JACKET -- After being trained by the top horse person in the world, Summer Myers of Twin Willows Stables in Jacket came home to run a business on her parents' farm.
Myers started riding when she was three years old.
"It bucked me off every time. My grandfather would make me get back on that pony every time," she said.
She started training for the public at a local stable when she was 12. In her early 20s, she participated in rodeo and rodeo pageants. She was runner-up in Miss Rodeo USA. She did cutting, team penning and sorting.
In 2017, she quit her day job and moved to Texas, where she earned a certification from the number one horse person in the world, Clinton Anderson, she said. There were about 30 students that he trained, she said. Then she moved back to the family farm and started running Twin Willows Stables, which the family had owned for several years. She started training horses full time and was also a clinician, meaning she travels around and teaches people to train horses using Anderson's method.
In 2019, she began partnering with Whistling Springs Brewery, owned by her parents and located on the same farm, for pony rides on Sundays. They started promoting a family day on Sunday. The pony rides are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
"The kids will line up," she said. "Every horse gets a saddle and a handler. They cross creeks and point out wildlife."
It is a 30-minute, one-mile ride, and every child wears a helmet, she said.
Zack Thompson, who gives trail rides for Twin Willows, said, "It truly is a unique kind of thing. The kids that come back learn about parts of the saddle, parts of the horse."
"Kids know every horse on the farm," Summer said.
English and Western riding lessons are offered at Twin Willows. Chelsie Strickland is the English coach, and Kelli Brennand teaches introductory and Western lessons. Summer fills in when necessary. Everyone knows how to teach the kids how to focus on safety first and how to handle the horses, Summer said.
"Most customers that know horses are amazed at how well trained (the horses) are," she said. They have been desensitized to all kinds of stimuli such as gunshots, dogs, farm equipment, and they are very safe horses, she said. They have a small number of sales horses they call trademark horses, and they are also desensitized.
"We have lots of bicyclists that go by, and the horses don't look up," she said.
The business also offers goat and sheep sponsorships for children. The children can come milk, groom, feed and spend time with the animals. The cost is $25 per month per pet, and siblings may share one.
Thompson said it gives children who do not have space for an animal the opportunity to get into that lifestyle.
He also noted they are constantly cutting in new trails, and they can take two and a half hour trail rides without leaving the farm.
Myers said the terrain goes from flat rides for beginners to bluff trails for more experienced riders.
"We really have something to offer to just about everyone who comes out here," Thompson said.
Myers said a lot of their horses are slaughter rescues, including her personal horse, who is 35 years old.
"Every animal that comes here within a few weeks, their whole demeanor changes," she said.
Myers said regarding the benefits of riding a horse, "Animals, in general, are super therapeutic. You use all of your limbs to ride a horse. It's great for social skills. You have to have patience, respect for an animal. You never see a kid as confident as when they step off a good lesson. We're really good on only positive reinforcement. Every little obstacle they overcome is a huge victory."
She said lessons teach responsibility, and the staff emphasizes manners and respect.
"It's always very positive, very fun, very entertaining, and we're always pushing the kids to the next level," she said.