I
have loved horses as long as I can remember. My parents could never figure out
why. My mom used to tell me it must be because they lived right next to a race
track in New Jersey when I was born. I didn't know why I loved horses, I just
knew I did. My earliest recollection of horses was when I was about 3 and lived
in Fort Morgan, Colorado. There was a large pasture in front of our house and
just down the street there was a corral with horses in it. I used pet the horses
noses though the fence. From that time on I just always loved horses. Like
most horse crazy girls, I came from a family of NON-Horsey parents. I always
wondered why girls who love horses the most come from parents who like horses
the least! So instead of getting to ride my own horse I spent my every waking
hour dreaming of having my own horse. Of course I would always beg to go on
the pony rides at the fair, ride a horse at grandma's, even ride the mechanical
horse at K-Mart.
But it was never enough. There was only one thing on my birthday and Christmas
list each year, a HORSE!! I drew pictures of horses, I read books on horses,
I had posters of horses, I would gallop around like a horse, I even trained
my dog Woof to jump like a horse! Of course I would BEG to have my own horse
CONSTANTLY! Anything to do with horses made me happy. Besides coming from a
family of non-horse people, my dreams of having a horse of my own were made
more difficult because we almost always lived in one of those nice subdivisions
with sidewalks and flowers but no horses. The only horses around were at a local
boarding stable where I would hang out for hours just petting the horses and
hoping that someone would offer me a ride.
When
I was in the fourth grade I learned about girl scouts. I wasn't all that interested
at first but then I found out that they had a camp with HORSES! Wow a whole
week with horses, I joined right away! Then I found out you had to sell Girl
Scout cookies in order to get to go to camp. Well,for a shy little girl door-to-door
sales was about the worst thing in the world I could ever think of doing. But
I just had to get to the horse camp, so off I went door-to-door selling cookies.
That first year in 1983 I sold a couple of hundred boxes, not enough cookies
to get to go to camp. Everyone else in my troop got to go to camp but me, I
was devastated. All I wanted was to get to
go ride horses. I was determined to find out some way to sell enough boxes of
cookies to get to go to horse camp.
The next year I was so determined to go to camp that I sold just over 500 boxes,
enough to get to go to camp! It was a turning point in my life. I learned that
I could accomplish anything if I put my mind to it, this was a life changing
trait that stayed with me. Treefoil Ranch Girl Scout Camp was a wonderful place
for a little horse crazy little girl. Of course they had lots of regular camping
activities that were fun, but riding horses everyday was defiantly the best
part. When I came back from camp that first year I was more horse crazy than
ever! I started making plans for the next year.
I guess my selling skills had improved, or I was more determined than ever,
because I sold over 800 boxes of cookies in 1985! Enough to go to the ten day
camp at Treefoil Ranch. At that camp we got to go on a three day pack trip.
Wow, was that a fun experience! The best part was that on the pack trip there
weren't any other activities just horses, horses, horses. It was like having
my own horse. My riding skills had improved immensely. That year at the end
of the week there was a Showdeo, (a combination of a horse show and a rodeo)
I won second place in western pleasure. This award gave me the honor of being
selected as a member of the coveted mounted flag patrol for the final day flag
ceremony. I got to ride a white horse and I wished it would last forever, but
camp was over for the year. In
1986 I sold 500 boxes of cookies again and decided to go to the English riding
camp that year. It was my first experience with riding English and I loved it.
I even learned to jump!
Although I loved camp it wasn't enough, I still
dreamed of having my own horse. The only problem was that my parents were not
willing to pay for the upkeep on a horse. I would have to pay for everything
on my own. I started a paper route to try and save money for a horse. I would
scan the weekly classified ads in the newspaper hoping to find a horse I could
afford. One day I came across an ad for a horse pasture only 3 miles from my
house for only $25 a month. Wow, I made at least $30 a month delivering papers.
I could afford to board and feed my own horse! I was so excited I couldn't stand
it! I quickly told my parents who were less than excited.
I must have touched my dad's heart because he finally agreed to get me a horse!
In the summer of 1986 when I was 13 years old my life changed forever. After
ten long years of yearning for a horse I finally got one! Unbeknownst to my
mom, my dad had contacted one of his clients in a small town in Beaver Utah
and found me a 20 year old horse that he purchased for me for $50. We were heading
down to visit my grandparents in Kanab and while the family was asleep we stopped
and picked up my new horse. My mom was less than excited with his new purchase.
