 You
just never know where "horsing around" will take you. For Carol
Reeves - horses were her career, introduced her to her future
husband Greg, provided her with a rewarding volunteer experience
for many years and is her hobby that is fun, competitive and a
never-ending learning experience. So the story of Carol and her horses begins at the age of 6 years old. Carol and her family lived in Sarnia and like many young girls she wanted a horse. Carol’s first horse was a pony who loved to roll in puddles and snow banks, followed by a couple of grade horses. Her initial experiences with horse shows were local fairs in Lambton County. In order to enter some of the fairs, you had to ride in the opening parade. She recalls riding up Highway 21 to Thedford from the farm where her horses were kept with her dad following behind in their 68 Beaumont to make sure she didn’t get in trouble with any traffic. By some stroke of luck, she ended up with two seconds and a third at the Thedford Fair horse show and was hooked from that point on. She graduated from her albino grade horse to a ˝ Quarter horse who turned out to be fairly successful at the local shows. She would show at open shows such as Brigden and Petrolia Fairs, Lambton County Saddle club and Moore Centre Riders. After returning from two years in England, her parents bought her a Quarter Horse from George and Marian Robbins and she has owned Quarter Horses ever since. Carol and Greg have been married for 18 years and own a 10-acre farm outside Mount Albert. Greg grew up with Morgan horses and has been a very successful exhibitor over the years, including Champion and Reserve World Championships in Trail. Greg still owns and shows Morgans and his interest in Trail has led him to his role with Area 3 as the show Trail course designer. In addition to their horses, the Reeves have a German Shepard named Nicky, two house cats – Gin and Tonic and a wild barn cat named Little Kitty. Carol’s career has taken twists and turns, but for the last 8 years she has worked with the Government of Ontario. Her current position is as the Manager of Business Improvement and Service Management with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. Prior to her employment with the Government, she tried her hand in a number of areas, including groom, accounting, owner of a boarding and training facility, retail and construction management When not working with their horses, the Reeves enjoy scuba diving and Carol says that the sights you see when you are 75 feet underwater such as sharks, barracuda, tarpon, turtles, squid in addition to all the regular reef fish are unlike anything you can see on land. Carol also enjoys gardening, leatherwork and relaxing on their deck by the pool in the summer. Up until this February, she was part of the Area 3 Board of Directors for longer than she can remember. She comments that it was very rewarding to be part of the group that guided Summerama at one time to over 600 horses, that grew the Spring Classic to a 4 day show - the second largest in Ontario and maintained a strong financial position through challenges such as SARS, the power blackout and most recently the deteriorating economic climate. Carol will be showing her 6 year old, brown mare by Radical Rodder - Radically Hip (Cher) - again this year. This will be Carol’s fourth year showing Cher and the pair initially focused on Western Pleasure and last year added Trail, Horsemanship and they performed their first Western Riding patterns. This show season they are adding Equitation and Greg will be showing Cher in Open Performance Halter. Carol says her favourite class is probably trail although, she is becoming pretty partial to western riding - or at least will - when they get the event figured out. They show mainly in Ontario, although Carol enjoys showing at Syracuse and last year showed at the Congress for the first time. They are planning to go to the Regional Show this year, as well as back to the Congress. Carol and Greg tend to be “every other weekend” horse show types so they can enjoy their garden and pool. Carol says it’s a toss up for her most memorable horse show moment. In 1978, she placed in the top ten in 14 – 18 Equitation at Quarterama out of 114 entries. In 1998, she won the Novice Amateur Equitation at Quarterama riding a foal of the horse she showed as a youth - that was a special connection for her. However, for Carol, it’s not always the win that makes things memorable for her. She recalls being thrilled to complete a full working hunter course on her last horse. This past year, Cher gave her some great moments in Trail even though they are still “in progress” in that event. They showed in the Junior Trail at the Congress this year and rode the best course they had done all year. No placing, but thrilled to get the job done and be able to improve their performance at a big show. Depending on the show year and how many shows she has attended outside Area 3, Carol has been fortunate enough to win year end awards both in Ontario and Area 3 in most of the events she has shown in. In 2008, Carol and Cher were the Area 3 Champions in Novice Amateur Horsemanship and Reserve Champions in Junior Trail and for Ontario were the Reserve Champions in Junior Trail. When Carol started showing, she had typical parents of a horse loving kid - they were very patient and supportive, but happy to hand her the truck keys when she was old enough to drive. She is very fortunate these days to have a husband who loves to show and appreciates the time and effort that it takes for both of them to be involved in showing. They have a great time together at the shows and plan to continue for many years. Carol’s first formal lesson was with Lee Foster in the late 1960's and her first clinic was with Jim Pratt around the same time. During her quarter horse career, Carol has worked with both Pat and Patti Carter for many years, when she bought Cher, she worked with Bill Rinzema for three years and last year started showing with Jodi Mallette. For the past 7 or 8 years, she has been able to attend clinics with Tim Kimura and Nancy Cahill. They all deserve thanks for their part in helping her through the years. While each trainer, coach and clinician has provided Carol with a variety of perspectives, they have all provided her with knowledge that she uses everyday and will in the future. Carol – on behalf of the Area 3 members, I would like to thank you for your years of service on the Area 3 Board of Directors. Your leadership, professionalism and dedication have always been recognized by those who have worked with you. Best of luck to you, Greg and Cher in the 2009 show season!!! |