(Below is a borrowed horse, "Colonel",
and me
upon winning a Pre-Novice Test in 1989.)
I
attended Gulf Coast Community College and Florida State University/Panama City
Campus. I graduated in 1989 with a BA in Communication.
During these years I did as much riding as I could manage--always finding some horse which needed exercising and occasionally competing in local shows.
POST COLLEGE
(...it was built from the ground-up)
After
graduating from FSU, I bought 4.6 acres and began building Smiling W Stable
from the ground up. In the beginning, I had plans to sell tack, breed quarter
horses, and to show. Eventually, these plans changed and evolved into teaching
horseback riding and boarding; which I must confess I enjoy much more!
(Spice was born here on March 22,
1994 as PC'ers eagerly awaited.)
In
1993, myself and a number of other families organized to form the Panama City
Pony Club. For six years I wore many hats for the PCPC, serving as the District
Commissioner, instructor, and regional rally coach. The PCPC'ers periodically
had difficulties competing at regional rallies as their experience over true
cross-country courses and the like were limited due to the nature of the horse
industry here in the Panahandle of Florida. But, our little
"backwoods" club rarely failed to earn the Overall Horse Management
awards at such competitions.
As time went by, the requirements to continue the Panama City Pony Club became too much for the club to bear. Expenses and travel requirements became insurmountable. So, in 1999, the Bayou George 4-H club emerged from the remains of the PCPC.
But, as luck would have it, difficulties have arisen with the 4H club. (The new county 4-H manager has made it virtually impossible for us to continue as a 4-H club). The new name of our club at Smiling W Stable is the "Drill Team & Saddle Club" which is open to anyone and everyone. Annual dues are very affordable. We still compete in the Hunter Divisions at local shows, as we did as a Pony Club/4-H. I still teach safe and solid horse management skills and enable members access to a horse for completing advancement-levels (4-H) or Standards of Proficiency (USPC) requirements and for shows, trails, mounted games, etc.
The nicest part about the SWSDT&SC is that it is so much more diverse than Pony Club or even 4-H. Hunt Seat, Dressage, Western Pleasure, trail riding, speed events and mounted games are all acceptable topics to be addressed & worked through. I admit that I am excited to be getting ready to make public demonstrations through our Drill Team!
THE FUTURE
With time, all things change. The truth is that my horses and I have outgrown the 4.6 acres known as Smiling w Stable. While we manage well enough here, for us to expand our horizons we really need more space.
This area has grown such that we cannot leave out and do a one-hour trail ride; the neighborhood has grown so. These nearly 5 acres are all-consumed with riding and turn-out areas; we have very limited space for guests to park horse trailers or for us to tackle cross-country fences.
Yet, to find a truly suitable location means getting much farther out-of-town. Many of my current riders would find it difficult to make the trip to be with us if they had a longer drive.
So, the future of Smiling W is up in the air. But for right now, we're rooted...so 'come on and ride with us today!!