Most often I tell folks it started with a special Rooster & a surprise shoe box of chicks but that may not actually be entirely accurate. While Buff the Rooster and the 9 surprise chicks played a major roll in the physical development of the Walker Acres program, it really began with a 5 year old and a horse obsession.
I started riding back in 1996 and for as long as I can remember I always wanted a PONY. I’m sure you probably know someone just like that. As I got older I experimented with different riding techniques and by the time I was 9, I was jumping and training as a jr. hunter.
I spent the following years conditioning and competing with a most excellent Riding Academy in Hillsborough, NC. while periodically helping a neighbor exercise their underworked horses. I later trained with a private rescue in Roxboro, NC that rehabilitated neglected ponies and sold them to loving homes. All through high school I volunteered for the summer programs that my riding Academy offered & as I became more and more reliable, my trainer rewarded me with more saddle time and more complex instruction. It seemed I would never out grow the horse obsession and soon found myself working at a prestigious miniature horse farm where I learned about the new and exciting industry behind MINIES.
In college I rode for professors that didn’t have time for their pasture ornaments and began taking Western Pleasure lessons that ultimately helped my own seat and leg ques. All those years I spent riding, training, & competing I never owned my own horse, though the little girl in me still wished for her pony. I began teaching professionally beginner/intermediate lessons on weekends for another riding program. While I was spending every weekend with the horses doing what I love, it never quite seemed like it was enough. Monday would arrive and with it brought the same sense of question: “what am I doing? I didn’t go to school for this. Is this really what my career is meant to be?”
In February of 2017, my husband surprises me with a Rooster in hopes it would cheer me up from my latest career failure. He was gorgeous! A young buff Brahama Rooster with the most majestic sandy gold feathers a bird could have. “What on earth are we going to do with that?” I thought. A make-shift coop was arranged and Buff as we called him turned out to be a tender sweet young guy. The more time we spent, Buff and I, in the yard pulling weeds and tending the garden, the more I began to notice his loneliness. That same month, my husband brought a shoe-box home from work. He set it down on the counter and it peeped! 9 baby chicks huddled inside and little did I know that those 10 birds would be the catalyst to the Walker Acres vision.
July followed sooner than expected and I had become more and more involved with the riding program I taught for on weekends. I began teaching more frequently and began to learn how to keep books & schedule. I was being more and more exposed to the stable management aspects of running a riding program. By now the chicks were young pullets whose company Buff occasionally appreciated & I was now responsible for both sides to lessons: teaching & records. It was about time, I thought, that this little girl got her pony.
Pepper Pony(or “Pepperoni” as we all affectionately refer to her as)was purchased mid-late July and was to say, not exactly what I’d gone shopping for. I had convinced myself I was going to come home with a Percheron-Cross but was delicately talked out of it as I was 8 months pregnant with baby number 2. So while a 19hh riding horse was out of the question, a 9hh *39” tall* driving pony was a much safer bet. We came, we saw, we bought, and 2 weeks later little miss Pepper went to show with her two year old partner at Montross Quarter Horses in Chapel Hill, NC. She integrated into summer horse camp with the riding program I taught for like a CHAMP!
As the dream became more and more of a reality, I took it upon myself to get my official certifications to teach formal riding at 26 years old. With the help of a very special student and her family(and all the love and support from family and friends), I was able to complete the required teaching videos and qualify for my examination. I’m happy to report that as of May 2018, I became an American Riding Instructor Association(ARIA) certified instructor of Hunt Seat at the flat and Recreational Riding.
Walker Acres sells FARM FRESH pasteurized eggs free of by-products, GMO’s, and harsh chemicals. The farm is home to a staggering 56-ish birds of assorted breeds and colors. We recently introduced our VERY FIRST Old English Banaham flock to our family & we are excited to see those tiny white eggs!
I’m also happy to report (in addition to the chickens and Pepper) I’m having a ball offering Equine photography services at a fraction of the average cost. To be clear, I am not a “professional” photographer nor do I use any fancy back drops or lighting equipment. I simply have an eye for it & a Cannon to make it yours! My hobby is often exemplified on the page and booking is a breeze.
When you place an order for eggs, be sure to say hello to our resident barn mousers, Finch & Sweet Girl, as they will likely greet you when you walk up to the barn.
Pepper continues to pioneer the pony program with poise and tolerance. Walker Acres is no longer a program on paper or just a topic of discussion. It’s grown from a little girl’s desire to have her own pony and well past a shoe-box surprise. It’s a tangible and fully operational program with the vision of inspiration and whimsy. Plans for an expanded pony program with several graduate ponies of different degrees of challenge are being examined while booking for events like local rodeos & Christmas parades are up next. Pony parties! Benefit events! Clinics! I find myself on Monday’s asking new questions but always with a sense of decisive assurance: “Would the kids like a stick horse race for a relay challenge at camp? Did everyone get a chance to work with Pepper?” This is most definitely the career I was meant to chase and chase it I shall, like someone left the gate open.
