About Me

I love horses, gardening, cooking (and eating), and living in the Sierra mountain foothills with my husband, Brett.  I've always loved horses but my involvement has evolved, and ebbed, and grown again, over the decades.

As a little kid, I spent spent everyday after school up the street at the boarding stable in the suburban town in Southern California where I grew up.  Once in awhile I was allowed to ride a grumpy Shetland pony that belonged to the owner, but mostly I just wandered around with a pocket full of sugar cubes and dreams in my head.  I found a hoof pick, half buried in the ground, at the stable and took it home.  It now hangs in our barn, a symbol of the dream that I carried for so many years; the dream of having my very own horse.

As a teenager, I rode a lot.  I rode at rental stables and on horses belonging to friends.  

My sister in front, me and my brother on either side of my mom

In my 20s, I was busy with college, then establishing my career.  I had no money for a horse but that didn't stop the dreams.  I bought a tack box and started adding brushes to it, my first step on the road to getting a horse.

In my 30s. I was busy with work and birthing babies.  I gave the tack box away when I got married.  It was in my 30s that I fell in love with gardening.  There was no time for a horse but the trade off -- two wonderful children -- was well worth it.  At 38, I was divorced -- and dreaming of horses again.

At 40, I married Brett and he encouraged me to buy my first horse.

 Brett and I built a home in an equestrian community located in the coastal mountains of Southern California. I discovered dressage and some fabulous trainers.  I trained in the early mornings before work, and competed in a lot of shows.

Auke, my Friesian -- I bought him as a 4 year old, and started him in dressage

In 2013, when I was 53, we bought a small (8 acre) ranch outside Placerville in Northern California.  We have three retired horses, a couple miniature donkeys, goats, and a flock of chickens in addition to the dogs (Kersey, Sage and Acorn), and Passage the barn cat.  I don't have any desire to show anymore and struggle with back pain — the result of some hard landings of off Winston; who was talented but had a habit of rodeo bucking when he was worried or didn’t understand something.  So, I don't ride anymore but do liberty work with Tex.

Jackson - the love of my horselife; retired at 8 yo due to medical issues, after two wonderful years of riding together

Lucy -  very sensitive and fun but a bit too yippee for my back

In  November 2019, I retired.  I enjoy interacting with the horses, training Sage, playing in the garden, and cooking — all things that were almost non-existent between 2017 and my retirement.  I’ve also taken up watercolor painting, a skill I am learning with internet classes and schools.  

I seem to have come full circle -- wandering around the pasture with a pocket full of treats; still horse crazy after all these years.

Tex - my project horse