My sister and me on Ahab, a wonderful Arab gelding I leased in the early 1990's.

I've been a horse lover all of my life. I can't remember a time when I wasn't playing with toy horses, collecting model horses, or riding and caring for the real thing. I come by my horsey obsession honestly, though, as there are generations of horse-mad women on both sides of my family.

I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 10, 1978, and spent my first seven years growing up in Chanhassen, a suburb of the Twin Cities. Though I have moved elsewhere since then, Minnesota will always be home to me. Lexington, KY, also owns a piece of my heart, and someday, I wouldn't mind living there. At the moment, Chicago is my windy port-of-call.

My first exposure to real horses came through my grandparents who kept several old pensioners on their farm outside of Zumbro Falls, MN, but I didn't begin riding lessons til I was eight years-old when my family moved to Marietta, GA. I rode English, primarily hunter/jumper, for a number of years until college got in the way, and I now look forward to a time when I can have my own horse. I would love to have an off-the-track Thoroughbred.

Not surprisingly, I am a devoted fan of horse racing, and have been since Swale captured my heart in 1984. Though I enjoy American dirt racing, I am also a keen follower of racing in the UK, Ireland, France, Dubai, Japan, South Africa, and Australia. My weakness is for turf specialist fillies and stamina-laden sons of Sadler's Wells.

Most people in the hobby know me as a customizer and painter, but I was (and still am) an OF plastic and china collector from the get-go. My model horse addiction began at an early age when my mom found Breyers on clearance at Target once. My first model, purchased that day, was a bay Standing Stock Horse Foal. The collection didn't really take off until after we moved to GA where I met collector Lisa Rowland at a Breyer signing party in 1989. I bought a herd of wonderful vintage horses from her, and learned alot about the history of the hobby. Three thousand models later, my mom, Ruth-Ann, and my younger sister, Sarah, have joined me in the madness. My mom is a china head and has a lovely collection of Hagen-Renakers, Royal Worcesters, Rosenthals, and other fine European chinas. Sarah is a fledgling customizer who is a dab hand at zebras and quaggas.

Me beside the grave of 1970 English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky at Claiborne Farm in 2004

Breeds I'm Partial To: TBs, Arabs, Highland Ponies, Connemaras, Clydesdales, ASBs, Andalusians, Hackneys, Welsh Sections C and D, Dales, Fell Ponies, anything with an exciting pinto pattern :-)

Favorite Racehorses: Ipi Tombe (the Zimbabwe-bred super-filly), Man O'War, Barbaro, Rachel Alexandra, Yeats, Spectacular Bid, Count Fleet, The Tetrarch, Mumtaz Mahal, Ruffian, Swale, Nijinsky, Point Given, Officer, Beat Hollow, Crimson Palace, Six Perfections, Heat Haze, Wild Fit, Dubawi, Kitten's Joy, Rags to Riches, Zarkava, Sea The Stars, etc.

Favorite Racehorses Still in Training: Pin Turn, It's Tea Time, Zenyatta, Witchy One, General Quarters