Managing a horse farm is not an easy job

Agriculture

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GINA KINSLOW

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September 29, 2006

Solitaire: One of the largest breeding horse farms in the U.S.

By GINA KINSLOW The Glasgow Daily Times Fri Sep 29, 2006, 04:58 PM CDT

GLASGOW — Debra Shone can walk through the stables at Solitaire Farm and the horses will stick their heads through the stall doors and nicker to get her attention.

The horses know Debra keeps “horse cookies” in her pockets, and hope to be fed one as she walks by.

“These are my babies,” she says as she feeds one horse a cookie with one hand while scratching his neck with the other.

Debra is manager of the farm, which is owned by her parents, Tom and Sue Shone.

Located in the Lucas community of Barren County, it is one of the largest horse breeding farms in the state and home to about 90 horses, a whole bunch of dogs, a couple of cats, one duck, one rabbit and one goat.

Tom and Sue bought the farm in 1971.

“Sue said she married me because I said I would buy her a horse,” Tom said.

The Shones started out small. All three of their children, Debra, Julie and Matt, grew up around horses and participated in 4-H events. But it was Debra they couldn’t keep out of the barn.

In fact, when she was a girl she would go out to the barn to be with the horses before eating breakfast. To Debra, horses came first above everything else.

“She would actually make herself sick,” Tom said.

So, one summer Tom and Sue decided to send her to stay with relatives for a while.

“They deported me to Florida for a week,” Debra said.

She went on to major in business and equine science at Williams Woods University in Fulton, Mo., and came back to Lucas to run the family farm.

Managing a horse farm is no easy job.

A variety of horses are raised on the farm, including Arabian, Tennessee Walking, saddle bred, quarter horse, paint and miniature.

The horses are fed twice a day between 4:30 and 5 in the mornings and afternoons.

Their stalls also have to be cleaned daily.

Just like when she was a kid, the horses come before anything else.

“They eat before we do. If they’re sick, their needs get taken care of first,” Debra said.

In addition to caring for the horses, she also gives riding lessons, western saddle seat and hunt seat. She is currently teaching 30 people, who range in age from 4 to 60, to ride.

“The riding program is a big part of the farm,” Debra said.

She also trains horses for other people. Doing all of that takes a lot of time.

“We’ll put in easily 14 to 16 hours a day,” Debra said.

The Shones also participate in several competitions throughout the year, and bring home top honors on most occasions.

Ribbons hanging on the wall inside the farm’s office, and one of the barn’s walls are proof of it.

Next month they will show four horses at the National Champion Arabian and Half-Arabian Show in Louisville.

“We’re kind of excited about that,” Debra said.

Horses from Solitaire Farm participate in the show every year that it’s been held in Louisville.

Debra’s daughter, Katie Yoakum, who will turn 14 next month, also shows horses and has won many of the ribbons hanging in the office and on the barn wall.

The Shones’ plan is for the farm to continue to be a family business.

“I hope Katie takes the farm over,” Debra said. “That’s the dream.”

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Solitaire: One of the largest breeding horse farms in the U.S.

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