(After the Halloween Show Oct 28th)

Thank you so much for organizing such a fun horse show. Katie had so much fun with Lily and Sarah had so much fun with Apache. We appreciate all the hard work you put into making it a safe and fun event.

Sincerely,

The Smithermans

(A young lady who "grew up" at Hermann Park Stables, bought one of Mr. Larry's horses and went to college with him.)

My love for horses started when I was a toddler, riding “Bucky”, my bouncy horse on springs, in my backyard every day. When I was six years old, I graduated to riding real horses in lessons with Helen on Kasima and Dottie at Hermann Park Stables. By high school, I was riding all day every day throughout the summers, going to horse shows and taking lessons with Larry as often as I could. I rode on the Texas A&M Women’s Equestrian Team for two years in college and was able to travel to horse shows in Oklahoma, California, Georgia and as far as New York! I even won my class at Nationals one year! My deep-rooted love of horses started with riding at HPS and has led me to the career I have chosen. I graduated from veterinary school in May 2006 and am currently working and doing an internship at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, a big clinic in Lexington, Kentucky right across the street from the Kentucky Horse Park. It is an amazing opportunity to be able to work on the level of horses found here. Multi-million dollar horses are the norm in this area. When I finish my internship, I am hoping to be accepted for a residency in equine reproduction at Texas A&M starting Summer 2007. Wish me luck! -Bonner Wimberly

(One of our many scout groups!)

Thanks a lot for having us over today. Our Girls had a wonderful time. Please convey our sincere thanks to Mike for being very patient with our girls in the tack shop and while learning how to knot. Also appreciate the extra time spent to answer questions from our girls. Our thanks to all the girls there who helped the girl scouts learn basic riding skills, feed and groom the horses. Thanks on behalf of Girl scouts Troop no: 8187.

(An adult rider who now owns two horses in Seattle, Washington)

One of my friends asked me if I wanted to take a horseback riding class with him. Having wanted a horse since I was two years old, I, of course, said yes. Being able to go to a place where someone would teach me to ride horses without me having to own one was a new concept for me. There were no such stables in the area where I grew up, and my parents wouldn't buy me a horse. I had read every horse book I could get my hands on and had been on pony rides as a child and a few trail rides as an adult, but I really had no practical experience with horses. The horseback riding class was offered through Leisure Learning Unlimited at Hermann Park Stables and was geared toward adults who had never ridden. After the three sessions, my friend was ready to move on to another activity. I continued to take more lessons. Ten years later, I'm still riding. I moved up the ranks from a beginner riding once a week to riding every day. What started out as three sessions of basic grooming, tacking, walking and trotting has lead to lifetime of riding, training and finally owning a horse. Now, I can't imagine my life without horses in it.