My ‘story’ starts with my story of Dusty…
From the time I was born, I knew that I had to have a horse! As a baby in my crib, my nightly snuggle toy was a plastic Breyer donkey that was gray and sporting white socks.
And very early on, right when I was old enough to walk, I concluded, “Why get up and walk like other humans, when one could pretend to be a horse?” I learned to crawl everywhere, “at the walk, trot, and canter,” and I even made jumps that I jumped! I was seriously a horse-crazy kid!
At age five I told my dad that I absolutely HAD to have a real horse of my own. So wise man that he was, my dad told me that the day I could afford to buy a horse, I could have one. I then started my first business when I was five years old. I went door to door and offered to walk dogs, bathe dogs, and animal care/sitting of any kind. I built quite the lucrative business for a five-year-old and began saving to buy myself a horse.
When I was nine years old I called my dad up and said, “I have enough money to buy a horse!” My dad did not have the money to pay for supporting a horse, but he couldn’t let his little girl down.
He called some distant relatives who bred Appaloosa racehorses and asked if they could sell me something that would “scare the wits out of me” so that I would want to sell it immediately.
They obliged and sold me a four-year-old, 16-hand half Appaloosa, half Thoroughbred racehorse, trained only to race.
Sound like a recipe for disaster? It seriously was! For the first three years it was an ongoing constant battle of wits between horse and human.
Then one day we had a meeting of the minds…
Then one day we had a meeting of the minds or possibly souls, and we agreed to be equals in all ways from that day forward. We spent 27 amazing years together, and the stories we each could tell are beyond spectacular! The next main love to come along would be Shane.
I went on to become a full time assistant trainer for Glenn Thompson, who was John Wayne’s only horse trainer on and off the screen for 40 years. I also had the pleasure of working under two more fabulous horsemen for seven years of full time working as an assistant horse trainer.
Then I went on to spend nine years being a horse trainer and riding instructor, which I LOVED every second of!
However, I came to realize that I would become too emotionally invested in each horse for it to be a profitable business, and my horse expenses constantly outweighed my training and lesson income.
Side note here: Rescuing animals is another lifetime passion (or affliction) of mine. I regularly rescue any animal in need, from just hatched finches to a 1700-pound Black Angus cow named Daisy. Fortunately, most of my rescues are usually dogs, cats, and horses.
My other main passion, after horses and animal rescues, is nutrition. Healing the body from within through vitamins, herbs, and homeopathic remedies, which help to provide the body with what it needs to heal itself naturally.
I went to college to become a nutritionist, but at that time the only jobs available for a dietitian were writing menus for people in hospitals. I knew that was not the direction I wanted to be headed. I then went back to my roots of equine friends.
Since then I have utilized my passion for natural health and healing. I have applied it to healthy living for horses and humans alike.
I wish to help horses and their dedicated humans everywhere, improving as many lives as possible, in every way I can!
Thank you for stopping by and welcome to our equine family of friends!
Many warm blessings,
Shelly Black