About Heather

Heather at 2 years.

Heather showing at 9 years.

Heather and “Celine”

Heather at 3 years.

About Heather

Heather was born in 1977 and raised in North Carolina. She moved to Tennessee in 1998. She has been on and around horses since she was 18 months old. Her Mom and Dad got her first horse when she was 2 1/2 years old. He was a Spanish Mustang that was too much horse for her at the time. Heather started showing at the age of 4 and is still showing today.

When Heather was 7, she was involved in a scary incident. She was enjoying a trail ride with her parents and other friends one day. She was riding double behind her Mom and the group had stopped for a rest. There was a stallion in the group and suddenly he had grabbed hold of Heather and snatched her from off the horse and into the air. He shook her like a rag doll, dropped her and went after her again. Thankfully, by the grace of God, she wasn’t hurt...just frightened. The stallion had grabbed her by the neck of her coat and she was able to scramble away from him when she fell. This experience is one of the reasons Heather wanted to learn more about horses’ behavior and how to work with them.

At 8, Heather started working with horses. She began working with “Celine”, an Arabian mare that started out to be her Mom’s horse. “Celine” had suffered abuse on her front legs and Heather worked with her to overcome her fears. For a long time, Heather was the only one who could rub her legs, but she got better over time. “Celine” became Heather’s horse...and best friend. In school, Heather had been labeled as having a learning disability. She could not read or do her school work, which led to ridicule and mental abuse from the kids at school. When Heather needed someone other than her parents to talk to, she sought refuge with “Celine”. “Celine” has been a very loving and understanding companion for Heather to turn to. After twenty years, they are still together. Celine is 35 years old and is still there for Heather when she has a bad day. It wasn’t until 2005 that Heather was diagnosed with Dyslexia and she is now learning how to work around this impairment to overcome her reading problems.

When Heather was 13 she started her first horse. He was an Arabian stallion named “Kidamac”. She had watched some John Lyons’ videos and using his methods, did some ground work. The next day she was riding him.

For 6 months in 1997, Heather worked for Misty Lane Arabians farm in Dunn, NC. She handled all 32 horses there including 3 stallions. She also helped the trainers warm up the horses in the round pen. In 1998, Heather took riding lessons on a Thoroughbred at a Hunt farm in Southern Pines, NC. Mike Russell was the one who gave her lessons in hunt seat. She also worked there briefly before moving to Tennessee.

Heather didn’t begin working with other people’s horses until she moved to TN in 1998. At that time she was working at Cross Creek Farms near Ardmore, AL. From 2000-2001 she worked at Merry Mead Meadows in Elkton, TN...a draft horse farm. She worked with two horses there that had been badly mishandled or just didn’t know anything at all. She worked with “Mead” and among other things she got him to accept the farrier. He started working good for her and she showed him in 2000. She also worked with a mare “Silk” who wouldn’t allow anyone in the stall with her. She would kick or try to run over you. Heather began by working from the outside of the stall until she could work her way in. “Silk” also didn’t like the farrier, so Heather had to work on picking up her feet and holding them. “Silk” ended up being fun to work with and came along very nicely.

Heather began giving lessons in 2001. In addition to lessons for the rider, she works with the horse as well…helping the horse and rider together as a team. She uses methods that work best for the two of them.

Heather participated in a 3-day John Lyon’s Symposium in Cookeville, TN in 2002. She also rode in a 2-day clinic with Jack Brainard in 2003 & 2004 in Murfreesboro, TN. She attended The Road to the Horse colt starting competitions in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. And, she saw Craig Cameron at the Volunteer Horse Fair in Murfreesboro, TN in 2005.

Heather has also taken dressage classes and has shown in Western, English, Trail, Dressage and Showmanship classes.

Heather and “Celine”