About me in a nutshell...
PAST
I did not grow up with horses. Rather, my family and I lived in the suburbs of Chicago. The only time I had ever been riding was on the special occasions when my family took me on a guided trail ride. We've all been on those. Every horse knows its job and follows the one in front of it. Something like that would bore me now, but back then I was on cloud nine.
When I was 14, my family decided to sell everything and move on a sailboat. The plan was to sail around the world, but like so many times, life happens and plans change. We somehow wound up in Jacksonville, FL at a small, family-oriented place named Seafarers Marina.
It was there that I met a friend, Glen. He had an aunt, Louise, who was into barrel racing and quarter horses. He and I would help her around her barn in exchange for the chance to ride.
Across the street from Louise lived a woman named Coral. She was fascinating to me and took me under her wing. We became extremely close. She introduced me to mustangs. She had 3 of them at that time - Chief, Sierra, and Spirit.
On my sixteenth birthday, Coral and my family took me to a BLM adoption in Waycross, GA. We went just for something to do and see what it was all about. Without going into long details, we somehow wound up adopting my first horse/mustang, Rocky. He was a 2 year old stud colt from Nevada (Sand Springs West).
Rocky was a handful from the beginning. I knew very little about horses back then. I read what I could, but so much of Rocky's early training was accomplished by trial and error. There were many times when we banged heads, and I had several bumps and bruises to prove it. Somehow though, we made it through together. I don't know who taught who more during those first few years.
PRESENT
I currently live in Northeast FL, along with my husband, Erik. We have been married 10 years. We've got a beautiful, 9 year old daughter named Coralee.
I am in my ninth year of teaching. I am certified to teach 6-12 grade math. However, I love what I teach now - 8th Grade Algebra.
We currently have three horses. I still have Rocky, who's 19. He's now my daughter's horse. Then there's my two horses - Linc (10 year old Kiger mustang) and Ranger (6 year old paint).
NEAR FUTURE
Now that Cory's moved up to riding Rocky, we are able to take more adventurous rides. I am not sure what we'll tackle this year, maybe a few more LD's and plenty of camping.
FAR OFF, DISTANT FUTURE
One day, my family and I hope to have a rescue and training facility for mustangs.