I was in heaven. His name was Champ, he was a perfect first horse.
I look back now and wondered how he and I ever survived! I would ride my bike
every day, down several busy roads, to get to the pasture. I didn't have a saddle
or even a bridle, I would just tie a couple of ropes to each side of the halter
and try and figure out someway to get on bareback. This riding system lasted
for quite sometime, until one day when we were at the other end of the 300 acre
pasture. Something scared Champ and he ran away with me on his back. I might
have been okay, but he ran right through a large group of Russian olive trees
that have 3 inch long thorns! I tried to stop him, but my halter just wasn't
enough to make him stop. I stayed on but was covered with cuts and scrapes.
The next day my mom, yes my mom, took me to the tack store to buy a bridle with
a bit. We never had a run away again. Since I only had one horse and no friends
with horses I just had to make do and ride alone or ride double with one of
my friends. I would often ride him along the road to my house and put him in
the backyard for the day. I wished that he could stay but he had to go back
to the pasture by night. I would braid his hair, brush him and just lie in the
grass and look at him. It was heaven; I thought he was the greatest horse in
the world.
After a while I wanted to learn to ride better so I found a nearby stable that
offered English riding lessons. Since I didn't have much money and my parents
weren't willing to pay for lessons I was able to work at the barn cleaning tack
and grooming horses to pay for the weekly lessons. There I learned how to ride
properly and how to jump. I've never forgotten the basics I learned there. Plus
I learned to work even harder to pay for my dreams. I only had Champ for a little
over a year, then he coliced badly and I had to make the hardest decision of
my life. Champ had to be put to sleep. I thought I would never want another
horse again. I was wrong. After
a few months I couldn't stand it anymore, I needed another horse in my life.
Back to Beaver we went, my dad bought me another horse from his friend. This
time it was a 10 year old sorrel quarter horse gelding for $250. I named him
Sterling. He had been used in 4-H before, but his prior owner had just used
him for hunting. We were able to purchase him at such a bargain price because
he had a slight leg problem and would get sore if I worked him too hard.
He was a lot more horse than 20 year old Champ. By this time I had moved on
from the paper route and was working at a local fast food restaurant, I thought
I was really making money now. Instead of the pasture, this time I had found
an actual barn closer to my house.
It was here that my horsey life changed again. At the barn I met Deej, she got
me into 4-H, a fabulous program for young riders. Soon after I joined they held
the 4-H royalty queen contest.Deej had herself once been the queen and she convinced
my to try out. I still didn't own a saddle or any show clothes, and I didn't
really even know what a queen did, but I went ahead and tried out. Deej lent
me her equipment and even hauled my horse to the contest. I didn't win but it
was a great experience. Later that spring Deej again hauled my horse and lent
me her equipment so that I could enter my first real horse show. My first class
was western pleasure, there were over 25 entries in the class and I won 2nd
place! I was defiantly addicted to horse shows now!
I continued to work nearly full time at the fast food restaurant and I eventually
bought my very first saddle, a black show saddle with silver!
I continued to work hard and when I was 16 I defied the odds again when I bought
my first horse trailer. It was an open homemade trailer that I bought with my
own money for $350.Since I had a trailer I needed a truck, so I bought one of
those from my grandpa (he pretty much gave it to me). Now I was set! I had a
good horse, a saddle, a truck and trailer. All of which I had worked hard to
get for myself. I was 16, so of course I knew everything too!
I loved to show and I would go to as many open shows as I could along with the
4-H shows. I got better at riding and was named to the county riding team and
competed at the state competition. I even won Reserve Champion in English riding
at the County Fair. I tried out for the Salt Lake County 4-H royalty queen two
more times and on my third try I won! I was fun to do all the parades and get
to represent the County.
Along the way I started to train horses, my first one was named Dandy. She was
a two year old, but was so small she looked more like a yearling. I didn't know
really anything about training, but I figured it out by reading books and watching
others. I have continued to perfect this skill for all my horse training. Later
I also trained a couple of other horses for people at the barn. At the County
Fair that year I won the Grand Champion 2 handed training class with one of
the horses I had trained.
Soon I wanted to improve my western riding skills so I went to find a riding
instructor. The instructor I found was Margaret she was an Arabian trainer and
broker. I started taking lessons and learned everything I could from her.
