Focus on Mom!

Mom was recently highligted in a Florida-based carriage/driving magazine called WHIPS. (The picture that I have w/ mom and Kentucky Lass is not uploading--I'll try later)

Member in the Spotlight……Danette Williams

1. Who are you and what is your farm? My name is Danette Williams and my husband, Greg, and I own C&W Mountain Horse Farm in Brooksville.

2. When did your interest in Equines begin? As a little girl I had a Quarter Horse named Little Egypt. I had a lot of fun with her.

3. Where did you live at the time? Kissimmee

4. Who, what, how did you get started in driving? I learned to drive at a horse farm in Jacksonville. I went for a week. Then I had a trainer come to the farm to teach my gaited horses.

5. Does your family share your equine interests? I didn’t know that I had married a cowboy. We raised our children in Tampa and have been married for 28 years. About 6 yrs ago Greg began the trail to retirement and we bought 5 Mountain Horses. We have 5 children so I though that was appropriate. But next thing I new we had 20 horses. And today we have 150!

6. What breed(s) to you have now? We have all gaited Mountain Horses. We raise Kentucky Mountain and Rocky Mountain Horses for trail and show.

7. Do you show or just pleasure? We show our horses at World,, International and local Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse, Rocky Mountain Horse and Gaited Horse Shows. Some of the shows even have driving classes now. I do a lot of ground driving with all of our horses as part of their training , but so far I have been driving only for my own pleasure.

8. What is your favorite thing to do with your equine(s)? I love driving everywhere.

9. What are some of the highlights of your equine life? It is very fulfilling. I love the simple aspects of everyday life. I love being outside and enjoying the beautiful splendor each day has to offer.

10. What has been your greatest accomplishment? Learning to drive has been a great accomplishment for me. I love grooming, harnessing and driving.

11. What has been your most exciting event? We had a trail ride for our horse customers in December. It was very fun to keep up with the group in my meadowbrook cart. We were traveling at a fast pace and there were so many bumps in the road that a lot of my stuff popped out of the cart. I had to back track to find it.

12. What future goals do you have? I have a team of horses, Sis and Sas, 2 full sister palomino Kentucy Mountain Horses. I hope to become more confident driving them. They are great.

13. Who is or was your favorite horse and why? My favorite horse is Kentucky Lass. She is a 2001 Kentucky Mountain World Champion All Around Mare. She is my favorite because she is brilliant, sweet, and beautiful and she has a very nice gait. In 2003 I was able to assist the trainer in teaching her to drive. She took to it very quickly. It was very gratifying.

14. What changes would you like to see in your local club? I have been to several Whips events, but haven’t gotten in touch with anyone since the hurricanes.

15. What would you like to see more and/or less of in the newsletter? The Whips newsletter informed me of several events that I attended. It is very informative and I really enjoy reading it.

Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself or your farm that was not asked? My great grandfather was a Baptist preacher in Plant City in the late 1800’s. He went by buggy every weekend to a different church “preaching the gospel”. I have his doubletree. I love to be in a buggy and think about what it was like “way back when”.