From Hoofprints to Aspirations: My Pursuit of Ranch Ownership
My Early Years with Horses
My journey with horses started when I was just 8 years old, taking group riding lessons with my Mother, my friend Carrie, and her Mother every week at a small stable in the Bridle Trails area of Bellevue, WA. Throughout the years, I was sent to camp in the summers at a ranch in Eastern WA, lying somewhere between Cle Elum and Ellensburg, and continuing lessons in the winters at the same spot in Bridle Trails. This continued until I was at the age of 16, attending The Overlake School in Redmond, WA, where I, a Freshman, convinced a Senior who was graduating to let me recondition her unruly Chestnut AQHA Mare so that she could sell her. I quickly grew attached to Cheyanne and begged my parents to purchase her for me. After many long months of begging and convincing, and with the support of my mother pushing my father, I obtained my first horse. Cheyenne and I were friends running trails, surviving bucks and spins, romps in the pond on hot summer days, riding in a halter, and wearing only daisy dukes and a bikini top. She was a tough Mare who taught me how to stick a good buck and duck just right for the low-hanging branches. When I turned 19, I dated a young man whose family was involved in Saddlebreds. There was an incident where my Mother walked in on me to teach Cheyenne that she can't get away with bucking me off, which sparked my Mother's decision to have me work with a trainer. The same trainer that my boyfriend's family was using for their Saddlebreds.
The barn was a flashy facility with large aisles lined with stalls filled with beautiful Saddlebreds, Tennesee Walkers, Hacknee Ponies, and one Palomino AQHA. The back of the stables was filled with Stallions with access to attached paddocks with a Foaling Barn just across the way. There was a covered hot walker and a covered arena surrounded by hills of pastures with 4 rungs of Kentucky-style black fencing. It was a little slice of Kentucky in the gloomy Pacific Northwest. While working with the trainer, Lester Corbett, I felt I had outgrown Cheyanne and begged my parents to buy me a flashy Saddlebred to join the beautiful place.
Enter Charley
In 1990, I embarked on a trip to Oregon with Les, my trainer, along with his wife Andrea and son Troy. Our mission was to find Saddlebreds that matched our budget. One stood out among the three flashy horses we encountered, all radiating energy and grace. This particular horse, a beautiful chestnut gelding with a flaxen mane and tail, attempted to buck me off when I urged him to overcome laziness. I named him "Charley" in homage to my grandfather.Charley became my daily companion as I rode him regularly and took lessons from Les and his wife, sometimes up to three times a week, for several years. As my senior year in High School approached, Les assigned me the task of assisting the stable's Groom. My responsibilities included working with yearlings on the lunge line, preparing them for riding, and various grooming tasks such as bathing, body clipping, putting tails up, and braiding forelocks and manes. I also played a role in getting the horses ready for shows.
As time progressed, Les Corbett entrusted me with handling some of the problem horses that required consistent work and someone capable of riding through challenging behaviors like bucking or rearing. I accompanied Les to horse shows and eventually brought Charley to participate in some of them. This experience led me to interact with other prominent facilities, where I was even hired to showcase their horses.
My high school years were a whirlwind of rushing through classes to eagerly head over to the barn, where I eagerly embraced any tasks they allowed me to undertake. The time spent at that facility was a profound learning experience, and Charley became an integral part of my life.
Working for the Veterinarian Facility
When I graduated high school in 1992, I started working for a large animal veterinarian who bred and raised race horses and focused on emergency care of bovines and horses. The place was expansive with pastures and many barns, adding up to over 40 stalls, with a main barn attached to the clinic and surgery center. The smaller barns housed the young Thoroughbreds that were in the off-season of racing. There was one stallion whose stall and paddock were up next to the large 10-acre mare pasture, so we could see when mares were in heat and ready for breeding as they nuzzled Jolly (the stallion). My job there was to feed and water, turn the horses out and bring them in, clean stalls, assist in surgeries, assist on calls, and any other odd jobs they could find for me around the property. I learned much about caring for horses and other farm animals, as there were also cows, chickens, pigs, and sheep.
In those formative years, I often dreamed of running my own ranch someday. A large facility to breed only the best performers of a breed, and to provide a place for young adults (such as myself) to have the opportunity to be around horses when their finances or otherwise might not allow them the opportunity, and to learn all they are willing to learn to make them knowledgable and responsible horse people. All my early years of experience have provided me the knowledge and confidence to tackle Big Rock Ranch today and hopefully see those dreams come to fruition.
