My family lived in Houston ‘til I was 13 or 14, but my mother didn’t want to raise me and my six older brothers and baby sister in the big city. So, in 1968, we followed my grandfather to Tamina. We got our own property, cleared it, and built a house. 

To help me feel at home, my mother bought me my first horse. My, it was a real ugly horse, loaded with cockleburs. I shaved off every bit of his hair and mane to get rid of them. He was a sight. A miracle happened when it grew back though, and I found I had a beautiful Welsh horse. I taught myself to ride by watching old Westerns and spending a lot of time in the saddle riding through the woods and the unpaved red dirt roads. I fell in love with horses, and I’ve been messing with them ever since.

In 2003, I started the Tamina Trail Blazers. We have a yearly ride just before Thanksgiving. It starts with a big barbecue Friday night, and Saturday morning we get the horses groomed and ready and get the ride started. It means a lot to see kids coming out there wrapped up on a horse with their daddies. The two-year-olds and other little ones ride in a horse-drawn cart filled with hay. It’s family time with smiles and laughs. It’s a beautiful way that Tamina can keep tight with the kids.