The History Of...

20 years ago, in the small town of Oshkosh, Wisconsin,

A very dedicated father was on a mission to help all of his 15 year old daughter’s dreams come true.

My parents had been told by many trainers that I had “the gift”.  I was very young, and never really understood what that meant, I just knew that I didn’t just love horses, I have a passion for them.  My father would work all day, come home, and work on the barn, the pastures, the arena...there was always something.  

But, I was always there to help.  We didn’t have an over-abundance of money, we couldn’t hire people to do the dirty work.  When it came time to build the stalls in the new barn, we grabbed the post-hole digger and took turns.  We couldn’t believe the rocks that we were finding...they were huge...and there were tons of them.  It took over a week to finally get those holes dug...we were exhausted...and from it all, Rocky Bottom Stables was born.  

A few years past, I graduated from high school, and started professionally training horses.  Unfortunately it didn’t last.  To this day, I’m not sure what I was thinking... I got married, had a little girl, and began drifting away from myself and my passion.  I sold all of my horses and all of my equipment, it was so hard to do.

When my daughter was 3 years old, we moved to Arizona.  While there, I got a job as an assistant trainer.  It felt so good to be in the saddle again.  Then, I found out that my husband’s job was taking us to Colorado.  I stayed behind for a couple of months, I didn’t want to give up my training job.  Shortly after moving to Colorado, I opened my own Dog Grooming Salon.  It was very successful, and after 9 months, I did something that I never thought I’d have the strength to do.  I bought a horse..without my husbands “permission”...and I didn’t care what he thought.  It was my money, I had earned it, and I had the right to be happy again.  Our relationship was already going down-hill...it had been for years.  In to my life came 2 year-old Appaloosa “Mr Fritz”.  I had to board him, but I saw him every day.  I was back, and getting stronger by the day.  A little less than a year later, we were on our way back to Arizona.  I had sold my Grooming Salon and became a DC Electrician.  Things were looking up...I rented a nice horse property, and shipped Mr Fritz out to Arizona.  That was when plans to “re-build” Rocky Bottom Stables started going through my mind.  I finally got the courage to get a divorce, but that meant starting all over

...it was worth it.

I have since met a wonderful man, and a few years ago we bought a little house with a little land.  Since our dream is to someday have a big house with lots of land, we adjusted the name to Rocky Bottom Ranch...and the construction began...and still continues.

I lost my Dad many years ago to cancer, but I know he’s here helping, and everything that he taught me...I am now passing down to my daughter.