Horses came into my life at age 5 at Blue Ridge Riding Stables in San Antonio, Texas. My first mare was Gorgeous Hussy and we were phenomenal together. I remember being very confident around horses and moved under them, over them, along side them while my parents held their breath. When you are that young, you truly are a natural, and I was never afraid.

Deer season when I was a kid was spent riding the ranch horses my father used on the Hutto’s ranch in Carta Valley, Texas.  I will never forget the ranch hands and their big Palomino, “Pajaros”, who taught me to ride while navigating the rocky landscape.  Those pack horses took us through all kinds of terrain with ease and agility, while on a loose rein - something very different from my English equitation days.

Through high school I rode in the Texas Youth Rodeo Assn and with the 4-H club. My parents purchased a horse called Newsboy Star, out of Oklahoma Star P-6, and off I went showing in pleasure, horsemanship and halter. The man I rode with at the time had techniques that troubled me. He actually used a leather strap with nails in it back a horse from the saddle. This made me angry and my parents agreed to let me find a find a different instructor. 

Then I started working with Mr. Terrell and his daughter Kathy, who was a big time youth barrel racer. They taught me more basic horsemanship with speed. Back then learning how your skills match the challenge was based only on competition in horse shows, but I was more attracted to training than to showing. From my perspective, horses were not being treated so fairly at shows.

I rode for Mr. John Stokes in San Marcos during college as he had a Saddlebred Stallion named Rex that he needed exercised and fed.  That was a great horse to learn my gaits on as you could feel every foot fall. 

In 1986 I discovered reining horses and bought my first horse, Doc’s Slides Onward, from world class trainers Glenn and René Heiney. They taught me foundation horsemanship, reining training, and colt starting and how to make the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy. They brought to their facility clinicians such as Jack Brainard and Bob Loomis. And this exposure accelerated my training immensely. Glenn and René Heiney are amazing horse people who can still be found in Meridian, Texas.

Ten years ago I purchased a mare named Sheas Smart Peppy, out of Smart Peppy Doc, and put her in training with Kyle Schurig in New Braunfels.  “Penny” and I did really well in the show pen and with Kyle in open classes.  We qualified for the World's in 1999, and earned 22 points in the open reining Penny's first year out. We made some money in NRHA, but when Penny came down with navicular, I retired her and bred her to create the three horses I have now. 

I assisted Carol Metcalfe, AQHA super horsewoman of the year, during the Arizona Sun Circuit in 2002, while acting as Show Manager for Capital Area Quarter Horse Assn in 2001 and 2002. I am a member of the NRHA and the AQHA.

Currently I am working on a mentoring program with career horseman Dennis Reis and Stacy Westfall – Road to the Horse Winner in 2006.  I continue to attend any and all clinics, and read all the literature I can find that supports universal horsemanship and reining.