I was born in Miami, Florida back in the days when it was still a true paradise with sparkling clean waters teeming with fish and crawling with lobster. Our family owned a marina and every weekend was spent on a boat in the Florida Keys, the Bahamas or on our island just off of Fisher Island in the Intracoastal Waterway. Both of my parents were avid boat racers and tournament sport fisherman and although they never really understood my obsession with horses and ponies they did indulge me by allowing me to ride at a nearby stable whenever possible.

Like many South Floridians my parents began to despair of the increasing traffic, crime and congestion and in 1971 we moved to Ocala Florida to our own small farm. This change in latitude allowed me to finally get a horse of very my own which soon multiplied into a small herd to my parents dismay! Through the years the followed I took lessons and competed AQHA, hunt seat, dressage, and for several years I even barrel raced around the Southeast in rodeos (what a blast and you don't have to be spotless all the time!).

In between horse shows and/or rodeos I went to college, married, had children, started a business and found my true vocation and purpose in life : horse show mom extraordinaire! For many wonderful years I collected and trained ponies for my daughter and we had lots of fun together as she competed locally and at A rated shows on the hunt circuit. Once Morgan reached high school and I had a whole new set of large ponies for her to move up to when fate intervened.

Morgan had always been a talented artist and had been accepted into the Marion County Magnet Art Program where she discovered her true passion and future vocation : fine arts and computer animation. She set her goal on eventually getting accepted to Ringling School of Art School of Computer Animation in Sarasota Florida and put all of her spare time into her college level art classes and preparing her all important portfolio for admission consideration. The ponies idled away as I waited to see if this was a passing fancy or the real thing.

Today my son is a junior at University of Florida (Go Gators!) and my daughter's dreams came true and she is now a freshman at Ringling School of Art. Morgan's art can be viewed at her website at www.elysianalstudios.com. The show pony mares got put to work producing foals years ago, I bought a bigger farm and last year I purchased my own stallions to stand at stud.

As for me...I am just an old empty nested parrothead pony breeder drinking margarita's and watching the pony foals play as the Florida sun sets. Now all I need are some grandchildren that are pony obsessed...

Keeping my finz up while waiting,

Cathy