Taking the Reins
business, glasgow-barren county, horses, solitaire farm, spencer benedict stables,
With its rolling countryside and wide-open spaces, Barren County has always been a prime spot for agriculture.
These days, a growing number of farms are turning to horse-related businesses, including boarding, breeding and training.
There’s even a retirement home and dentist for horses.
Since 1971, Tom and Sue Shone have owned and operated Solitaire Farm, which specializes in Arabian horses with Russian bloodlines. They have expanded to 135 acres over the past 30 years, and the Shones now share responsibilities with their daughter, Debra, a professional trainer, and granddaughter, Katie Yoakum.
“People appreciate horses in this state, and thoroughbred racing has a lot to do with that,” Sue Shone says. “But the gentle, rolling land here is good for horses, as is the climate, and the prices for hay, grain and suppliers are much more reasonable around here.”
Half of the roughly 100 horses at Solitaire Farm are breeding stock. The rest are boarders or are used for riding lessons. Supervising it all is Amira Azalea, a 30-year-old mare who’s been around since she was six months old.
“She’s the queen of the farm, that’s for sure,” Shone says.
Spencer Benedict is another longtime resident who has found success in the equine arena.
He has owned and operated Spencer Benedict Stables since returning to Barren County from Tennessee in 2002. With around 70 acres, Benedict raises and shows Tennessee Walking horses. Depending on the time of year, he has anywhere from 80 to 140 on the property.
“I’ve been in horses all my life, and began showing when I was 10,” Benedict says. “I began training them professionally in 1990. Barren County is very good for these horses, and horses in general, because it’s an agriculture-oriented area. People like to keep a horse so they can go out and ride.”
The area’s horse population has grown to such a level that it has its own spin-off industries, including two – Natural Balance Dentistry and First Light’s Run Retirement Farm – that are operated by Dawn Darnell.
Darnell became interested in putting horses out to pasture about the same time she began training to be an equine dentist.
“We found a lot of people up north who were looking for a place to retire show horses, and so we have 10 now from all across the United States,” she says.
Darnell will be fully certified as an equine dentist in May 2009, but she has already been able to work all over Tennessee and Kentucky. She predicts that she’ll be even busier in the coming years.
“Both businesses are doing really well,” she says. “The horses roam about, and I just go out and check on them, love on them a little and make sure they have the right nutrition and hoof care. Then it’s off to do some dentistry.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by J. Kyle Keener