I still didn't have much money so I again traded my labor in the barn for lessons.
My main duty was to ride the 15 or so Arabian horses that were stabled there.
It was a great learning experience to ride lots of different horses. Eventually
she had taught me all she knew, but still wanted me to come and work horses
for her, so she offered to trade a horse to me for coming to work for her. He
was a 2 year old Arabian named KC High Estimate.
I began to train High Estimate when he was a two year old, but he was too much
horse for me. So instead I just ponied him off of my quarter horse Sterling
all that winter. I credit this time to making High Estimate such a good horse.
High Estimate learned not to be afraid of things because Sterling wasn't afraid
of anything. When Estimate was 3 years old, and I was a senior in high school
I started to train him again. This time we were both ready and I got him trained.
That year I was so proud when at the County Fair he won Reserve Champion in
bareback riding, against many more experienced horses!
In 1991 I went off to college, and of course I took my horses with me.
I was lucky to meet the next person who altered my horse career forever. Kathy,
was a horse trainer in the town where I went to school. I was able to meet her
and to board my horses there at her house. We became great friends and would
spend hours and hours riding and perfecting our skills in every event from western
pleasure to barrels to endurance racing. When the school year was over I stayed
at her house during the summer. We rode horses all day and went to horse shows
or endurance races on the weekends. It was probably one of the best summers
of my life. High Estimate had improved so much that he was the high point 4-H
horse in the county that year. I also showed him in an open show circuit and
he won high point two handed green horse and reserve high point in poles.
Plus he won best condition at two separate endurance races. All of this and
he was only four!
Since High Estimate was doing so well showing I really didn't need Sterling
anymore, I had lent him to Kathy's daughter to learn with and when she outgrew
him he became a pasture ornament. I just couldn't part with him since he was
the one who taught me to show. That was until…
One day Deej called and said her friend Mickey,
who owned miniature horses, needed to sell a couple of horses to pay some bills.
I had been over to see the miniatures once before and had fallen in love with
them. I had always wanted a miniature horse, a black stallion (just like the
books of course) but I really wasn't in the position to buy one. When Deej called
she told me Mickey had a BLACK weanling STALLION for sale! I had to go see.
I knew I had to have him as soon as I saw him. I quickly made the deal with
Mickey, went home and sold my Sterling to pay for my first miniature horse.
I named him A-R Samsons Midnyte Joyryde. The name Midnyte Joyryde came from
the fact that in college we were always up way past midnight and we liked to
joyride in the cars around town. I had seen a Ryder truck and like the idea
of having the y's in his name. Later his name was the inspiration for the name
of my training center Midnyte Mountain Miniature Training Center.
When Nyte was a yearling I went to my first miniature horse show where Nyte
won reserve champion. I loved showing miniatures so much that I gave up showing
big horses and have continued showing mini's ever since. At the county fair
that year Mickey let me drive her one of her horses. WOW what fun! I loved it
right from the start. Now I really knew what fun you could have with minis!
I wanted to teach Nyte to drive but he was only a yearling. Mickey
was getting on in years so she let me drive her other horses and even let me
show her roadster horse Shilo. That was the start of an extremely long list
of driving horses I was to show. Several years later when Nyte became a driving
horse, and after many, many championships, Nyte became the first stallion in
Utah to receive his driving Hall of Fame award. We did so well in the show ring
that I was approached by Darrel Dalton. He wanted to know if I would train his
horses to drive. That was the beginning of my professional career. I trained
horses for Darrel Dalton for several years, one of those horses was a horse
named Happylands Topper. Darrel had been trying to sell him for quite some time
with no success so he sent him to me to be trained to drive.
I had him for just a few weeks when I realized the great potential this little
horse had. I decided to buy him for myself. I trained him to drive that winter
and at his very first show that spring he won ALL the driving classes including
Grand Champion Pleasure Driving! I was so excited, I knew that Topper was going
to be great! It was such a complement to me when Darrel told me he wished he
would have never sold him! Topper also went on to become the first A size stallion
in Utah to achieve his Hall of Fame in both Halter and Driving.
Topper changed everything for me, he became my main show horse
and the herd sire to all of my champion horses. Topper was the horse that fulfilled
one of my greatest lifelong dreams, to win a National Championship. Topper not
only won National Champion, but in later years he won several Reserve National
championships and sired a National Champion and several Reserve National Champions.
