I started my own official business at the age of 20. That means that I have had my own business for 10 years now! Happy 10 year anniversary to Samantha Walker Performance Horses! I feel like I could write a book on the last ten years, but here are just a few highlights.
(Young and fearless! And stupid!)
Boarding was incredibly difficult for me to find. I bounced around for the first 5 years. I met a lot of amazing people in those first 5 years and I did a LOT of driving! I had a little bumper pull trailer but I had to borrow my mom’s car to pull it, Thanks Mom! (Actually, my mom helped me out a lot in those first few years, helping me get a trailer and being a great roommate!) I actually drove a tiny little white Honda civic for the awesome gas mileage and boy, did that thing smell!! I constantly had saddles and horse equipment in that little car, and of course Roo who went with me everywhere, so that little car was a smelly little sucker.
(My ever faithful pup, Roo!)
I would take on any horse in the beginning and any client! I had some crazies of both! I learned so much from every horse. I still had my POAs, but I also took on Quarter horse clients, Paint horse clients and I took on any naughty horse people needed help with. I learned that Arabians fall over really easily if you pull their hip around too quickly when they are making a run for it; I learned not to trail ride unpredictable horses (no matter how much their owner says how broke they are) under freeway overpasses; I learned that a horse that has been mistreated in a Halter show ring will literally attack you out of fear, but if you put enough time and effort into him he will become a gentle creature that even any child can ride.
(The wild halter horse about a year after I started him with his youth rider, Judea!)
In all those boarding facilities I encountered all types of horse illnesses, including the time one of the facilities let strangles run through the entire barn! That was a terrible few months, I even almost lost one of my young horses to it. At which point I loaded up the trailer and got them all out of there. It only took me so long because I didn’t want to spread the disease, but I was able to keep it quarantined at the next facility. Unfortunately, the next place I ended up at, as beautiful as it was, was a 45 minute drive every single day to see my horses. I also still had clients at the old boarding facility and clients spread throughout the Gilbert area I would drive to a few times a week. The driving was getting too crazy.
(I had odd jobs on the side to make extra money!)
Michael and I got married by about this time, we decided it was cheaper on insurance and taxes to be married so we scurried down to the courthouse one day! One of my clients at the time was friends with one of the judges there so we actually got married for free! Always saving money where I can, except on ponies of course! We were debating our next move for the business and found a full facility to rent in Scottsdale. It was daunting moving to a new city and running our own place, but we decided to go for it. Michael quit his day job after the move and took over boarding care completely at that time. That facility definitely didn’t work out for more than a year, but it helped us realize that we could run our place and we enjoyed doing it! There were times we thought we might kill each other in that first year, but we slowly figured out how to work around each other.
(A group of kiddos at an English show behind my first real trailer! These girls are much taller now!)
We found another full facility to rent in North Scottsdale next, up in Rio Verde area now! We debated moving back to Gilbert because it would have been cheaper to buy a house, but a very reputable trainer and friend told me, if you move back to Gilbert you still starve. And she was right! The move to Scottsdale is the best one we ever took. We gained so many amazing clients as soon as we moved up there! They followed us to the new facility in Rio Verde, and that was a beautiful place for a little less than a year. It was there we were able to sell my little car and get our first truck! Then we were able to get a professional 6 horse trailer! I was and still am so proud of that first truck and trailer set up, I finally felt like I was making it!
(Little Kennedy on one of my first lesson horses! He was a gentle giant.)
Then we got kicked out! The people at that facility turned out to be wack-a-doo! And Chaparosa Ranch literally fell into our laps. We were so desperate, we were driving around to every facility in Rio Verde and asking anyone we could find about boarding. Chaparosa was a prayer come true, it was owned by the kindest people, had stalls available, and was looking for a manager! So we decided to try something new.
(Marta introduced me to dressage and my first Andalusian! An amazing experience! Though I still convinced her to get a POA down the road!)
We were back to another boarding facility, but this time Michael could manage it. It was the best of both worlds as I was getting too busy anyway to be cleaning stalls as well as training and instructing. We moved here 5 years ago and we have loved every second of it. I came in with about 10 horses in 2013 and have grown every year since to about 25-30 horses consistently now. I have gained the most incredible clients here! What was also so amazing to me, were the clients that followed me everywhere, from my many moves down in Gilbert, all the way up to North Scottsdale!
(One of our students we adopted as our own, Erin!)
When I first started taking on clients, there were some that hurt me, some that frustrated me and some that just didn’t work out. I took every client personally in the beginning because they were everything to me, my food supply depended on them! There were those that stuck with me from the beginning, and I am so grateful to those people. But there are those people that take advantage of you from the start and I had to learn to cut those people out. The same trainer told me, “Good people attract good people” and it is so true! Slowly my good people started to attract new good people who stayed on and those continued to attract more good people. Now I have the absolute best clientele, I am constantly amazed by how lucky I am to know these wonderful people in my life! I had to not be afraid to get rid of the toxic people.
(The first out of state show I took kids to over 4 years ago! We’ve been traveling every since!)
It was a struggle in the beginning, I started my business at 20 years old in a recession! There are so many things I would have done differently, and I gladly pass those on to anyone new starting out! I learned so much in those first few years by doing the wrong thing and learning from it. I sold my favorite two horses in order to keep my business alive. It has all worked out, ten years later! I love what I do, I’m surrounded by people I love and people who love me. I have the best horses and ponies in my barn and I’m able to be picky about what comes my way. I have both of my geldings back in my barn that I sold! It was hard work getting here, but I’m so thankful for it every day! Happy 10 years to everyone who has been on this journey with me!
(One of my first rides at what turned out to be our peaceful home, Chaparosa Ranch.)