Another
great moment was when Topper's get was named Reserve National Champion Get of
Sire at the 2002 Nationals. That was such a compliment for my breeding program.
Topper was also the FIRST stallion in the Western United States to be awarded
the Superior Sire Hall of Fame award. With all of the success I achieved in
the show ring I began to be asked to give lessons and train other horses. Although
I continued to work at my full time day job, I began to train and teach lessons
in the evenings and on weekends. I trained lots of horses and they won many
championships, but my favorite thing was to teach and coach other people to
fulfill their dreams in the show ring. My unique approach was to have my students
learn how to train and show their own horses instead of me doing it for them.
My students excelled using this approach and won over 24 National Championships
including National Grand Champion Open Pleasure and Reserve National Grand Halter,
21 Reserve National Championships, Hundreds of National Top Tens, 3 Time National
High Point All Around Youth, 2 Time Reserve National
High Point All Around Youth, National High Point single horse youth combination. National AMHR Horse of the Year and dozens of Hall of Fame awards
and countless local honors. Their success has been a great honor to me and I
hope they continue to succeed!
I now have my judging license and I am enjoying that new phase of my horse career.
I was very honored to be chosen to judge the 2003 AMHR National Stallion Auction
Futurity.
I look back at where the horse world has taken me and at all of the close friendships
that have blossomed because of our involvement with our wonderful horses. I
know that I would be an entirely different person had I not had the opportunity
to be involved with the world of horses. Although life is constantly changing
and bringing with it new challenges and obstacles, I hope to continue to grow
friendships and to produce many future champions.
I
have loved horses as long as I can remember. My parents could never figure out
why. My mom used to tell me it must be because they lived right next to a race
track in New Jersey when I was born. I didn't know why I loved horses, I just
knew I did. My earliest recollection of horses was when I was about 3 and lived
in Fort Morgan, Colorado. There was a large pasture in front of our house and
just down the street there was a corral with horses in it. I used pet the horses
noses though the fence. From that time on I just always loved horses. 
Like
most horse crazy girls, I came from a family of NON-Horsey parents. I always
wondered why girls who love horses the most come from parents who like horses
the least! So instead of getting to ride my own horse I spent my every waking
hour dreaming of having my own horse. Of course I would always beg to go on
the pony rides at the fair, ride a horse at grandma's, even ride the mechanical
horse at 
K-Mart.
But it was never enough. There was only one thing on my birthday and Christmas
list each year, a HORSE!! I drew pictures of horses, I read books on horses,
I had posters of horses, I would gallop around like a horse, I even trained
my dog Woof to jump like a horse! Of course I would BEG to have my own horse
CONSTANTLY! Anything to do with horses made me happy. Besides coming from a
family of non-horse people, my dreams of having a horse of my own were made
more difficult because we almost always lived in one of those nice subdivisions
with sidewalks and flowers but no horses. The only horses around were at a local
boarding stable where I would hang out for hours just petting the horses and
hoping that someone would offer me a ride. 
When
I was in the fourth grade I learned about girl scouts. I wasn't all that interested
at first but then I found out that they had a camp with HORSES! Wow a whole
week with horses, I joined right away! Then I found out you had to sell Girl
Scout cookies in order to get to go to camp. Well,for a shy little girl door-to-door
sales was about the worst thing in the world I could ever think of doing. But
I just had to get to the horse camp, so off I went door-to-door selling cookies.
That first year in 1983 I sold a couple of hundred boxes, not enough cookies
to get to go to camp. Everyone else in my troop got to go to camp but me, I
was devastated. All I wanted was to get 
to
go ride horses. I was determined to find out some way to sell enough boxes of
cookies to get to go to horse camp. 
In
1986 I sold 500 boxes of cookies again and decided to go to the English riding
camp that year. It was my first experience with riding English and I loved it.
I even learned to jump! 
After
a few months I couldn't stand it anymore, I needed another horse in my life.
Back to Beaver we went, my dad bought me another horse from his friend. This
time it was a 10 year old sorrel quarter horse gelding for $250. I named him
Sterling. He had been used in 4-H before, but his prior owner had just used
him for hunting. We were able to purchase him at such a bargain price because
he had a slight leg problem and would get sore if I worked him too hard. 
It was here that my horsey life changed again. At the barn I met Deej, she got
me into 4-H, a fabulous program for young riders. Soon after I joined they held
the 4-H royalty queen contest.Deej had herself once been the queen and she convinced
my to try out. I still didn't own a saddle or any show clothes, and I didn't
really even know what a queen did, but I went ahead and tried out. Deej lent
me her equipment and even hauled my horse to the contest. I didn't win but it
was a great experience. Later that spring Deej again hauled my horse and lent
me her equipment so that I could enter my first real horse show. My first class
was western pleasure, there were over 25 entries in the class and I won 2nd
place! I was defiantly addicted to horse shows now! 
I continued to work hard and when I was 16 I defied the odds again when I bought
my first horse trailer. It was an open homemade trailer that I bought with my
own money for $350.Since I had a trailer I needed a truck, so I bought one of
those from my grandpa (he pretty much gave it to me). Now I was set! I had a
good horse, a saddle, a truck and trailer. All of which I had worked hard to
get for myself. I was 16, so of course I knew everything too! 
I still didn't have much money so I again traded my labor in the barn for lessons.
My main duty was to ride the 15 or so Arabian horses that were stabled there.
It was a great learning experience to ride lots of different horses. Eventually
she had taught me all she knew, but still wanted me to come and work horses
for her, so she offered to trade a horse to me for coming to work for her. He
was a 2 year old Arabian named KC High Estimate. 
High Estimate learned not to be afraid of things because Sterling wasn't afraid
of anything. When Estimate was 3 years old, and I was a senior in high school
I started to train him again. This time we were both ready and I got him trained.
That year I was so proud when at the County Fair he won Reserve Champion in
bareback riding, against many more experienced horses! 
I was lucky to meet the next person who altered my horse career forever. Kathy,
was a horse trainer in the town where I went to school. I was able to meet her
and to board my horses there at her house. We became great friends and would
spend hours and hours riding and perfecting our skills in every event from western
pleasure to barrels to endurance racing. When the school year was over I stayed
at her house during the summer. We rode horses all day and went to horse shows
or endurance races on the weekends. It was probably one of the best summers
of my life. High Estimate had improved so much that he was the high point 4-H
horse in the county that year. I also showed him in an open show circuit and
he won high point two handed green horse and reserve high point in poles.
Plus he won best condition at two separate endurance races. All of this and
he was only four! 
I knew I had to have him as soon as I saw him. I quickly made the deal with
Mickey, went home and sold my Sterling to pay for my first miniature horse.
I named him A-R Samsons Midnyte Joyryde. The name Midnyte Joyryde came from
the fact that in college we were always up way past midnight and we liked to
joyride in the cars around town. I had seen a Ryder truck and like the idea
of having the y's in his name. Later his name was the inspiration for the name
of my training center Midnyte Mountain Miniature Training Center.
Mickey
was getting on in years so she let me drive her other horses and even let me
show her roadster horse Shilo. That was the start of an extremely long list
of driving horses I was to show. Several years later when Nyte became a driving
horse, and after many, many championships, Nyte became the first stallion in
Utah to receive his driving Hall of Fame award. We did so well in the show ring
that I was approached by Darrel Dalton. He wanted to know if I would train his
horses to drive. That was the beginning of my professional career. I trained
horses for Darrel Dalton for several years, one of those horses was a horse
named Happylands Topper. Darrel had been trying to sell him for quite some time
with no success so he sent him to me to be trained to drive. 
Another
great moment was when Topper's get was named Reserve National Champion Get of
Sire at the 2002 Nationals. That was such a compliment for my breeding program.
Topper was also the FIRST stallion in the Western United States to be awarded
the Superior Sire Hall of Fame award. With all of the success I achieved in
the show ring I began to be asked to give lessons and train other horses. Although
I continued to work at my full time day job, I began to train and teach lessons
in the evenings and on weekends. I trained lots of horses and they won many
championships, but my favorite thing was to teach and coach other people to
fulfill their dreams in the show ring. My unique approach was to have my students
learn how to train and show their own horses instead of me doing it for them.
My students excelled using this approach and won over 24 National Championships
including National Grand Champion Open Pleasure and Reserve National Grand Halter,
21 Reserve National Championships, Hundreds of National Top Tens, 3 Time National
High Point All Around Youth, 2 Time Reserve National
High Point All Around Youth, National High Point single horse youth combination. National AMHR Horse of the Year and dozens of Hall of Fame awards
and countless local honors. Their success has been a great honor to me and I
hope they continue to succeed!